file: QUICKSTART		G. Moody	 3 April 2001
				Last revised:	25 April 2005
Using `plt'
==========

The most recent version of 'plt' is always freely available from PhysioNet
(http://physionet.org/physiotools/plt/).

If you haven't compiled and installed `plt' yet, follow the instructions
in `INSTALL'.  The last step of the installation is to run a demonstration
of `plt', which will show you a wide variety of example plots.

Look at the shell scripts `xdemo.sh' and `psdemo.sh' (in the `doc' directory)
to see how the example plots are created, and follow these examples.

`plt' has a vast number of options.  You can always get a one-line summary of
each of them by running the command:
    plt -h
If one or more strings (which should not begin with `-') follow the `-h', `plt'
prints summaries for the options beginning with those strings only.  For
example,
    plt -h x y
shows all of the options whose names begin with `x' or `y'.

Under Unix or Linux, it is usually most convenient to preview your plots on the
X11 display before printing them.  The simplest way to do this is to run your
`plt' command without a `-T' option; to print, just rerun the same command, but
add `-T lw' to the `plt' argument list, and pipe the output to `lwcat'.  For
example:
    plt xxx ...			(to preview the plot in an X window)
    plt -T lw xxx ... | lwcat	(to print the same plot on the printer)

Under MS-Windows, if you have installed XFree86 and you have started the
X server, follow the same instructions as for Unix or Linux.  Otherwise, set
the TERM variable to `cygwin' (this is done automatically if you are using
the Cygwin terminal emulator).  Unless the X server is running, all `plt'
output must be piped to `lwcat' for viewing or printing:
    plt xxx ... | lwcat		(to preview the plot in a GSView window; use
				the GSView controls to print it if desired)

More information
================

In the 'doc' directory, the file `book.pdf' is the `plt Tutorial and Cookbook'.
Read the `plt Tutorial and Cookbook' to see how the example plots were
constructed, and to learn about the most effective ways to use `plt' with your
own data.  Open `doc/book.pdf' using Adobe Reader or `gv' to view the book
on-screen or to print all or part of it.  You can also read a hypertext version
of the book by opening html/index.html in your web browser.

The `doc' directory also contains the data and format files used to create
the examples, the LaTeX source for the `plt Tutorial and Cookbook', and a
few more examples not included in the book.