# stripchart

Copyright © 2000, 2001 by John Kodis

# Introduction

The GNOME `stripchart` program charts various user-specified parameters as a function of time. Its main use is to chart system performance parameters such as CPU load, CPU utilization, network traffic levels, and the like. Other more ingenious uses are left as an exercise for the interested user. It is included in the package `gnome-utils`, which is a part of the GNOME desktop environment. This document describes version 1.2 of the `stripchart` program.

The `stripchart` program periodically reads data from a file, extracts a value, and displays these values in one of several formats. The default format is a graphical display similar to that of a stripchart recorder. Hence the name, `stripchart`.

Figure 1. Stripchart Plotter Main Window

On systems such as Linux, in which system parameters are available in human-readable form in the /proc directory, the `stripchart` program makes a dandy performance monitoring tool, similar to but more versatile than `xload`.

Instead of being limited to a few standard performance parameters, the `stripchart` program can plot any time-variant parameter than can be read from a file or pipe. This ability to read data from a pipe provides a very versatile and easy to use method of setting up custom displays.

The `stripchart` program is available both as a stand-alone program, and as a Gnome panel applet. The program can be started by selecting Stripchart Plotter item from the Utilities submenu of the Main Menu, by selecting Stripchart Plotter item from the Monitors submenu of the Gnome panel Applets, or by running the command stripchart or stripchart-applet from the command line.

Figure 2. Stripchart Plotter Applet Window

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