RRDGRAPH(1)                         rrdtool                        RRDGRAPH(1)



NAME
       rrdgraph - Round Robin Database tool grapher functions

SYNOPSIS
       rrdtool graph filename [option ...]  [data definition ...]  [data cal-
       culation ...]  [variable definition ...]  [graph element ...]  [print
       element ...]

DESCRIPTION
       The graph function of RRDtool is used to present the data from an RRD
       to a human viewer.  Its main purpose is to create a nice graphical rep-
       resentation, but it can also generate a numerical report.

OVERVIEW
       rrdtool graph needs data to work with, so you must use one or more data
       definition statements to collect this data.  You are not limited to one
       database, it's perfectly legal to collect data from two or more
       databases (one per statement, though).

       If you want to display averages, maxima, percentiles, etcetera it is
       best to collect them now using the variable definition statement.  Cur-
       rently this makes no difference, but in a future version of rrdtool you
       may want to collect these values before consolidation.

       The data fetched from the RRA is then consolidated so that there is
       exactly one datapoint per pixel in the graph. If you do not take care
       yourself, RRDtool will expand the range slightly if necessary. Note, in
       that case the first and/or last pixel may very well become unknown!

       Sometimes data is not exactly in the format you would like to display
       it. For instance, you might be collecting bytes per second, but want to
       display bits per second. This is what the data calculation command is
       designed for. After consolidating the data, a copy is made and this
       copy is modified using a rather powerful RPN command set.

       When you are done fetching and processing the data, it is time to graph
       it (or print it).  This ends the rrdtool graph sequence.

OPTIONS
       filename
           The name and path of the graph to generate. It is recommended to
           end this in ".png", ".svg" or ".eps", but RRDtool does not enforce
           this.

           filename can be '"-"' to send the image to "stdout". In this case,
           no other output is generated.

       Time range
           [-s|--start time] [-e|--end time] [-S|--step seconds]

           The start and end of the time series you would like to display, and
           which RRA the data should come from.  Defaults are: 1 day ago until
           now, with the best possible resolution. Start and end can be speci-
           fied in several formats, see AT-STYLE TIME SPECIFICATION and rrd-
           graph_examples.  By default, rrdtool graph calculates the width of
           one pixel in the time domain and tries to get data from an RRA with
           that resolution.  With the step option you can alter this
           behaviour.  If you want rrdtool graph to get data at a one-hour
           resolution from the RRD, set step to 3'600. Note: a step smaller
           than one pixel will silently be ignored.

       Labels
           [-t|--title string] [-v|--vertical-label string]

           A horizontal string at the top of the graph and/or a vertically
           placed string at the left hand side of the graph.

       Size
           [-w|--width pixels] [-h|--height pixels] [-j|--only-graph]

           The width and height of the canvas (the part of the graph with the
           actual data and such). This defaults to 400 pixels by 100 pixels.

           If you specify the --only-graph option and set the height < 32 pix-
           els you will get a tiny graph image (thumbnail) to use as an icon
           for use in an overview, for example. All labeling will be stripped
           off the graph.

       Limits
           [-u|--upper-limit value] [-l|--lower-limit value] [-r|--rigid]

           By default the graph will be autoscaling so that it will adjust the
           y-axis to the range of the data. You can change this behaviour by
           explicitly setting the limits. The displayed y-axis will then range
           at least from lower-limit to upper-limit. Autoscaling will still
           permit those boundaries to be stretched unless the rigid option is
           set.

           [-A|--alt-autoscale]

           Sometimes the default algorithm for selecting the y-axis scale is
           not satisfactory. Normally the scale is selected from a predefined
           set of ranges and this fails miserably when you need to graph some-
           thing like "260 + 0.001 * sin(x)". This option calculates the mini-
           mum and maximum y-axis from the actual minimum and maximum data
           values. Our example would display slightly less than "260-0.001" to
           slightly more than "260+0.001" (this feature was contributed by
           Sasha Mikheev).

           [-M|--alt-autoscale-max]

           Where "--alt-autoscale" will modify both the absolute maximum AND
           minimum values, this option will only affect the maximum value. The
           minimum value, if not defined on the command line, will be 0. This
           option can be useful when graphing router traffic when the WAN line
           uses compression, and thus the throughput may be higher than the
           WAN line speed.

           [-N|--no-gridfit]

           In order to avoid anti-aliasing effects gridlines are placed on
           integer pixel values. This is by default done by extending the
           scale so that gridlines happens to be spaced using an integer num-
           ber of pixels and also start on an integer pixel value.  This might
           extend the scale too much for some logarithmic scales and for lin-
           ear scales where --alt-autoscale is needed.  Using --no-gridfit
           disables modification of the scale.

       Grid
           X-Axis
               [-x|--x-grid GTM:GST:MTM:MST:LTM:LST:LPR:LFM]

               [-x|--x-grid none]

               The x-axis label is quite complex to configure. If you don't
               have very special needs it is probably best to rely on the
               autoconfiguration to get this right. You can specify the string
               "none" to suppress the grid and labels altogether.

               The grid is defined by specifying a certain amount of time in
               the ?TM positions. You can choose from "SECOND", "MINUTE",
               "HOUR", "DAY", "WEEK", "MONTH" or "YEAR". Then you define how
               many of these should pass between each line or label.  This
               pair (?TM:?ST) needs to be specified for the base grid (G??),
               the major grid (M??) and the labels (L??). For the labels you
               also must define a precision in LPR and a strftime format
               string in LFM.  LPR defines where each label will be placed. If
               it is zero, the label will be placed right under the corre-
               sponding line (useful for hours, dates etcetera).  If you spec-
               ify a number of seconds here the label is centered on this
               interval (useful for Monday, January etcetera).

                --x-grid MINUTE:10:HOUR:1:HOUR:4:0:%X

               This places grid lines every 10 minutes, major grid lines every
               hour, and labels every 4 hours. The labels are placed under the
               major grid lines as they specify exactly that time.

                --x-grid HOUR:8:DAY:1:DAY:1:0:%A

               This places grid lines every 8 hours, major grid lines and
               labels each day. The labels are placed exactly between two
               major grid lines as they specify the complete day and not just
               midnight.

           Y-Axis
               [-y|--y-grid grid step:label factor]

               [-y|--y-grid none]

               Y-axis grid lines appear at each grid step interval.  Labels
               are placed every label factor lines.  You can specify "-y none"
               to suppress the grid and labels altogether.  The default for
               this option is to automatically select sensible values.

               [-Y|--alt-y-grid]

               Place the Y grid dynamically based on the graph's Y range. The
               algorithm ensures that you always have a grid, that there are
               enough but not too many grid lines, and that the grid is met-
               ric. That is the grid lines are placed every 1, 2, 5 or 10
               units. This parameter will also ensure that you get enough dec-
               imals displayed even if your graph goes from 69.998 to 70.001.
               (contributed by Sasha Mikheev).

               [-o|--logarithmic]

               Logarithmic y-axis scaling.

               [-X|--units-exponent value]

               This sets the 10**exponent scaling of the y-axis values. Nor-
               mally, values will be scaled to the appropriate units (k, M,
               etc.).  However, you may wish to display units always in k
               (Kilo, 10e3) even if the data is in the M (Mega, 10e6) range,
               for instance. Value should be an integer which is a multiple of
               3 between -18 and 18 inclusively.  It is the exponent on the
               units you wish to use. For example, use 3 to display the y-axis
               values in k (Kilo, 10e3, thousands), use -6 to display the
               y-axis values in u (Micro, 10e-6, millionths).  Use a value of
               0 to prevent any scaling of the y-axis values.

               This option is very effective at confusing the heck out of the
               default rrdtool autoscaler and grid painter. If rrdtool detects
               that it is not successful in labeling the graph under the given
               circumstances, it will switch to the more robust --alt-y-grid
               mode.

               [-L|--units-length value]

               How many digits should rrdtool assume the y-axis labels to be?
               You may have to use this option to make enough space once you
               start fideling with the y-axis labeling.

               [--units=si]

               With this option y-axis values on logarithmic graphs will be
               scaled to the appropriate units (k, M, etc.) instead of using
               exponential notation.  Note that for linear graphs, SI notation
               is used by default.

       Miscellaneous
           [-z|--lazy]

           Only generate the graph if the current graph is out of date or not
           existent.

           [-f|--imginfo printfstr]

           After the image has been created, the graph function uses printf
           together with this format string to create output similar to the
           PRINT function, only that the printf function is supplied with the
           parameters filename, xsize and ysize. In order to generate an IMG
           tag suitable for including the graph into a web page, the command
           line would look like this:

            --imginfo '<IMG SRC="/img/%s" WIDTH="%lu" HEIGHT="%lu" ALT="Demo">'

           [-c|--color COLORTAG#rrggbb[aa]]

           Override the default colors for the standard elements of the graph.
           The COLORTAG is one of "BACK" background, "CANVAS" for the back-
           ground of the actual graph, "SHADEA" for the left and top border,
           "SHADEB" for the right and bottom border, "GRID", "MGRID" for the
           major grid, "FONT" for the color of the font, "AXIS" for the axis
           of the graph, "FRAME" for the line around the color spots and
           finally "ARROW" for the arrow head pointing up and forward. Each
           color is composed out of three hexadecimal numbers specifying its
           rgb color component (00 is off, FF is maximum) of red, green and
           blue. Optionally you may add another hexadecimal number specifying
           the transparency (FF is solid). You may set this option several
           times to alter multiple defaults.

           A green arrow is made by: "--color ARROW#00FF00"

           [--zoom factor]

           Zoom the graphics by the given amount. The factor must be > 0

           [-n|--font FONTTAG:size:[font]]

           This lets you customize which font to use for the various text ele-
           ments on the RRD graphs. "DEFAULT" sets the default value for all
           elements, "TITLE" for the title, "AXIS" for the axis labels, "UNIT"
           for the vertical unit label, "LEGEND" for the graph legend.

           Use Times for the title: "--font TITLE:13:/usr/lib/fonts/times.ttf"

           If you do not give a font string you can modify just the sice of
           the default font: "--font TITLE:13:".

           If you specify the size 0 then you can modify just the font without
           touching the size. This is especially usefull for altering the
           default font without resetting the default fontsizes: "--font
           DEFAULT:0:/usr/lib/fonts/times.ttf".

           RRDtool comes with a preset default font. You can set the environ-
           ment variable "RRD_DEFAULT_FONT" if you want to change this.

           Truetype fonts are only supported for PNG output. See below.

           [-R|--font-render-mode {normal,light,mono}]

           This lets you customize the strength of the font smoothing, or dis-
           able it entirely using mono. By default, normal font smoothing is
           used.

           [-B|--font-smoothing-threshold size]

           This specifies the largest font size which will be rendered
           bitmapped, that is, without any font smoothing. By default, no text
           is rendered bitmapped.

           [-E|--slope-mode]

           RRDtool graphs are composed of stair case curves by default. This
           is in line with the way RRDtool calculates its data. Some people
           favor a more 'organic' look for their graphs even though it is not
           all that true.

           [-a|--imgformat PNG|SVG|EPS|PDF]

           Image format for the generated graph. For the vector formats you
           can choose among the standard Postscript fonts Courier-Bold,
           Courier-BoldOblique, Courier-Oblique, Courier, Helvetica-Bold, Hel-
           vetica-BoldOblique, Helvetica-Oblique, Helvetica, Symbol,
           Times-Bold, Times-BoldItalic, Times-Italic, Times-Roman, and ZapfD-
           ingbats.

           [-i|--interlaced]

           If images are interlaced they become visible on browsers more
           quickly.

           [-g|--no-legend]

           Suppress generation of the legend; only render the graph.

           [-F|--force-rules-legend]

           Force the generation of HRULE and VRULE legends even if those HRULE
           or VRULE will not be drawn because out of graph boundaries (mimics
           behaviour of pre 1.0.42 versions).

           [-T|--tabwidth value]

           By default the tab-width is 40 pixels, use this option to change
           it.

           [-b|--base value]

           If you are graphing memory (and NOT network traffic) this switch
           should be set to 1024 so that one Kb is 1024 byte. For traffic mea-
           surement, 1 kb/s is 1000 b/s.

           [-W|--watermark string]

           Adds the given string as a watermark, horizontally centred, at the
           bottom of the graph.

       Data and variables
           DEF:vname=rrdfile:ds-name:CF[:step=step][:start=time][:end=time]

           CDEF:vname=RPN expression

           VDEF:vname=RPN expression

           You need at least one DEF statement to generate anything. The other
           statements are useful but optional.  See rrdgraph_data and rrd-
           graph_rpn for the exact format.

       Graph and print elements
           You need at least one graph element to generate an image and/or at
           least one print statement to generate a report.  See rrdgraph_graph
           for the exact format.

SEE ALSO
       rrdgraph gives an overview of how rrdtool graph works.  rrdgraph_data
       describes DEF,CDEF and VDEF in detail.  rrdgraph_rpn describes the RPN
       language used in the ?DEF statements.  rrdgraph_graph page describes
       all of the graph and print functions.

       Make sure to read rrdgraph_examples for tips&tricks.

AUTHOR
       Program by Tobias Oetiker <tobi@oetiker.ch>

       This manual page by Alex van den Bogaerdt <alex@ergens.op.het.net>



1.2.19                            2007-02-01                       RRDGRAPH(1)
