MultiPlot manual

The graph window layout options


[ Layout options | Fonts | Graph | Axes | Symbols | Lines | Colours ]

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Layout options

When a new data set is loaded, it will initially inherit settings for the graph attached to it from the global choices settings. If the file being loaded is a version 2 file, then any layout details included within it will override the corresponding default settings. Once the graph is being displayed, the graph display options window allows these settings to be changed for an individual graph.

At the bottom of the graph options window are two buttons.

Apply
This will store and use the new settings only for the graph from which the menu was opened. It will not change any other graph that is already showing, or any new graph. If the changes are to also affect all subsequently plotted graphs, then use the application wide Choices dialogue.
Cancel
Close the dialogue and ignore any changes made since it was opened.

The options that can be changed are grouped under tabs in the window, and these tabs and their contents are similar to many of the options in the global Choices dialogue.

The groups of settings are as follows.

Where there are differences between the layout tab and the corresponding Choices tab, these are described below. Some additional information may also be given below. When the tab contents are the same as the corresponding tab in the Choices dialogue, then rather than repeating the description, a link is given back to the Choices dialogue.


Fonts tab

This tab allows the same settings as the corresponding Fonts tab in the Choices dialogue, although any changes made will affect only the one graph.


Graph tab

This section contains settings for the graph display, in general.

Default graph size
This determines the size of the window used to display a graph. Current sizes available are
  • A4 landscape
  • A4 portrait
  • A4 square
  • 640 × 480
  • 800 × 600
  • 1024 × 768
  • 1280 × 1024
  • Custom

If the option Custom is selected, then the x and y extents can be entered in the writable boxes Custom width and Custom height.

Background colour
If this is selected, then it is possible to set a background colour for the body of the graph using the menu button to the right of the patch showing the colour used for the graph background. This will result in a standard colour picker dialogue being shown. A new colour can be chosen. If this option is unselected, then the colour patch and menu button will be greyed out, and no background colour will be used.

The images below show a graph with and without a background colour.

  
Use thin lines on vdu
Thin lines, as understood by the draw module are not supported directly, since the use of such lines can cause problems with e.g. high resolution printers, when the 1 pixel wide line effectively becomes invisible.

When using line widths of a fraction of a pt, the VDU display can sometimes look a little uneven, particularly with lines at an angle to the horizontal/vertical. In some cases, lines can completely disappear. This is where the option Use thin lines on vdu comes in. If this is selected, then the screen display will use 1 pixel wide lines for all the lines on the graph, but when saving draw files and printing will revert to the actual line widths as set in this dialogue. If this is not set, then MultiPlot will make the assumption that lines of less than about 0.80 pt should be displayed on screen as 'thin' lines, and thicker lines will be displayed at their configured thickness. (Why 0.8 pt? There are 72 pt to the inch, and the vdu display is nominally 90 pixels to the inch. Thus 1 px is about 0.8 pt).


Axes tab

Full box outline
When ticked, a box is drawn around the graph. If a box is chosen, then the other options become available.
With axis pips
Pips are always drawn on the axes themselves. When ticked, pips will be drawn on the box outline as well as on the axes.
X axis grid
When ticked, the x axis pips will be extended across the graph (vertically) between top and bottom of the box.
Y axis grid
When ticked, the y axis pips will be extended across the graph (horizontally) between the left and right of the box.
Dashed grid
When ticked, the grid lines (if present) will be drawn dotted. If unticked, a solid line will be drawn.

The images below show a range of these effects from no box to a box with all options active.

  
  
Axes linewidth/Grid linewidth
It is possible to set the line widths used when plotting the graph. The widths for the graph axes and the grid lines, can be set independently, using the appropriate bump icons to the right of the width values.
Axis pip type
You can set the pips to be inside, outside or straddle the axes. Make your selection from the popup menu button to the right of the display field.

The images below show these three options.

     
Axis pip size
The length of the axis pips can be set in os units by means of the up/down bump arrows. The range allowed is 10 - 40 os units. The images below show the two extremes of size.
  
Axes through origin
The graph axes are normally drawn at the left and bottom of the graph. If either the x or y data (or both) has both positive and negative values, then if this is ticked, the graph axis will be drawn through the zero point. If unticked then the axes will always be put at left/bottom even if there are positive and negative values.

The images below show this option off and on.

  
Offset x-axis from origin
Offset y-axis from origin
This allows the position of the axis to be offset from its default position. It can only be used when the bottom left of the graph is the point (0,0). The images below show this option off and on.
  
Offset x-axis labels
Offset y-axis labels
It is sometimes the case that, when full boxed axes is set, and the data spans zero, the box or axes pass through the axis text, giving an untidy look. This option moves the axis text to the side of the box/axis and can improve matters. The images below show the option off and on.
  

Symbols tab

This tab allows the same settings as the corresponding Symbols tab in the Choices dialogue, although any changes made will affect only the one graph.


Lines tab

This tab allows the same settings as the corresponding Lines tab in the Choices dialogue, although any changes made will affect only the one graph.


Colours tab

This tab allows the same settings as the corresponding Colours tab in the Choices dialogue, although any changes made will affect only the one graph.


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MultiPlot is © Chris Johnson, 2014
Email:chris@chris-johnson.org.uk

This document last modified on 15th August 2015