[R] The width argument of stem()

[Marcin Kozak]

Dear all,

The help page of stem() says that the width argument gives the desired
width of plot. However, I cannot come up with any idea what this width
stays for. This becomes especially difficult if you run these couple
of examples:

The decimal point is 3 digit(s) to the right of the |

   0 | 00000000000000000000000000000111111222338
   2 | 07
   4 | 5
   6 | 8
   8 | 4
  10 | 5
  12 |
  14 |
  16 | 0

> stem(islands, width = 0)

  The decimal point is 3 digit(s) to the right of the |

   0 | +41
   2 | +2
   4 | +1
   6 | +1
   8 | +1
  10 | +1
  12 |
  14 |
  16 | +1


The ableve examples are  clear, but the below ones are not clear for me:

> stem(islands, width = 10)

  The decimal point is 3 digit(s) to the right of the |

   0 | +31
   2 |
   4 |
   6 |
   8 |
  10 |
  12 |
  14 |
  16 |

Note that for width = 10 there are only 10 leaves while there are 48
observations. In fact, taking width = 1, you got 47 leaves; width = 2,
46  leaves, and so on. Look at width = 20:

> stem(islands, width = 20)

  The decimal point is 3 digit(s) to the right of the |

   0 | 00000000+21
   2 | 07
   4 | 5
   6 | 8
   8 | 4
  10 | 5
  12 |
  14 |
  16 | 0

Now we have 36 leaves.

Could anyone pleaase clarify what is going on here?

Kind regards,
Marcin