GrADS Commands Sorted by Attribute

Animation
set loopdim Sets dimension to animate
set loopincr Sets looping increment
set looping Turns on animation when fewer than three dimesions are varying
set dbuff Turns on/off double buffer mode
swap Swaps buffers when in double buffer mode

Annotation and Labeling

draw string Draws a string anywhere on the page
draw title Draws a title centered over a plot
set dignum Sets the number of significant digits after the decimal point
set digsiz Sets the size of plotted numbers
set font Selects the font for text display
set grads Turns on/off the GrADS logo in each plot
set string Sets string drawing attributes
set strsiz Sets the string character size
set timelab Turns on/off display of the time label
set tlsupp Suppresses the annotation of the year and/or month in date/time labels

Axis Labeling
draw xlab Draws an X-axis label
draw ylab Draws a Y-axis label
set vrange Sets the range of values for Y-axis scaling
set vrange2 Sets the range of values for X-axis scaling
set xaxis Specifies where the labeled tick marks will be placed on the X-axis
set xflip Flips the order of the horizontal axis
set xlab Controls the format of X-axis tick mark labels
set xlabs Gives specific text for X-axis labels
set xlevs Specifies each individual labeled tick mark for the X-axis
set xlint Specifies the interval between labeled tick marks on the X-axis
set xlopts Controls X-axis label options
set xlpos Controls position of X-axis labels
set xyrev Reverses the X and Y axes on a plot
set yaxis Specifies where the labeled tick marks will be placed on the Y-axis
set yflip Flips the order of the vertical axis
set ylab Controls the format of Y-axis tick mark labels
set ylabs Gives specific text for Y-axis labels
set ylevs Specifies each individual labeled tick mark for the Y-axis
set ylint Specifies the interval between labeled tick marks on the Y-axis
set ylopts Controls Y-axis label options
set ylpos Controls position of Y-axis labels
set zlog Sets log scaling of the Z dimension

Bar Graph Options

set barbase Sets the reference point for bar graphs
set bargap Sets the gap between bars for bar graphs
set baropts Specifies whether bars are outlined or filled

Color Control
set fgvals Assigns a color to a particular value; used with 'set gxout fgrid'
set lfcols
set rbcols Specifies a new rainbow color sequence
set rbrange Assigns a range of values to rainbow colors
set rgb Defines a new color
set wxcols Controls color of weather symbols
Contour Settings
set annot Sets color and thickness of axis border, axis labels, and tickmarks
set black Specifies a range of values for which no contours will be drawn
set ccolor Specifies the color of the plotted contours
set ccols Assigns specific colors for each contour level
set cint Sets the contour interval
set clab Controls contour labels
set clevs Sets specific contour levels
set clopts Contour label options
set clskip Sets the number of contour lines to skip when labelling
set cmax Contours not drawn above this value
set cmin Contours not drawn below this value
set csmooth Interpolates the grid to a finer resolution before contouring
set cstyle Sets the contour line style
set cterp Turns on/off spline smoothing
set cthick Sets contour line thickness

Display Controls
clear Clears the display window and resets many graphics options
display Draws a plot
reset Returns GrADS settings to default state with some exceptions
set background Sets background color
set clip Sets the coordinates for clipping the plot area
set cmark Sets the type of line marker
set display Sets the mode of display
set frame Draws a frame around plot borders
set gridln Controls appearance of grid lines; used with 'set gxout grid'
set gxout Sets a graphics output type
set line Sets line attributes
set missconn Connects plots lines over missing data
set parea Specifies the area for plotting contour plots, maps, or line graphs
set vpage Sets dimensions of the virtual page
set xsize Resizes the graphics display window

Data and Image Output

disable fwrite Closes output file containing gridded data
disable print Closes output file containing images in metacode format
enable print Opens output file containing images in metacode format
gxeps Converts GrADS metacode format image files into postscript
gxps Converts GrADS metacode format image files into postscript
gxtran Displays GrADS metacode format image files
outxwd Copies the contents of the display window into a file in XWD format
print Copies the contents of display window to a file in a metacode format
printim Copies the contents of display window to a file in PNG or GIF format
set fwrite Sets filename, byte ordering, and format for data output
wi Dumps the contents of the display window into a file in a variety of formats

Dimension Environment
set x Specifies the X-dimension in grid coordinates
set y Specifies the Y-dimension in grid coordinates
set z Specifies the Z-dimension in grid coordinates
set t Specifies the T-dimension in grid coordinates
set lon Specifies the X-dimension in world coordinates
set lat Specifies the Y-dimension in world coordinates
set lev Specifies the Z-dimension in world coordinates
set time Specifies the T-dimension in world coordinates
File Manipulation
close Closes a GrADS data file
open Opens a GrADS data file
reinit Returns GrADS to its initial state
exec Executes the list of GrADS commands contained in a file
gribmap Creates a map of data sets in GRIB format
gribscan Extracts grid info from data sets in GRIB format
run Runs a GrADS script
sdfopen Opens a COARDS-compliant NetCDF or HDF-SDS file
xdfopen Opens a non-COARDS-compliant NetCDF or HDF-SDS file
set dfile Changes default file
set imprun Sets up automatic script execution before every display command

GrADS-User Interface
grads Starts the GrADS program
help Lists a few basic GrADS commands
query Returns information about many aspects of the current GrADS session
quit Quits GrADS
set datawarn Prints "Entire Grid Undefined" in display window if all data are missing
set stat Turns on/off printing of statistical information for each display
set warn Turns on/off messages about the progress of certain mathematical operations
!shell Sends a command to the shell

Graphical Elements
draw line Draws a line
draw mark Draws a mark
draw polyf Draws a filled polygon
draw rec Draws a rectangle
draw recf Draws a filled rectangle
draw wxsym Draws a weather symbol

Map Settings
draw map Draws a map outline
set grid Sets characteristics of displayed grid lines
set map Sets map background characteristics
set mpdraw Turns on/off drawing of map background
set mpdset Sets the resolution of the coastal outline
set mproj Sets current map projection
set mpt Controls map background characteristics
set mpvals Sets reference longitudes and latitudes for polar stereographic plots
set poli Turns on/off the drawing of political boundaries

Station Data
collect Saves station data in memory as a set
set mdlopts
set wxopt Controls weather symbol output; used with 'set gxout wxsym'
set stid Turns on/off display of the station ID next to the data values
set stnprint Controls printing of station data values; used with 'set gxout stat'
stnmap Writes out a hash table and/or link list information for station data

Variables
define Creates a new GrADS variable that is loaded into memory
modify Defines a climatological variable
set defval Interactively modifies grid point values for 2-D defined variables
undefine Frees the memory used by a defined variable
Vectors
set arrlab Toggles drawing the vector arrow label
set arrowhead Sets the size of the vector arrowhead
set arrscl Specifies arrow length scaling
set hempref Controls wind barb drawing conventions
set strmden Sets density of streamlines; used with 'set gxout stream'

Widgets
draw button Draws a button widget
redraw button Resets a button widget on/off
draw dropmenu Draws a dropmenu widget
set button Specifies the color characteristics of a button widget
set dialog Sets color properties of dialog box widgets
set dropmenu Sets color properties of dropmenu widgets
set rband Sets characteristics for the 'rubber band' widget