here's a short scriptfile i wrote to do a "stem" plot in octave.
<br>
comments, etc.,: mann@eecg.toronto.edu
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<pre>
function mystemisnotmatlabstem(g);

[M,N]=size(g);
if min(M,N) > 1
%  error("input must be vector (1d)");
  disp("stem: input must be vector (1d)");
  return;
end%if

L=max(M,N);

plot(0:L-1,g,'2o'); % 1 means green, 'o' means small circle
gset nokey;
hold on
for l=0:L-1;
  plot([l,l],[0,g(l+1)],'1'); % make these plots all color 1 (red)
end%for
plot([0,L-1], [0,0],'3')
hold off
</pre>