Suppose I have a table file with a bucnh of columns. I want to fit a curve to two of the columns and plot the results. Here is how to do it. The code xyplotter_prep will pull out the desired columns and set you up for plotting (the file List.1 and Axes.1 are made). Then the curve_runner script will allow you to interactively fit the data with a curve.

 
% xyplotter_prep Table1.dat 1 
# OPTIONAL: You can plot the data immediately. 
% xyplotter List.1 Axes.1 

# Fit and view the data for List.1 and Axes.1: 
% curve_runner 1 
 

Two things I usually do not remember: the color and point tye marker designations in matplotlib, and the names of the curves fitted with curve_runner. So, I use the following:

 
% mpl  
# Ths gives a fairly easy to use cheat sheet.   

% gen_curve.sh L 
% curve_fit L 
# gives a list of function names