How can I use a timestamp to name a gnuplot file?

Question

Is it possible to name my gnuplot out file with the date and time it was created? I currently create files with set names as follows:

     set term post eps color
     set output '/path/dateandtime.eps'
     plot
     set term x11

Answer 1

You can use the builtin function time to get the current timestamp and strftimeto format it:

set output strftime('/path/%F_%H-%M-%S.eps', time(0))