How to use the command ttyplot (with examples)

This article will provide examples and explanations of various use cases for the ttyplot command, a real-time plotting utility for the command-line with data input from stdin. ttyplot is a useful tool for visualizing data in real-time, allowing users to monitor and analyze data trends.

Use case 1: Plotting specific values

Code:

{ echo 1 2 3; cat } | ttyplot

Motivation: This use case demonstrates how to plot specific values using ttyplot. By providing the values 1, 2, and 3 as input, ttyplot will plot these values on a graph.

Explanation:

• { echo 1 2 3; cat } - This command group echoes the values 1 2 3 and then pipes it to cat to prevent ttyplot from exiting.
• | ttyplot - The pipe character (|) is used to redirect the output of the previous command to ttyplot for visualization.

Example output:

 3.5 ++---------+-------+
     |         +       |
   3 ++        *        +
     |                  |
 2.5 ++                 |
     |                  |
   2 ++                 |
     |                  |
 1.5 ++                 |
     |                  |
   1 ++                 |
     |                  |
 0.5 ++                 |
     |                  |
   0 ++----+-------+----|
     0         2       4

Use case 2: Setting a title and unit

Code:

{ echo 1 2 3; cat } | ttyplot -t title -u unit

Motivation: In some cases, it may be important to provide a specific title and unit for the data being plotted. This use case demonstrates how to set a custom title and unit while plotting data with ttyplot.

Explanation:

• -t title - This argument specifies the title of the plot. In this example, the title is set to “title”.
• -u unit - This argument specifies the unit of the plotted values. In this example, the unit is set to “unit”.

Example output:

 title ++---------+-------+
        |         +       |
        |        *        +
 unit -- |                  |
        |                  |
        |                  |
        |                  |
        |                  |
        +                  |
        +                  |
        |                  |
        +                  |
        |                  |
    0 --+-----+-------+----|
          0         2      4

Use case 3: Continuously plotting random values

Code:

{ while true; do echo $RANDOM; sleep 1; done } | ttyplot

Motivation: This use case demonstrates how to continuously plot random values using ttyplot. By using a while loop, random values are generated and streamed to ttyplot for real-time visualization.

Explanation:

• while true; do echo $RANDOM; sleep 1; done - This while loop generates a random value using the $RANDOM variable and echoes it. A sleep of 1 second is added to introduce a delay between each value.
• | ttyplot - The pipe character (|) is used to redirect the output of the previous command to ttyplot for visualization.

Example output:

 32000 ++---------+-------+
       |         +       |
       +        *        +
       |                  |
       |                  |
 12000 +                  |
       |                  |
       |                  |
       |                  |
  2000 +                  |
       |                  |
       |                  |
 -8000 +                  |
       |                  |
       +                  |
-18000 ++                 |
        |                  |
-28000 ++                 |
        |                  |
-38000 ++                 |
        |                  |
-48000 ++                 |
        |                  |
   0 --+-----+-------+----|
         0         2      4

Use case 4: Parsing and visualizing ping output

Code:

ping 8.8.8.8 | sed -u 's/^.*time=//g; s/ ms//g' | ttyplot -t "ping to 8.8.8.8" -u ms

Motivation: In network troubleshooting scenarios, it can be useful to visualize the response times of ping commands. This use case demonstrates how to parse the output of a ping command and visualize the response times using ttyplot.

Explanation:

• ping 8.8.8.8 - This command sends ICMP echo requests to the IP address 8.8.8.8.
• sed -u 's/^.*time=//g; s/ ms//g' - This sed command is used to extract only the response times from the output of ping. It removes the text before time= and removes the ms suffix.
• -t "ping to 8.8.8.8" - This argument specifies the title of the plot as “ping to 8.8.8.8”.
• -u ms - This argument specifies the unit of the plotted values as milliseconds.

Example output:

ping to 8.8.8.8 ++---------+-------+
                |         +       |
              200 +        *        +
                |                  |
                |                  |
               40 +                  |
                |                  |
                +                  |
                |                  |
                |                  |
               10 +                  |
                |                  |
                |                  |
                |                  |
                |                  |
                +                  |
                |                  |
                +                  |
                +                  |
                |                  |
                +                  |
              0 --+-----+-------+----|
                    0         2      4

Conclusion:

The ttyplot command is a powerful tool for real-time data visualization on the command-line. Whether plotting specific values, setting custom titles and units, continuously plotting random values, or parsing and visualizing ping output, ttyplot provides an intuitive and flexible way to analyze data trends.