Gradient: Curve / Map type, how to use?

[RRIS]

As the title says, I'm not sure how to use the Curve / Map gradient type and what types of inputs it uses. I've tried playing around with it, but so far it seems to do nothing?
The manual is less than helpful: "Use the drop-down to choose a gradient type that suits your needs."

[Will Gibbons]

Someone may correct me, but I'm pretty sure 'curve' in this case is referring to curves used as hair in particle systems... wanna render a cat? Or someone with hair? In some cases those import as 'curves' in KeyShot I think. And the color gradient would be used to control the color of the appearance of those curves. Maybe? Regarding Map type, I think that's for driving the gradient with one of the first 4 items listed under 'texture' in when adding a texture node in the material graph: i.e. Texture Map, Tiled UV, Tri-planar and Video Map.

[RRIS]

Ahh ok, that helps, thanks Will!