[R] Rotating the axis labels in the basic graphic device ?

[Marc Schwartz]

On Jan 23, 2010, at 9:59 AM, Uwe Ligges wrote:

> 
> 
> On 23.01.2010 16:56, Marc Schwartz wrote:
>> On Jan 23, 2010, at 9:51 AM, Uwe Ligges wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 22.01.2010 21:26, Tal Galili wrote:
>>>> Hello dear R help group,
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> I learned recently that one can change the rotation of labels in the axis,
>>>> when using a lattice plot, for example:
>>>> 
>>>> library(lattice)
>>>> barchart(yield ~ variety , data = barley,
>>>>          groups = year,
>>>>          ylab = "Barley Yield (bushels/acre)",
>>>>          scales = list(rot = 45))
>>>> 
>>>> My question is: Is there an application of "rot" in something like barplot ?
>>>> The only solution I know of is using "las = X" (X is 1,2, or 3)
>>>> Is there another solution/hack for this ?
>>> 
>>> No, by design there is just the "las" way ...
>>> 
>>> Uwe Ligges
>> 
>> 
>> Actually, there is a method and it is in the R FAQs:
>> 
>>   http://cran.r-project.org/doc/FAQ/R-FAQ.html#How-can-I-create-rotated-axis-labels_003f
> 
> 
> Yes you are right, Marc, thank you!
> I would not call this as "by design" and it sometimes need quite a lot fiddling if font sizes change.
> 
> Best,
> Uwe


Quite right Uwe, it is not by design, but is consistent with:

  library(fortunes)
  fortune("yoda")

;-)

As you note, it took some understanding and tweaking of base graphics parameters and such to get that method to work.

Cheers,

Marc