## Attribute types

Version 2.32

Manual page for Attribute_types(PL)

## DESCRIPTION

Many ploticus script attributes and prefab parameters are of standard types.``

## POSITION UNITS

Absolute space is measured in inches by default.`` It can be centimeters if set using the -cm command line option or in your config file.`` Origin (0,0) is always the lower-left corner of the page or drawing area.`` You can get absolute locations by previewing a graph in X11 mode and clicking with the mouse.. coordinates will be written to standard error for each click.``

Scaled space is measured in whatever data units are currently in effect (numeric, date, time, categories, etc.).``

For more information, see scaleunits

## ATTRIBUTE TYPES

The basic attribute types, listed from simplest to most complex, are:

n

  A single number. May be floating point or integer.
  Example: `Offset: 3.2`

dfield or datafield

  A reference to a field in the plot data.`` Plot data must already have been read in.`` A dfield may be an integer (1 or greater), e.g.`` `1` would refer to the first data field.``

  If field names have been defined for the current data set, dfield may also be one of these field names.`` Field names may include any alphanumeric characters with a maximum length of 38, and are case-insensitive. Field names may not contain embedded spaces or commas.

plotvalue

  A plottable value conforming to the the scale type and ranges currently in effect (numeric, date, time, category value, etc.) for either X or Y axis.`` May not contain embedded white space.`` See also the above description of position units

locvalue

  A number or value that describes a location or length.`` May be either absolute units or scaled units.``
  If a suffix of `(s)` is attached to the end of the number, the number is taken as being in scaled space, and must be a plottable value (a number for numeric scaling, a date where date scaling is being used, etc.)
  If the number does not have a (s) suffix, it is interpreted as being in absolute space.
  Special operators: `min` may be used to indicate the minima of a defined plot area, and `max` to indicate the maxima.``
  Offsets: A +/- offset may be given after the value (no embedded spaces allowed). The offset is always an absolute value. See the examples below.``

  Note: a locvalue cannot contain embedded whitespace.``

  Note: it is impossible to specify a negative offset when using date scaling with a date notation that uses embedded dashes such as mm-dd-yyyy.``

  See the above description of position units.``
  Example: `3.5` = 3.5 absolute units (inches or centimeters).``
  Example: `142(s)` = 142 in scaled units (whatever was defined in the most recent areadef).``
  Example: `min` = the plot area minima
  Example: `min-0.1` = 0.1 inch below plot area minima
  Example: `23jan98(s)+0.5` = 0.5 inch above the point where 23jan98 (in scaled units) would lie
  Example: `blue(s)` = location of the category `blue`

lenvalue

  Uses same notation as locvalue except that it describes a distance rather than a location. Distances may be given in absolute units or scaled units (the latter requires `(s)` be tacked onto the end).`` For date and datetime this should be expressed in days; for time scaling use minutes).`` See the above description of locvalue

x y

  A coordinate pair. Both x and y are locvalues.`` See the above description of locvalue
  Example: `Location: 5.3 1`

printf-spec

  A format specifier as used in the "C" programming language, used to control the display of numeric values. Here are some examples; for more information check any good C language reference.`` Ploticus generally uses `%g` as the default spec, which displays numbers using the shortest possible representation, and generally switches to scientific notation on very large numbers or very small numbers.``

      printf-spec		typical results
      -----------		-----------------------------------
      %7.0f			500000   4500000
      %5.2f			239.62   8491.50
      $%.2f			$82.54
      $%6.2f			$ 82.54
      %3.0f%%			44%

string

  A character string value containing no embedded white space. All white space before and after the string is discarded.

text

  A character string value that may contain embedded white space.`` The specification may not occupy more than one line, however embedded newlines may be represented using backslash n (`\n`) .`` There is a notation for inline superscripts and subscripts within text items.`` More on special characters, fonts, etc.``
  Example: `Yaxis.label: Number of Attempts\nBefore Success`

multilinetext

  Text that may be specified using one or more lines.`` The end of the multiline text is indicated by a blank line. If #endproc is encountered, this will also terminate the multiline item.`` Blank lines that are to be part of the text may be escaped using a backslash (\).`` Leading whitespace (normally stripped off) may be retained by using a backslash (\), followed by the desired whitespace, followed by text (see 3rd example below).`` There is a notation for inline superscripts and subscripts within multilinetext items.`` More on special characters, fonts, etc.``

      Title: Comparison of Survey Techniques
           By Region
           \
           Fall, 1997

  ``
  It is also ok to leave the first line blank as in the following example:

      Title:
      Comparison of Survey Techniques
      By Region
      \
      Fall, 1997

  ``
  Here's an example where leading whitespace is preserved:

      text:
        Data: 0.08 0.10 0.15 0.17 0.24 0.34 0.38 0.42 0.49 0.50 0.70
        \      0.94 0.95 1.26 1.37 1.55 1.75 3.20 6.98 50.57

## RELATED TO GRAPHICS RENDERING

pointsize

  An integer point size (usable range is 5 - 30 or so).``

font - a font name

color - a color name

textdetails

linedetails

symboldetails

select
data display engine
Copyright Steve Grubb

Markup created by unroff 1.0, `` `` August 23, 2005.