Rev 68953 | Blame | Compare with Previous | Last modification | View Log | Download | RSS feed
% File src/library/grid/vignettes/plotexample.Rnw% Part of the R package, https://www.R-project.org% Copyright 2001-13 Paul Murrell and the R Core Team% Distributed under GPL 2 or later\documentclass[a4paper]{article}%\VignetteIndexEntry{Writing grid Code}%\VignettePackage{grid}\newcommand{\code}[1]{\texttt{#1}}\newcommand{\pkg}[1]{{\normalfont\fontseries{b}\selectfont #1}}\newcommand{\grid}{\pkg{grid}}\newcommand{\grob}{\code{grob}}\newcommand{\gTree}{\code{gTree}}\newcommand{\R}{{\sffamily R}}\setlength{\parindent}{0in}\setlength{\parskip}{.1in}\setlength{\textwidth}{140mm}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{10mm}\newcommand{\aside}[1]{\begin{list}{}{\setlength{\leftmargin}{1in}\setlength{\rightmargin}{1in}\setlength{\itemindent}{0in}}\item \textsc{Aside:} \emph{#1}\end{list}}\title{Writing \grid{} Code}\author{Paul Murrell}\begin{document}\maketitle<<echo=FALSE, results=hide>>=library(grDevices)library(stats) # for runif()library(grid)ps.options(pointsize=12)options(width=60)@The \grid{} system contains a degree of complexity in orderto allow things like editing graphical objects, ``packing'' graphicalobjects, and so on. This means that many of thepredefined Grid graphics functions arerelatively complicated\footnote{Although there are exceptions; somefunctions, such as \code{grid.show.viewport}, are purely for producingillustrative diagrams and remain simple and procedural.}.One design aim of \grid{} is to allow users to create simple graphicssimply and not to force them to use complicated concepts or writecomplicated code unless they actually need to. Along similar lines,it is intended that people should be able to prototype even complexgraphics very simply and then refine the implementation into a moresophisticated form if necessary.With the predefined graphics functions being fully-developed andcomplicated implementations, there is a lack of examples of simple,prototype code. Furthermore, given that the aim is to allow a rangeof ways to produce the same graphical output, there is a need forexamples which demonstrate the various stages, from simple to complex,that a piece of \grid{} code can go through.This document describes the construction of a scatterplot object, likethat shown below, going from the simplest, prototype implementation tothe most complex and sophisticated. It demonstrates that if you onlywant simple graphics output then you can do it pretty simply andquickly. It also demonstrates how to write functions that allow yourgraphics to be used by other people. Finally, it demonstrates how tomake your graphics fully interactive (or at least as interactive asGrid will let you make it).@This document should be read {\em after} the \grid{} Users'Guide. Here we are assuming that the reader has an understandingof viewports, layouts, and units. For the later sections of thedocument, it will also be helpful to have an understanding of\R{}'s \code{S3} object system.\section*{Procedural \grid{}}The simplest way to produce graphical output in Grid is just likeproducing standard R graphical output. You simply issue a series ofgraphics commands and each command adds more ink to the plot. Thepurpose of the commands is simply to produce graphics output; inparticular, we are not concerned with any values returned by theplotting functions. I will call this \emph{procedural graphics}.In order to draw a simple scatterplot, we can issue a seriesof commands which draw the various components of the plot.Here are some random data to plot.<<>>=x <- runif(10)y <- runif(10)@\noindentThe first step in creating the plot involves defining a ``data'' region.This is a region which has sensible scales on the axes for plotting thedata and margins around the outsidefor the axes to fit in, with a space for a title at the top.<<datavp>>=data.vp <- viewport(x = unit(5, "lines"),y = unit(4, "lines"),width = unit(1, "npc") - unit(7, "lines"),height = unit(1, "npc") - unit(7, "lines"),just = c("left", "bottom"),xscale = range(x) + c(-0.05, 0.05)*diff(range(x)),yscale = range(y) + c(-0.05, 0.05)*diff(range(y)))@\noindentNow we create the data region and draw the components of the plotrelative to it: points, axes, labels, and a title.<<procplot>>=pushViewport(data.vp)grid.points(x, y)grid.rect()grid.xaxis()grid.yaxis()grid.text("x axis", y = unit(-3, "lines"),gp = gpar(fontsize = 14))grid.text("y axis", x = unit(-4, "lines"),gp = gpar(fontsize = 14), rot = 90)grid.text("A Simple Plot",y = unit(1, "npc") + unit(1.5, "lines"),gp = gpar(fontsize = 16))popViewport()<<fig=TRUE, echo=FALSE, results=hide>>=<<procplot>>@\section*{Facilitating Annotation}Issuing a series of commands to produce a plot, like in the previoussection, allows the user to have a great deal of flexibility.It is always possible to recreate viewports in order to addfurther annotations. For example, the following coderecreates the data region in order to place the dateat the bottom right corner.<<ann1>>=pushViewport(data.vp)grid.text(date(), x = unit(1, "npc"), y = 0,just = c("right", "bottom"), gp = gpar(col="grey"))popViewport()<<fig=TRUE, echo=FALSE, results=hide>>=<<procplot>><<ann1>>@When more complex arrangements of viewports are involved, there may bea bewildering array of viewports created, which may make it difficultfor other users to revisit a particular region of a plot. A\code{lattice} plot is a good example. In such cases, it will be morecooperative to use \code{upViewport()} rather than\code{popViewport()} and leave the viewports that were created duringthe drawing of the plot. Other users can then use \code{vpPath}s tonavigate to the desired region. For example, here is a slightmodification of the original series of commands, where the originaldata viewport is given a name and \code{upViewport()} is used at theend.<<results=hide>>=data.vp <- viewport(name = "dataregion",x = unit(5, "lines"),y = unit(4, "lines"),width = unit(1, "npc") - unit(7, "lines"),height = unit(1, "npc") - unit(7, "lines"),just = c("left", "bottom"),xscale = range(x) + c(-0.05, 0.05)*diff(range(x)),yscale = range(y) + c(-0.05, 0.05)*diff(range(y)))pushViewport(data.vp)grid.points(x, y)grid.rect()grid.xaxis()grid.yaxis()grid.text("x axis", y = unit(-3, "lines"),gp = gpar(fontsize = 14))grid.text("y axis", x = unit(-4, "lines"),gp = gpar(fontsize = 14), rot = 90)grid.text("A Simple Plot",y = unit(1, "npc") + unit(1.5, "lines"),gp = gpar(fontsize = 16))upViewport()@The date is now added using \code{downViewport()} to get to the dataregion.<<results=hide>>=downViewport("dataregion")grid.text(date(), x = unit(1, "npc"), y = 0,just = c("right", "bottom"), gp = gpar(col = "grey"))upViewport()@\section*{Writing a \grid{} Function}Here is the scatterplot code wrapped up as a simple function.<<funcplot>>=splot <- function(x = runif(10), y = runif(10), title = "A Simple Plot") {data.vp <- viewport(name = "dataregion",x = unit(5, "lines"),y = unit(4, "lines"),width = unit(1, "npc") - unit(7, "lines"),height = unit(1, "npc") - unit(7, "lines"),just = c("left", "bottom"),xscale = range(x) + c(-.05, .05)*diff(range(x)),yscale = range(y) + c(-.05, .05)*diff(range(y)))pushViewport(data.vp)grid.points(x, y)grid.rect()grid.xaxis()grid.yaxis()grid.text("y axis", x = unit(-4, "lines"),gp = gpar(fontsize = 14), rot = 90)grid.text(title, y = unit(1, "npc") + unit(1.5, "lines"),gp = gpar(fontsize = 16))upViewport()}@There are several advantages to creating afunction:\begin{enumerate}\item We get the standard advantages of a function:we can reuse and maintain the plot code more easily.\item We can slightly generalise the plot. In this case, we can use it fordifferent data and have a different title. We couldadd more arguments to allow different margins, control overthe axis scales, and so on.\item The plot can be embedded in other graphics output.\end{enumerate}Here is an example which uses the \code{splot()} function tocreate a slightly modified scatterplot, embedded withinother \grid{} output.<<embed, fig=TRUE, results=hide>>=grid.rect(gp = gpar(fill = "grey"))message <-paste("I could draw all sorts","of stuff over here","then create a viewport","over there and stick","a scatterplot in it.", sep = "\n")grid.text(message, x = 0.25)grid.lines(x = unit.c(unit(0.25, "npc") + 0.5*stringWidth(message) +unit(2, "mm"),unit(0.5, "npc") - unit(2, "mm")),y = 0.5,arrow = arrow(angle = 15, type = "closed"),gp = gpar(lwd = 3, fill = "black"))pushViewport(viewport(x = 0.5, height = 0.5, width = 0.45, just = "left",gp = gpar(cex = 0.5)))grid.rect(gp = gpar(fill = "white"))splot(1:10, 1:10, title = "An Embedded Plot")upViewport()@It is still straightforward to annotate the scatterplot as long aswe have enough information about the viewports. In this case,a non-strict \code{downViewport()} will still work (though notethat \code{upViewport({\bf 0})} is required to get right back to thetop level).<<ann2, echo = FALSE, eval=FALSE>>=downViewport("dataregion")grid.text(date(), x = unit(1, "npc"), y = 0,just = c("right", "bottom"), gp = gpar(col = "grey"))upViewport(0)<<echo=FALSE, results=hide>>=<<embed>><<ann2>>@\section*{Creating \grid{} Graphical Objects}A \grid{} function like the one in the previous section providesoutput which is very flexible and can be annotated in arbitrary waysand can be embedded within other output. This is likelyto satisfy most uses.However, there are some things that cannot be done (or at least wouldbe extremely hard to do) with such a function. The output produced bythe function cannot be addressed as a coherent whole. It is notpossible, for example, to to change the \code{x} and \code{y} dataused in the plot and have the points and axes update automatically.There is no scatterplot object to save; the individual componentsexist, but they are not bound together as a whole. If/when thesesorts of issues become important, it becomes necessary to create a\grid{} graphical object (a \grob{}) to represent the plot.The first step is to write a function which will create a \grob{}-- a \emph{constructor} function. In most cases, this will involvecreating a special sort of \grob{} called a \gTree{}; this is justa \grob{} that can have other \grob{}s as children. Here's an examplefor creating an \code{splot} \grob{}. I have put bits of theconstruction into separate functions, for reasons which will becomeapparent later.<<>>=splot.data.vp <- function(x, y) {viewport(name = "dataregion",x = unit(5, "lines"),y = unit(4, "lines"),width = unit(1, "npc") - unit(7, "lines"),height = unit(1, "npc") - unit(7, "lines"),just = c("left", "bottom"),xscale = range(x) + c(-.05, .05)*diff(range(x)),yscale = range(y) + c(-.05, .05)*diff(range(y)))}splot.title <- function(title) {textGrob(title, name = "title",y = unit(1, "npc") + unit(1.5, "lines"),gp = gpar(fontsize = 16), vp = "dataregion")}splot <- function(x, y, title, name=NULL, draw=TRUE, gp=gpar(), vp=NULL) {spg <- gTree(x = x, y = y, title = title, name = name,childrenvp = splot.data.vp(x, y),children = gList(rectGrob(name = "border",vp = "dataregion"),xaxisGrob(name = "xaxis", vp = "dataregion"),yaxisGrob(name = "yaxis", vp = "dataregion"),pointsGrob(x, y, name = "points", vp = "dataregion"),textGrob("x axis", y = unit(-3, "lines"), name = "xlab",gp = gpar(fontsize = 14), vp = "dataregion"),textGrob("y axis", x = unit(-4, "lines"), name = "ylab",gp = gpar(fontsize = 14), rot = 90,vp = "dataregion"),splot.title(title)),gp = gp, vp = vp,cl = "splot")if (draw) grid.draw(spg)spg}@There are four important additions to the argument list comparedto the original \code{splot()} function:\begin{enumerate}\item The \code{name} argument allows a string identifier to beassociated with the scatterplot object we create. This is importantfor being able to specify the scatterplot when we try to edit itafter drawing it and/or when it is part of a larger \grob{} (seelater examples).\item The \code{draw} argument makes it possible to use the functionin a procedural manner as before:<<splotgrob, eval=FALSE, echo=FALSE>>=sg <- splot(1:10, 1:10, "Same as Before", name = "splot", draw = FALSE)<<>>=splot(1:10, 1:10, "Same as Before", name = "splot")downViewport("dataregion")grid.text(date(), x = unit(1, "npc"), y = 0,just = c("right", "bottom"), gp = gpar(col = "grey"))upViewport(0)@\item The \code{gp} argument allows the user to supply \code{gpar()}settings for the scatterplot as a whole.\item The \code{vp} argument allows the user to supply a viewport forthe \code{splot} \grob{} to be drawn in. This is especially usefulfor specifying a \code{vpPath} when the \code{splot} is used as acomponent of another \grob{} (see scatterplot matrix example below).\end{enumerate}The important parts of the \gTree{} definition are:\begin{enumerate}\item The \code{children} argument provides a list of \grob{}s whichare part of the scatterplot. When the scatterplot is drawn, allchildren will be drawn. Notice that instead of the procedural\code{grid.*()} functions we use \code{*Grob()} functions which justproduce \grob{}s and do not perform any drawing. Also notice that Ihave given each of the children a name; this will make it possibleto access the components of the scatterplot (see later examples).\item The \code{childrenvp} argument provides a viewport (or\code{vpStack}, \code{vpList}, or \code{vpTree}) which will bepushed before the children are drawn. The difference between thisargument and the \code{vp} argument common to all \grob{}s is thatthe \code{vp} is pushed before drawing the children and then poppedafter, whereas the \code{childrenvp} gets pushed \emph{and} then acall to \code{upViewport()} is made before the children are drawn.This allows the children to simply specify the viewport they shouldbe drawn in by way of a \code{vpPath} in their \code{vp} argument.In this way, viewports remain available for further annotation suchas we have already seen in procedural code.\item The \code{gp} and \code{vp} arguments are automatically handledby the \gTree{} drawing methods so that \code{gpar()} settings willbe enforced and the viewport will be pushed when the \code{splot} isdrawn.\item The \code{cl} argument means that the \grob{} created is aspecial sort of \grob{} called \code{splot}. This will allow us towrite methods specifically for our scatterplot (see later examples).\end{enumerate}@Now that we have a \grob{}, there are some more interesting thingsthat we can do with it. First of all, the \code{splot} \grob{}provides a container for the \grob{}s which make up the scatterplot.If we modify the \code{splot} \grob{}, it affects all of the children.<<results=hide>>=splot(1:10, 1:10, "Same as Before", name = "splot")grid.edit("splot", gp = gpar(cex=0.5))<<fig=TRUE, echo=FALSE, results=hide>>=<<splotgrob>>sg <- editGrob(sg, gp = gpar(cex = 0.5))grid.draw(sg)@We can access elements of the \code{splot} \grob{} to edit themindividually.<<results=hide>>=splot(1:10, 1:10, "Same as Before", name = "splot")grid.edit(gPath("splot", "points"), gp = gpar(col = 1:10))<<fig=TRUE, echo=FALSE, results=hide>>=<<splotgrob>>sg <- editGrob(sg, gPath = "points", gp = gpar(col = 1:10))grid.draw(sg)@With a little more work we can make the scatterplot a bit more dynamic.The following describes a \code{editDetails()} method for the\code{splot} \grob{}. This will be called whenever a scatterplotis edited and will update the components of the scatterplot.<<>>=editDetails.splot <- function(x, specs) {if (any(c("x", "y") %in% names(specs))) {if (is.null(specs$x)) xx <- x$x else xx <- specs$xif (is.null(specs$y)) yy <- x$y else yy <- specs$yx$childrenvp <- splot.data.vp(xx, yy)x <- addGrob(x, pointsGrob(xx, yy, name = "points",vp = "dataregion"))}x}splot(1:10, 1:10, "Same as Before", name = "splot")grid.edit("splot", x = 1:100, y = (1:100)^2)<<fig=TRUE, echo=FALSE, results=hide>>=<<splotgrob>>sg <- editGrob(sg, x = 1:100, y = (1:100)^2)grid.draw(sg)@The \code{splot} \grob{} can also be used in the construction of other\grob{}s. Here's a simple scatterplot matrix \grob{}\footnote{{\bfWarning:} As the number of \grob{}s in a \gTree{} gets larger theconstruction of the \gTree{} will get slow. If this happens, thebest solution is to just use a \grid{} function rather than a\gTree{}, and wait for me to implement some ideas for speedingthings up!}.<<fig=TRUE>>=cellname <- function(i, j) paste("cell", i, j, sep = "")splom.vpTree <- function(n) {vplist <- vector("list", n^2)for (i in 1:n)for (j in 1:n)vplist[[(i - 1)*n + j]] <-viewport(layout.pos.row = i, layout.pos.col = j,name = cellname(i, j))vpTree(viewport(layout = grid.layout(n, n), name = "cellgrid"),do.call("vpList", vplist))}cellpath <- function(i, j) vpPath("cellgrid", cellname(i, j))splom <- function(df, name = NULL, draw = TRUE) {n <- dim(df)[2]glist <- vector("list", n*n)for (i in 1:n)for (j in 1:n) {glist[[(i - 1)*n + j]] <-if (i == j)textGrob(paste("diag", i, sep = ""),gp = gpar(col = "grey"), vp = cellpath(i, j))else if (j > i)textGrob(cellname(i, j),name = cellname(i, j),gp = gpar(col = "grey"), vp = cellpath(i, j))elsesplot(df[,j], df[,i], "",name = paste("plot", i, j, sep = ""),vp = cellpath(i, j),gp = gpar(cex = 0.5), draw = FALSE)}smg <- gTree(name = name, childrenvp = splom.vpTree(n),children = do.call("gList", glist))if (draw) grid.draw(smg)smg}df <- data.frame(x = rnorm(10), y = rnorm(10), z = rnorm(10))splom(df)@This \grob{} can be edited as usual:<<>>=splom(df)grid.edit("plot21::xlab", label = "", redraw = FALSE)grid.edit("plot32::ylab", label = "", redraw = FALSE)grid.edit("plot21::xaxis", label = FALSE, redraw = FALSE)grid.edit("plot32::yaxis", label = FALSE)<<splomgrob, eval=FALSE, echo=FALSE>>=smg <- splom(df, draw = FALSE)<<fig=TRUE, echo=FALSE, results=hide>>=<<splomgrob>>smg <- editGrob(smg, gPath = "plot21::xaxis", label = FALSE)smg <- editGrob(smg, gPath = "plot21::xlab", label = "")smg <- editGrob(smg, gPath = "plot32::yaxis", label = FALSE)smg <- editGrob(smg, gPath = "plot32::ylab", label = "")grid.draw(smg)@But of more interest, because this is a \grob{}, is the\emph{programmatic} interface. With a \grob{} (as opposed to afunction) it is possible to modify the description of what is beingdrawn via an API (as opposed to having to edit the original code). Inthe following, we remove one of the ``spare'' cell labels and put inits place the current date.<<>>=splom(df, name = "splom")grid.remove("cell12")grid.add("splom", textGrob(date(), name = "date",gp = gpar(fontface = "italic"),vp = "cellgrid::cell12"))<<fig=TRUE, echo=FALSE, results=hide>>=<<splomgrob>>smg <- removeGrob(smg, "cell12")smg <- addGrob(smg, textGrob(date(), name = "date",gp = gpar(fontface = "italic"),vp = "cellgrid::cell12"))grid.draw(smg)@With the date added as a component of the scatterplot matrix, it issaved as part of the matrix. The next sequence saves the scatterplotmatrix, loads it again, extracts the bottom-left plot and the dateand just draws those two objects together.<<>>=splom(df, name = "splom")grid.remove("cell12")grid.add("splom", textGrob(date(), name = "date",gp = gpar(fontface = "italic"),vp = "cellgrid::cell12"))smg <- grid.get("splom")save(smg, file = "splom.RData")load("splom.RData")plot <- getGrob(smg, "plot31")date <- getGrob(smg, "date")plot <- editGrob(plot, vp = NULL, gp = gpar(cex = 1))date <- editGrob(date, y = unit(1, "npc") - unit(1, "lines"), vp = NULL)grid.newpage()grid.draw(plot)grid.draw(date)<<fig=TRUE, echo=FALSE, results=hide>>=<<splomgrob>>smg <- removeGrob(smg, "cell12")smg <- addGrob(smg, textGrob(date(), name = "date",gp = gpar(fontface = "italic"),vp = "cellgrid::cell12"))save(smg, file = "splom.RData")load("splom.RData")plot <- getGrob(smg, "plot31")date <- getGrob(smg, "date")plot <- editGrob(plot, vp = NULL, gp = gpar(cex = 1))date <- editGrob(date, y = unit(1, "npc") - unit(1, "lines"), vp = NULL)grid.draw(plot)grid.draw(date)@All of this may seem a bit irrelevant to interactive use, but it doesprovide a basis for creating an editable plot interface as used inM.~Kondrin's \pkg{Rgrace} package (available on CRAN 2005--7).\end{document}