[R] to draw a smooth arc

[Paulo Barata]

Dr. Murrell and all,

One final suggestion: a future function arc() in package graphics,
with centre-radius-angle parameterisation, could also include an
option to draw arrows at either end of the arc, as one can find
in function arrows().

Thank you.

Paulo Barata

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Murrell wrote:
> Hi
> 
> 
> Paulo Barata wrote:
>> Dr. Snow and Prof. Ripley,
>>
>> Dr. Snow's suggestion, using clipplot (package TeachingDemos),
>> is maybe a partial solution to the problem of drawing an arc of
>> a circle (as long as the line width of the arc is not that large,
>> as pointed out by Prof. Ripley). If the arc is symmetrical around
>> a vertical line, then it is not so difficult to draw it that way.
>> But an arc that does not have this kind of symmetry would possibly
>> require some geometrical computations to find the proper rectangle
>> to be used for clipping.
>>
>> I would like to suggest that in a future version of R some function
>> be included in the graphics package to draw smooth arcs with
>> given center, radius, initial and final angles. I suppose
>> that the basic ingredients are available in function "symbols"
>> (graphics).
> 
> 
> Just to back up a few previous posts ...
> 
> There is something like this facility already available via the
> grid.xspline() function in the grid package.  This provides very
> flexible curve drawing (including curves very close to Bezier curves)
> based on the X-Splines implemented in xfig.  The grid.curve() function
> provides a convenience layer that allows for at least certain
> parameterisations of arcs (you specify the arc end points and the angle).
> 
> These functions are built on functionality within the core graphics
> engine, so exposing a similar interface (e.g., an xspline() function)
> within "traditional" graphics would be relatively straightforward.
> 
> The core functionality draws the curves as line segments (but
> automatically figures out how many segments to use so that the curve
> looks smooth);  it does NOT call curve-drawing primitives in the
> graphics device (like PostScript's curveto).
> 
> In summary:  there is some support for smooth curves, but we could still
> benefit from a specific arc() function with the standard
> centre-radius-angle parameterisation and we could also benefit from
> exposing the native strengths of different graphics devices (rather than
> the current lowest-common-denominator approach).
> 
> Paul
> 
> 
>> Thank you very much.
>>
>> Paulo Barata
>> (Rio de Janeiro - Brazil)
>>
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Prof Brian Ripley wrote:
>>> On Tue, 1 May 2007, Greg Snow wrote:
>>>
>>>> Here is an approach that clips the circle you like from symbols down to
>>>> an arc (this will work as long as the arc is less than half a circle,
>>>> for arcs greater than half a circle, you could draw the whole circle
>>>> then use this to draw an arc of the bacground color over the section you
>>>> don't want):
>>>>
>>>> library(TeachingDemos)
>>>> plot(-5:5, -5:5, type='n')
>>>> clipplot( symbols(0,0,circles=2, add=TRUE), c(0,5), c(0,5) )
>>> I had considered this approach: clipping a circle to a rectangle isn't 
>>> strictly an arc, as will be clear if the line width is large.
>>> Consider
>>>
>>> clipplot(symbols(0, 0 ,circles=2, add=TRUE, lwd=5), c(-1,5), c(-1,5))
>>>
>>> Note too that what happens with clipping is device-dependent.  If R's 
>>> internal clipping is used, the part-circle is converted to a polygon.
>>>
>>>
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>