symboldetails |

Version 2.33 Jun'06
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Manual page for symboldetails(PL)
Ploticus plotting procs that render data points use
"symboldetails" specifications for controlling the shape, color, and other details
of the data points.
Syntax: settings are separated from each other by space, but settings
themselves contain no embedded whitespace. Also, the entire specification
must be on one line.
Data points are either vector-based or "direct pixel" (2.33+). It is also possible
to use a small PNG or JPEG image as the data point.
Note: All changes made herein for 2.33 are back compatible - no changes should be necessary to existing applications.
Examples
An example symboldetails specification: shape=pixcircle style=solid color=blue
A script example that generates various data point symbols:
symbols2
The first two rows show the new direct pixel data points, in solid and outline styles.
These are available in ploticus 2.33+ when rendering on raster devices (GD and X11).
The third row shows the vector-based data points that have always been available.
Note that the new type is sharper and more uniform, while the old type offer more
options including fill+outlined and spoke styles, and unlimited size.
Settings
shape=s
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To get direct pixel data points
s can be one of these shapes: pixcircle pixsquare pixdiamond pixtriangle pixdowntriangle.
To get vector-based data points s can be one of:
circle square diamond triangle downtriangle pentagon lefttriangle righttriangle nicecircle. A triangle
points up; a downtriangle points down, etc. A circle has 12 points; a nicecircle has 20.
We recommend using the pix* shapes for ongoing development. These give better-looking
data points for typical applications, and fall back to the vector equivalents on non-raster output devices.
style=s
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For direct pixel data points s may be either outline (the default), or solid (solid color).
The color setting controls both the outline and fill colors.
For vector-based data points s may be one of: outline (the default), solid (solid color),
fill+outline (solid color with an outline of a different color), or spokes (like the spokes of a wheel).
The fill+outline style requires that fillcolor and linecolor also be set;
otherwise data point color can be controlled using the color setting.
Note: fill and filled are equivalent to solid and can still be used as a style setting.
radius=r
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where r is the radius of the symbol in
inches or cm.
Direct-pixel data points can be rendered in sizes from radius=0.01 to about radius=0.1.
Vector-based data points can be rendered in any size.
color=color
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The
color
to use for the symbol.
This may be used for any style of data point except for fill+outlined (where
separate fillcolor and linecolor settings are required).
fillcolor=
color
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The fill color for fill+outlined data points.
linecolor=
color
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The outline color for fill+outlined data points.
linewidth=linewidth
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the linewidth to use for the lines in vector-based data points. See
linedetails
imgfile=name
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If specified, a PNG or JPEG image will be loaded and displayed as the data point symbol.
name is the file name of an image.
Note: the image type must be the same type as your resulting
image. If your ploticus build does not support PNG or JPEG, you cannot
use this feature.
imgscale=sx[,sy]
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scale factor to apply to the imgfile symbol. If only sx is given,
equal amount of scaling is applied in both X and Y directions.
Otherwise sx is the scale factor in X, and sy the
scale factor in Y. A scale factor of 1.0 uses the
original size; a smaller value shrinks the image; a larger value enlarges it.
Formerly called pngscale.
Illustration of new direct pixel data points
 pixpts
This illustrates the available shapes, sizes, and styles of the new direct pixel data points.
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 data display engine
Copyright Steve Grubb
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