[R] plot.new() and grid functions in multipage pdfs

[Ali Tofigh]

On Wed, Oct 17, 2012 at 4:08 PM, ilai <keren at math.montana.edu> wrote:
> On Wed, Oct 17, 2012 at 11:10 AM, Ali Tofigh <alix.tofigh at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> my problem is that I usually have no choice but to mix grid and base
>> graphics.
>
> What does that have to do with the answer you got ? did you even try it ?
> here it is (again) but this time mixing base+grid:

The answer I got was that "base and grid graphics don't usually play
well together". I replied that I don't have a choice. So my reply has
everything to do with the answer I got. And yes, of course I tried. I
tried not using plot.new() and using grid.newpage() instead. Contrary
to what you think, that does not always work. Below is a minimal example that
you requested.

It seems that I have to use a mix of plot.new() and grid.newpage().
But if base graphics and grid don't play well together, is there
another option?

library(grid)
library(gridBase)

# plot a rectangle on the right side and a simple plot on the left.
my.plot <- function() {
    pushViewport(viewport(layout = grid.layout(nrow=1, ncol=2)))
    pushViewport(viewport(layout.pos.row = 1, layout.pos.col = 2))
    grid.rect(c(0.25, 0.75), width=c(0.5, 0.5), gp=gpar(fill=c("blue", "red")))
    popViewport()

    pushViewport(viewport(layout.pos.row = 1, layout.pos.col = 1))
    par(new=TRUE, fig=gridFIG())
    plot(1:10)
    popViewport()
    popViewport()
}

## incorrect first plot
pdf("test1.pdf")
my.plot(); grid.newpage(); my.plot()
dev.off()

## incorrect second plot
pdf("test2.pdf")
plot.new(); my.plot(); plot.new(); my.plot()
dev.off()

## this works as intended with a mix of plot.new() and grid.newpage
pdf("test3.pdf")
plot.new(); my.plot(); grid.newpage(); my.plot()
dev.off()

/ali

>
> require(gridBase)
> pdf("test.pdf")
>
> grid.rect(gp = gpar(fill="blue"))
> grid.newpage()
> grid.rect(gp=gpar(fill='blue'))
> # mix in base+grid. adapted from ?gridPAR in gridBase
> par(fig=gridFIG(), new=TRUE)
>  plot(1:10)
> # plot.new()  # uncomment to see it's unnecessary
> plot(1:10)
>  pushViewport(viewport(width=0.5, height=0.5)) ;
> grid.rect(gp=gpar(col="grey", lwd=2))
> plot(rnorm(10))
> grid.newpage()
> grid.rect(gp=gpar(fill='blue'))
> dev.off()
>
>>
>> I use grid as much as possible, but for example for plotting
>> dendrograms, I don't know how to plot them other than using base
>> graphics. So I use the functions in gridBase to produce those plots.
>
>
> Then you may have noticed the dendrogram examples in the gridBase docs don't
> use plot.new() either but use lattice for the layout.
>
>
>> In order to do that I have to call plot.new() at some point in my code
>> to initialize the base graphics, and that can mess things up.
>
>
>>
>> No. See example above or provide a minimal reproducible example that does
>> require it.
>
>
>
>>
>> /ali
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Oct 9, 2012 at 4:00 PM, Greg Snow <538280 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > The plot.new function is for base graphics and base and grid graphics
>> > don't usually play well together.  You probably want to use
>> > grid.newpage function instead.
>> >
>> > On Tue, Oct 9, 2012 at 1:26 PM, Ali Tofigh <alix.tofigh at gmail.com>
>> > wrote:
>> >> Hi,
>> >>
>> >> when using the grid package, I've come across this weird behaviour
>> >> where a call to plot.new() will start a new page for a multi-page pdf,
>> >> but then the margins will somehow behave strangely for all but the
>> >> first page: here is some code:
>> >>
>> >> pdf("test.pdf"); plot.new(); grid.rect(gp = gpar(fill="blue"));
>> >> plot.new();  grid.rect(gp = gpar(fill="blue")); dev.off()
>> >>
>> >> The first page is filled completely with a blue rectangle, but in the
>> >> second page, the margins clip the rectangle. This is causing me
>> >> considerable headache, as I rely on many grid functions for plotting.
>> >> This seems like a bug to me, or is there something about the behaviour
>> >> of plot.new() and/or grid functions that I don't understand?
>> >>
>> >> /Ali
>> >>
>> >> ______________________________________________
>> >> R-help at r-project.org mailing list
>> >> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
>> >> PLEASE do read the posting guide
>> >> http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
>> >> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Gregory (Greg) L. Snow Ph.D.
>> > 538280 at gmail.com
>>
>> ______________________________________________
>> R-help at r-project.org mailing list
>> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help
>> PLEASE do read the posting guide
>> http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
>> and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
>
>