Introduction

These instructions are for Version 5.2.0 of PGPLOT.

To install PGPLOT, you need to perform the following steps. These steps are described more fully below for each operating system.

Read the release notes (file ver520.txt) to see what is new in this version.

Copy the distribution file by anonymous ftp from Caltech. This is a gzipped tar archive:
ftp://astro.caltech.edu/pub/pgplot/pgplot5.2.tar.gz.
Unpack the distribution file to create the ``PGPLOT distribution'' directory tree. This is identical for all implementations of PGPLOT and can be placed on any disk that is visible on the target system, including read-only network-mounted disks.
Create a writable directory in which the PGPLOT library and associated files will be created. One such directory is needed for each different operating system and compiler combination (``target system'') that you wish to support. This should not be the same directory as the directory containing the source code.
Configure PGPLOT by selecting device drivers from the available list.
Execute the supplied scripts and makefiles to create the library and demonstration programs.
Install the optional C binding for PGPLOT, which provides a convenient way to call PGPLOT subroutines from a program written in C or C++. This requires an ANSI C compiler (that understands function prototypes) and is not available on all systems.
Run the demonstration programs on your selected devices and verify that they run satisfactorily.
Install the optional documentation files.

You will need the following software, which is not distributed with PGPLOT:

A Fortran-77 compiler for your computer system.
Consult your operating system vendor to see what Fortran-77 compilers are available for your system. A useful index of Fortran compilers can be found at The Fortran Market web site (http://www.fortran.com/fortran/compilers.html). The following are widely used;
I prefer g77, which works well on the systems I have tried. f2c is unable to compile many of the PGPLOT device drivers that use non-standard extensions to Fortran-77.
An ANSI C compiler for your computer system.
Utilities for retrieving and unpacking the distribution file: ftp (or a Web browser), tar, and gunzip.
To use the PGPLOT X-window device drivers: the X Window System for your computer, including the standard X header files (*.h) and the Xlib library.
To use the PGPLOT Motif (X-window) widget driver: the X Window System, the Xm and Xt libraries, and associated header files.
To use the PGPLOT Tcl/Tk (X-window) widget driver: the X Window System, the tk and tcl libraries, and associated header files.

Detailed installation instructions are available for the following operating systems:

UNIX (all varieties)
For LINUX systems, see the note about precompiled binaries.
VMS [OpenVMS VAX or OpenVMS Alpha] (Digital Equipment Corp.)
Windows 95/98/NT with Absoft Pro Fortran (Absoft Corp.)
Windows 95/NT with Digital/Compaq Visual Fortran (Compaq Corp.)
Windows 95/NT with PowerStation Fortran (Microsoft Corp.)
Windows 95/NT with GNU-Win32 utilities
For Acorn (RISCOS) machines, see the Fortran Friends web page. A zip file of the RISCOS version can be downloaded from http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/fortran/Demos/PGplot.zip.

For Windows 95/98/NT/2000 etc., I also recommend using a version of PGPLOT that includes a driver based on the GrWin graphics library. This can be used with many different compilers. See:

GrWin Graphics Library by Tamaribuchi, Tsuguhiro.
A Beginner's Guide to Using PGPLOT for Windows NT/2000 With Visual C++ and Visual Fortran by Roberto Abraham.

This version has not yet been ported to MS-DOS, OS/2, or MacOS. For notes about earlier attempts to port PGPLOT to these operating systems, see the files called aaaread.me in the directories pgplot/sys_dos, pgplot/sys_msdos, pgplot/sys_salford, and pgplot/sys_mac in the tar file. I hope to include updated versions of these directories in Version 5.2.1; this will require feedback from users.