R: The Default Scatterplot Function

plot.default {base} | R Documentation

## The Default Scatterplot Function

### Description

Draw a scatter plot with ``decorations'' such as axes and titles in the active graphics window.

### Usage

    plot.default(x, y = NULL, type = "p",  xlim = NULL, ylim = NULL,
                 log = "", main = NULL, sub = NULL, xlab = NULL, ylab = NULL,
                 ann = par("ann"), axes = TRUE, frame.plot = axes,
                 panel.first = NULL, panel.last = NULL,
                 col = par("fg"), bg = NA, pch = par("pch"),
                 cex = par("cex"), lty = par("lty"), lab = par("lab"),
                 lwd = par("lwd"), asp = NA, ...)

### Arguments

`x,y` | the `x` and `y` arguments provide the x and y coordinates for the plot. Any reasonable way of defining the coordinates is acceptable. See the function `xy.coords` for details.
`type` | 1-character string giving the type of plot desired. The following values are possible, for details, see `plot`: `"p"` for points, `"l"` for lines, `"o"` for overplotted points and lines, `"b"`, `"c"`) for (empty if `"c"`) points joined by lines, `"s"` and `"S"` for stair steps and `"h"` for histogram-like vertical lines. Finally, `"n"` does not produce any points or lines.
`xlim` | the x limits (min,max) of the plot.
`ylim` | the y limits of the plot.
`log` | a character string which contains `"x"` if the x axis is to be logarithmic, `"y"` if the y axis is to be logarithmic and `"xy"` or `"yx"` if both axes are to be logarithmic.
`main` | a main title for the plot.
`sub` | a sub title for the plot.
`xlab` | a label for the x axis.
`ylab` | a label for the y axis.
`ann` | a logical value indicating whether the default annotation (title and x and y axis labels) should appear on the plot.
`axes` | a logical value indicating whether axes should be drawn on the plot.
`frame.plot` | a logical indicating whether a box should be drawn around the plot.
`panel.first` | an expression to be evaluated after the plot axes are set up but before any plotting takes place. This can be useful for drawing background grids or scatterplot smooths.
`panel.last` | an expression to be evaluated after plotting has taken place.
`col` | The colors for lines and points. Multiple colors can be specified so that each point can be given its own color. If there are fewer colors than points they are recycled in the standard fashion.
`bg` | background color for open plot symbols, see `points`.
`pch` | a vector of plotting characters or symbols.
`cex` | a numerical value giving the amount by which plotting text and symbols should be scaled relative to the default
`lty` | the line type, see `par`.
`lab` | the specification for the (approximate) numbers of tick marks on the x and y axes.
`lwd` | the line width not yet supported for postscript.
`asp` | the y/x aspect ratio, see `plot.window`.
`...` | graphical parameters as in `par` may also be passed as arguments.

### References

Cleveland, W. S. (1985) The Elements of Graphing Data. Monterey, CA: Wadsworth.

### See Also

`plot`, `plot.window`, `xy.coords`.

### Examples

    data(cars)
    Speed <- cars$speed
    Distance <- cars$dist
    plot(Speed, Distance, panel.first = grid(8,8),
         pch = 0, cex = 1.2, col = "blue")
    plot(Speed, Distance,
         panel.first = lines(lowess(Speed, Distance), lty = "dashed"),
         pch = 0, cex = 1.2, col = "blue")

    ## Show the different plot types
    x <- 0:12
    y <- sin(pi/5 * x)
    op <- par(mfrow = c(3,3), mar = .1+ c(2,2,3,1))
    for (tp in c("p","l","b",  "c","o","h",  "s","S","n")) {
       plot(y ~ x, type = tp,
            main = paste("plot(*, type = \"",tp,"\")",sep=""))
       if(tp == "S") {
          lines(x,y, type = "s", col = "red", lty = 2)
          mtext("lines(*, type = \"s\", ...)", col = "red", cex=.8)
       }
    }
    par(op)

    ##--- Log-Log Plot  with  custom axes
    lx <- seq(1,5, length=41)
    yl <- expression(e^{-frac(1,2) * {log[10](x)}^2})
    y <- exp(-.5*lx^2)
    op <- par(mfrow=c(2,1), mar=par("mar")+c(0,1,0,0))
    plot(10^lx, y, log="xy", type="l", col="purple",
         main="Log-Log plot", ylab=yl, xlab="x")
    plot(10^lx, y, log="xy", type="o", pch='.', col="forestgreen",
         main="Log-Log plot with custom axes", ylab=yl, xlab="x",
         axes = FALSE, frame.plot = TRUE)
    axis(1, at = my.at <- 10^(1:5), labels = formatC(my.at, format="fg"))
    at.y <- 10^(-5:-1)
    axis(2, at = at.y, labels = formatC(at.y, format="fg"), col.axis="red")
    par(op)

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