gmt.conf - Configuration for GMT
The following is a list of the parameters that are user-definable in GMT. The parameter names are always given in UPPER CASE. The parameter values are case-insensitive unless otherwise noted. The system defaults are given in brackets [ for SI (and US) ]. Those marked * can be set on the command line as well (the corresponding option is given in parentheses). Note that default distances and lengths below are given in both cm or inch; the chosen default depends on your choice of default unit (see PROJ_LENGTH_UNIT). You can explicitly specify the unit used for distances and lengths by appending c (cm), i (inch), or p (points). When no unit is indicated the value will be assumed to be in the unit set by PROJ_LENGTH_UNIT. Several parameters take only true or false. Finally, most of these parameters can be changed on-the-fly via the --PARAMETER=VALUE option to any GMT program. However, a few are static and are only read via the gmt.conf file; these are labeled (static).
The full explanation for how to specify pens, pattern fills, colors, and fonts can be found in the gmt man page.
THEMATIC SUB-SECTIONS | prefix |
---|---|
COLOR Parameters | COLOR_ |
DIR Parameters | DIR_ |
FONT Parameters | FONT_ |
FORMAT Parameters | FORMAT_ |
GMT Miscellaneous Parameters | GMT_ |
I/O Parameters | IO_ |
MAP Parameters | MAP_ |
Projection Parameters | PROJ_ |
PostScript Parameters | PS_ |
Calendar/Time Parameters | TIME_ |
Formatting template that indicates how an output geographical coordinate is to be formatted. This template is then used to guide the writing of geographical coordinates in data fields. The template is in general of the form [+|-]D or [+|-]ddd[:mm[:ss]][.xxx][F]. By default, longitudes will be reported in the range [-180,180]. The various terms have the following purpose:
+D Output longitude in the range [0,360]
-D Output longitude in the range [-360,0]
D Use FORMAT_FLOAT_OUT for floating point degrees.
ddd Fixed format integer degrees
: delimiter used
mm Fixed format integer arc minutes
ss Fixed format integer arc seconds
.xxx Floating fraction of previous integer field, fixed width.
F Encode sign using WESN suffix
G Same as F but with a leading space before suffix
The default is D.
Language to use when plotting calendar and map items such as months and days, map annotations and cardinal points. Select from:
If your language is not supported, please examine the $GMT_SHAREDIR/localization/gmt_us.locale file and make a similar file. Please submit it to the GMT Developers for official inclusion. Custom language files can be placed in directories $GMT_SHAREDIR/localization or ~/.gmt. Note: Some of these languages may require you to also change the PS_CHAR_ENCODING setting.
Note that for some global projections, GMT may use a spherical approximation of the ellipsoid chosen, setting the flattening to zero, and using a mean radius. A warning will be given when this happens. If a different ellipsoid name than those mentioned here is given, GMT will attempt to parse the name to extract the semi-major axis (a in m) and the flattening. Formats allowed are:
a implies a zero flattening
a,inv_f where inv_f is the inverse flattening
a,b=b where b is the semi-minor axis (in m)
a,f=f where f is the flattening
This way a custom ellipsoid (e.g., those used for other planets) may be used. Further note that coordinate transformations in mapproject can also specify specific datums; see the mapproject man page for further details and how to view ellipsoid and datum parameters.
Sets the physical format of the current plot paper [a4 (or letter)]. The following formats (and their widths and heights in points) are recognized (Additional site-specific formats may be specified in the gmt_custom_media.conf file in $GMT_SHAREDIR/conf or ~/.gmt; see that file for details):
Media width height
For a completely custom format (e.g., for large format plotters) you may also specify WxH, where W and H are in points unless you append a unit to each dimension (c, i, m or p [Default]).
Shorthand for a combination of TIME_EPOCH and TIME_UNIT, specifying which time epoch the relative time refers to and what the units are. Choose from one of the preset systems below (epoch and units are indicated):
JD -4713-11-25T12:00:00 d (Julian Date)
MJD 1858-11-17T00:00:00 d (Modified Julian Date)
J2000 2000-01-01T12:00:00 d (Astronomical time)
S1985 1985-01-01T00:00:00 s (Altimetric time)
UNIX 1970-01-01T00:00:00 s (UNIX time)
RD0001 0001-01-01T00:00:00 s
RATA 0000-12-31T00:00:00 d
This parameter is not stored in the gmt.conf file but is translated to the respective values of TIME_EPOCH and TIME_UNIT.