# Simple plot in LaTeX using gnuplot

I would like to plot sin(x) on a LaTeX document (an article) by using gnuplot commands programmatically inside the document.

I am aware that you can save the plot as a .tex file and then insert it in the document using \input{}. However this is not what I am asking for. I would like to learn how to generate the plot inside the document source code.

This is the plot that I get when I use the gnuplot console, so this is the result I am expecting to get on my document too.

I am using MiKTeX and TeXstudio, though this last is probably not relevant.

• You might benefit from searching for, and looking at some of the other questions regarding gnuplot. For instance tex.stackexchange.com/questions/6744/gnuplot-epslatex – A Feldman Feb 16 '16 at 23:48
• What about the below answer is not an answer to your question? To me, your problem seems to have been solved by erik. – hooy Feb 17 '16 at 13:31
• @hooy When I run the code provided in erik's answer I get an error (you can read about it on my comment), so I won't mark the question as answered until I get some working code. Did you run the code? – codeaviator Feb 17 '16 at 19:55

The pgfplots package has an \addplot gnuplot command, which uses gnuplot to do the calculation and then import the data for plotting by pgfplots. In the following example, the first function is drawn in blue, the second in red.

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}

• @Cebri I think the second line illustrates that tikz sin(x) expects x in degrees, not radians. Hence sin(deg(x)) produces same red as gnuplot blue. – user4686 Feb 17 '16 at 12:52
• @jfbu Thanks for your inputs, the red line indeed corresponds to the sin(x) in degrees. – codeaviator Feb 17 '16 at 14:50
• When I run erik's code on my editor and compile, I get the following error: line 7: Package pgfplots Error: Sorry, the gnuplot-result file 'plotTest.pgf-plot.tab<file>.gnuplot' manually on the respective gnuplot file.. \addplot gnuplot {sin(x)}; : running in backwards compatibility mode (unsuitable tick labels; missing features). Consider writing \pgfplotsset{compat=1.13} into your preamble. The output image that I get only shows the red sine but not the blue one. Anybody knows what's wrong? – codeaviator Feb 17 '16 at 14:53
• @Cebri Did you try adding \pgfplotsset{compat=1.13} to your preamble? If that didn't work, perhaps this question will be helpful tex.stackexchange.com/q/120218/24974 – erik Feb 17 '16 at 15:36