Synopsis
Modifies the attributes of an existing axis.
Syntax
set_axis(attributes) set_axis(id, attributes) Individual axes may also be modified using the set_xaxis() and set_yaxis() routines.
Description
The function arguments.
| Argument | Description |
|---|---|
| id | A ChipsId structure identifying the item, or a string containing the name of the object. |
| attributes | Configure object properties by giving an attribute string (a space-separated list of key=value pairs), list, dictionary, or a ChIPS object. |
The set_axis command sets the specified attributes to the provided values. If an axis id is specified then this selects the axis to use and makes it current, if it isn't already, otherwise the command operates on the current x and y axes. An individual axis may also be modified with set_xaxis and set_yaxis commands.
Customizing the Axis
There are several attributes that control the characteristics of axes. The set_axis command may be used to modify the attribute values of an existing axis at any time during a ChIPS session. See "ahelp attributes" and "ahelp setget" for more general information.
If multiple attributes are being set simultaneously and one of them fails, the entire command will fail and the axis will not be modified.
Please see the "Axis Preferences and Attributes" section below the examples for a list of the axis attributes.
Axis labels
The x.label.angle, x.label.text, y.label.angle, and y.label.text fields allow you to both retrieve the label text by saying
xlbl = get_xaxis("ax1", "x.label.text")
ylbl = get_yaxis("ay1", "y.label.text")or to change it with calls like
set_yaxis(['y.label.text', 'Flux (erg/cm^s/s)'])
Note that the "x." or "y." suffix must be used, even when using the get_xaxis/yaxis or set_xaxis/yaxis routines. The set_plot_xlabel(), set_plot_ylabel(), and get_axis_text() routines can also be used to change the label text.
Advanced Functions
The module of advanced ChIPS functions contains other commands for setting attribute values (refer to "ahelp chips" for information on loading the module):
set_axis_automax set_axis_automin set_axis_color set_axis_depth set_axis_label_angle set_axis_label_color set_axis_label_font set_axis_label_fontstyle set_axis_label_halign set_axis_label_size set_axis_label_valign set_axis_label_visible set_axis_major_color set_axis_major_interval set_axis_major_length set_axis_major_mode set_axis_major_num set_axis_major_style set_axis_major_thickness set_axis_majorgrid_color set_axis_majorgrid_style set_axis_majorgrid_thickness set_axis_majorgrid_visible set_axis_minor_color set_axis_minor_interval set_axis_minor_length set_axis_minor_mode set_axis_minor_num set_axis_minor_style set_axis_minor_thickness set_axis_minorgrid_color set_axis_minorgrid_style set_axis_minorgrid_thickness set_axis_minorgrid_visible set_axis_pad set_axis_parallel_offset set_axis_perpendicular_offset set_axis_thickness set_axis_tickformat set_axis_ticklabel_angle set_axis_ticklabel_color set_axis_ticklabel_font set_axis_ticklabel_fontstyle set_axis_ticklabel_halign set_axis_ticklabel_offset set_axis_ticklabel_size set_axis_ticklabel_style set_axis_ticklabel_valign set_axis_ticklabel_visible set_axis_tickstyle
Examples
Example 1
chips> set_axis(["color", "blue", "thickness", 2, "tickformat", "%0.0z"])
Using attribute/value pairs, set the x and y axis color to blue, the thickness to 2, and the tickformat style to use n * 10^x notation.
The "%0.0z" tickformat is ideal for logarithmically-scaled axes, since it suppresses the leading "1 x" from the label if all major tick marks are at an exact power of 10.
Example 2
chips> avals = {"color": "blue", "thickness": 2, "tickformat": "%0.0z"}
chips> set_axis(avals)This is a repeat of the previous example but this time using a dictionary, rather than a list of attribute/value pairs, for defining the new values.
Example 3
chips> set_axis("ax1", ["tickformat", "ra"])
chips> set_axis("ay1", ["tickformat", "dec"])Change the current X axis to label the axis using sexagesimal hour notation and the Y axis to sexagesimal degrees.
The following calls are equivalent - assuming "ax1" and "ay1" are the names of the current X and Y axes respectively:
chips> set_xaxis(["tickformat", "ra"]) chips> set_yaxis(["tickformat", "dec"])
Example 4
chips> set_axis("ay1", ["y.label.text", "Dec", "y.label.angle", 0])This sets the Y-axis label to the string Dec and changes its angle so that it is written horizontally. The default for y axis labels is that their angle is 90, which means that they are written vertically, reading from bottom to top.
Example 5
chips> set_axis(["*.color", "blue"])
Change all the color attributes of both axes - such as the label and tick mark colors - to blue.
Example 6
chips> s = ChipsAxis()
chips> s.color = "steelblue"
chips> s.ticklabel.angle = 45
chips> s.ticklabel.halign = "right"
chips> s.majorgrid.visible = True
chips> set_axis("ax1", s)Populate the "s" structure with the attribute values, then use it to set axis ax1 to have visible major grids, right-justified tick labels rotated at 45 degrees, and a steelblue baseline color.
Example 7
chips> s = ChipsAxis() chips> s.all.color = "gray" chips> s.all.font = "times" chips> set_axis(s)
Set both current axes to use gray for all color elements and times for all font elements.
Axis Preferences and Attributes
The attributes associated with axes are given in the following table, where the "Set?" column refers to whether the attribute can be changed using the set_axis() command. To change the axis preference settings prepend "axis." to the attribute name.
| Attribute | Description | Options | Default | Set? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| automin | Should the axis automatically reset its minimum when a curve, histogram, image, or contour is added? | see the Booleans section of "ahelp chipsopt" | true | Yes |
| automax | Should the axis automatically reset its maximum when a curve, histogram, image, or contour is added? | see the Booleans section of "ahelp chipsopt" | true | Yes |
| color | Color of the axis base line segment | name or hex; see the Color section of "ahelp chipsopt" | default | Yes |
| coordsys | coordinate system for the axis | PIXEL, WINDOW_NORM, FRAME_NORM, PLOT_NORM, DATA | see "ahelp coordsys" | No |
| depth | Integer value indicating axis depth | see the Depth section of "ahelp chipsopt" | default | Yes |
| label.color | Color of the axis label | name or hex; see the Color section of "ahelp chipsopt" | default | Yes |
| label.font | font for the axis label text | helvetica|courier|times|greek; see the Font section of "ahelp chipsopt" | helvetica | Yes |
| label.fontstyle | style of the axis label text | normal|bold|italic|bolditalic; see the Font Style section of "ahelp chipsopt" | normal | Yes |
| label.halign | Horizontal location of the string reference point of the axis label | auto|base|center|left|right|top; see the Text Alignment section of "ahelp chipsopt" | center | Yes |
| label.size | Font size of the axis label | 1 to 100 | 14 | Yes |
| label.valign | Vertical location of the string reference point of the axis label | auto|base|center|left|right|top; see the Text Alignment section of "ahelp chipsopt" | center | Yes |
| majorgrid.color | Color of the axis major grids | name or hex; see the Color section of "ahelp chipsopt" | default | Yes |
| majorgrid.style | stipple pattern used to draw the axis major grids | see the Line Style section of "ahelp chipsopt" | shortdash | Yes |
| majorgrid.thickness | Thickness of the axis major grids | 0.5 to 10.0; see the Thickness section of "ahelp chipsopt" | 1 | Yes |
| majorgrid.visible | Should major grids be visible | see the Booleans section of "ahelp chipsopt" | false | Yes |
| majortick.color | The color to use for major ticks | name or hex; see the Color section of "ahelp chipsopt" | default | Yes |
| majortick.count | Default number of ticks to display when major mode is count | Non-negative integer | 4 | Yes |
| majortick.interval | Spacing to use between ticks when major mode is interval | Non-negative value | 10 | Yes |
| majortick.length | length of major ticks | Non-negative integer | 1 | Yes |
| majortick.mode | Mode of the axis tickmark positioning | arbitrary|count|interval|limits|nice; see the Tick Mode section of "ahelp chipsopt" | limits | Yes |
| majortick.style | Style of the axis tickmarks | inside|outside|centered; see the Tick Style section of "ahelp chipsopt" | inside | Yes |
| majortick.thickness | Thickness of major ticks | 0.5 to 10.0; see the Thickness section of "ahelp chipsopt" | 1 | Yes |
| majortick.visible | Are major ticks visible or hidden | see the Booleans section of "ahelp chipsopt" | true | Yes |
| minorgrid.color | Color of the axis minor grids | name or hex; see the Color section of "ahelp chipsopt" | default | Yes |
| minorgrid.style | stipple pattern used to draw the axis minor grids | see the Line Style section of "ahelp chipsopt" | dot | Yes |
| minorgrid.thickness | Thickness of the axis minor grids | 0.5 to 10.0; see the Thickness section of "ahelp chipsopt" | 1 | Yes |
| minorgrid.visible | Should minor grids be visible | see the Booleans section of "ahelp chipsopt" | false | Yes |
| minortick.color | The color to use for minor ticks | name or hex; see the Color section of "ahelp chipsopt" | default | Yes |
| minortick.count | Default number of ticks to display when minor mode is count | Non-negative integer | 4 | Yes |
| minortick.interval | Spacing to use between ticks when minor mode is interval | Non-negative value | 10 | Yes |
| minortick.length | length of minor ticks | Non-negative integer | 1 | Yes |
| minortick.mode | Mode of the axis tickmark positioning | arbitrary|count|interval|limits|nice; see the Tick Mode section of "ahelp chipsopt" | nice | Yes |
| minortick.style | Style of the axis tickmarks | inside|outside|centered; see the Tick Style section of "ahelp chipsopt" | inside | Yes |
| minortick.thickness | Thickness of minor ticks | 0.5 to 10.0; see the Thickness section of "ahelp chipsopt" | 1 | Yes |
| minortick.visible | Are minor ticks visible or hidden | see the Booleans section of "ahelp chipsopt" | true | Yes |
| offset.parallel | axis label offset from axis start (-.5) to axis end (.5) | -0.5 to 0.5 inclusive; 0 is the center and -0.5/+0.5 refer to the edges | 0 | Yes |
| offset.perpendicular | axis label offset from axis baseline in pixels | -100 to 100, inclusive | 40 | Yes |
| pad | The percentage of padding to add to an axis in arbitrary limits or interval modes | Non-negative value | 0.05 | Yes |
| thickness | Thickness of the axis | 0.5 to 10.0; see the Thickness section of "ahelp chipsopt" | 1 | Yes |
| tickformat | print format for axis ticklabels | alphanumeric; see the Tick Format section of "ahelp chipsopt" | %g | Yes |
| ticklabel.angle | angle, in degrees, of the axis ticklabel | -360.0 to 360.0 | 0 | Yes |
| ticklabel.color | Color of the axis ticklabels | name or hex; see the Color section of "ahelp chipsopt" | default | Yes |
| ticklabel.font | font for the axis ticklabel text | helvetica|courier|times|greek; see the Font section of "ahelp chipsopt" | helvetica | Yes |
| ticklabel.fontstyle | style of the axis ticklabel text | normal|bold|italic|bolditalic; see the Font Style section of "ahelp chipsopt" | normal | Yes |
| ticklabel.halign | Horizontal location of the string reference point of the axis ticklabel | auto|base|center|left|right|top; see the Text Alignment section of "ahelp chipsopt" | center | Yes |
| ticklabel.offset | Offset of ticklabels to axis base (in pixels) | Non-negative value | 6 | Yes |
| ticklabel.size | Font size of the axis ticklabel | 1 to 100 | 12 | Yes |
| ticklabel.style | Style of the axis ticklabels | inside, outside | outside | Yes |
| ticklabel.valign | Vertical location of the string reference point of the axis ticklabel | auto|base|center|left|right|top; see the Text Alignment section of "ahelp chipsopt" | center | Yes |
| ticklabel.visible | Should ticklabels be visible | see the Booleans section of "ahelp chipsopt" | true | No |
| x.label.text | The text used for the X axis label | A text label with limited support for LaTeX commands; see the Text Formatting section of "ahelp chipsopt". | Yes | |
| x.label.angle | The angle used for the X axis label | 0 is horizontal, 90 is vertical with text reading from bottom to top, and 270 is vertical with text reading from top to bottom. | 0 | Yes |
| x.stem | stem used for x axis id | An alpha-numeric character sequence that does not contain a space | ax | No |
| y.label.text | The text used for the Y axis label | A text label with limited support for LaTeX commands; see the Text Formatting section of "ahelp chipsopt". | Yes | |
| y.label.angle | The angle used for the Y axis label | 0 is horizontal, 90 is vertical with text reading from bottom to top, and 270 is vertical with text reading from top to bottom. | 90 | Yes |
| y.stem | stem used for y axis id | An alpha-numeric character sequence that does not contain a space | ay | No |
The label.angle field
The label.angle field was removed in CIAO 4.6; the x.label.angle and y.label angle fields should be used instead.
Bugs
See the bugs pages on the ChIPS website for an up-to-date listing of known bugs.
See Also
- axes
- add_axis, bind_axes, current_axis, delete_axis, display_axis, display_major_ticks, display_minor_ticks, get_axis, get_xaxis, get_yaxis, hide_axis, hide_major_ticks, hide_minor_ticks, lin_scale, log_scale, move_axis, reverse_axes, set_arbitrary_tick_positions, set_xaxis, set_yaxis, shuffle_axis, unbind_axes
- concepts
- setget
- utilities
- set_current