AutoAxes

Category

Annotation

Function

Generates an axes box to enclose an object in the Image window.

Syntax

axes = AutoAxes(input, camera, labels, ticks, corners, frame, adjust,
                cursor, grid, colors, annotation, labelscale, font,
                xticklocations, yticklocations, zticklocations,
                xticklabels, yticklabels, zticklabels);

Inputs

Name	Type	Default	Description
input	object	none	object to be enclosed
camera	camera	none	viewpoint
labels	string list	no labels	labels for axes
ticks	integer or integer list	15	the approximate number of major tick marks (0 to suppress)
corners	vector list or object	input object	bounds of axes
frame	flag	0	0: only the frame of back faces  drawn 1: entire frame drawn
adjust	flag	1	0: end points not adjusted 1: end points adjusted to match  tick marks
cursor	vector	no cursor	cursor position
grid	flag	0	0: grid lines not drawn 1: grid lines drawn
colors	vector list or string list	appropriate color(s)	color(s) for annotation
annotation	string list	"all"	annotation objects to be colored
labelscale	scalar	1.0	scale factor for labels
font	string	standard	font for labels
xticklocations	scalar list	appropriate	set of x tick locations
yticklocations	scalar list	appropriate	set of y tick locations
zticklocations	scalar list	appropriate	set of z tick locations
xticklabels	string list	xticklocations	x tick labels
yticklabels	string list	yticklocations	y tick labels
zticklabels	string list	zticklocations	z tick labels

Outputs

Name	Type	Description
axes	color field	the axes box plus the input

Functional Details

If you are using the Image tool in the user interface, you should use the AutoAxes option of the Options pull-down menu in the Image window, rather than the AutoAxes module.

input	is the object around which an axes box is to be generated.
camera	is the camera used to render the object (using Display or Render). The viewpoint determines which of the box edges AutoAxes creates and which way the labels face.
labels	specifies labels for the x, y, and z axes. If input has an "axis labels" attribute, it is used as the default for labels. This attribute can be imported with the original data or it can be added using the Options module.
ticks	can be an integer list, in which case it represents the approximate number of tick marks to be used on each of the three axes. If you specify ticks as a single integer, AutoAxes uses approximately that many tick marks in total for all three axes. Set the integers to their corresponding negative values to have tick marks point outwards.
corners	specifies the extent of the axes. If this parameter is not specified, the module automatically sizes the box to enclose the specified input object. If it is specified as a list of two vectors, the module uses the points specified rather than the bounds of input to determine the extent of the axes. In that case, corners specifies the end points of the diagonal of the axes (e.g., [Xmin, Ymin, Zmin] and [Xmax, Ymax, Zmax]). Alternatively, you can specify corners as an object, and the module uses the bounds of that object to determine the size of the axes. This feature is useful, for example, to enclose varying isosurfaces based on a given data field. You can use the data field as the corners parameter to keep the axes box a constant size, even when the isosurface changes in size.
frame	specifies the kind of frame to be placed around the object. By default (frame = 0), the three back faces of the box (from the viewpoint of camera) are opaque, serving as background. If frame = 1, the module draws the outlines of the other three faces of the box as well.
adjust	adjust the end points of the axes to end exactly at the tick marks. The default is no adjustment.
cursor	specifies the position for the placement of a cursor.
grid	specifies grid lines drawn from the major tick marks.
colors	specifies the color(s) of one or more components of the axes. It can be a single color (RGB vector or name string) or a list of colors. Color names can be any of the defined color-name strings (see Color). Its effects are partly determined by the annotation parameter. If color is a single string and annotation is unspecified or is "all," then the specified color is used for all axes annotation. Otherwise, the number of colors in colors must match the number of annotation strings exactly and in a one-to-one correspondence.
annotation	combines with color to specify the color of one or more components of the axes. This parameter can be a single string or a set of strings from the following list: "all," "background," "grid," "labels," and "ticks." You may remove the background by specifying "background" and setting color to "clear."
labelscale	determines the size of the axes and tick-mark labels. For example, labelscale = 2.0 will display the labels at double their default size.
font	specifies the font for axes and tick-mark labels. The default for axes is a variable-width font ("variable"), and for tick-marks a fixed-width font ("fixed"). area gothicit_t pitman roman_ext cyril_d greek_d roman_d script_d fixed greek_s roman_dser script_s gothiceng_t italic_d roman_s variable gothicger_t italic_t roman_tser For more information, see Appendix E. "Data Explorer Fonts" in the IBM Visualization Data Explorer User's Guide.
xticklocations	list of explicit locations for tick marks on the x-axis. If specified, overrides the value as determined by the ticks parameter.
yticklocations	list of explicit locations for tick marks on the y-axis. If specified, overrides the value as determined by the ticks parameter.
xticklocations	list of explicit locations for tick marks on the z-axis. If specified, overrides the value as determined by the ticks parameter.
xticklabels	list of labels to be associated with xticklocations. If xticklabels is specified, and xticklocations is not specified, then xticklocations defaults to the integers 0 to n-1 where n is the number of items in xticklabels.
yticklabels	list of labels to be associated with yticklocations. If yticklabels is specified, and yticklocations is not specified, then yticklocations defaults to the integers 0 to n-1 where n is the number of items in yticklabels.
zticklabels	list of labels to be associated with zticklocations. If zticklabels is specified, and zticklocations is not specified, then zticklocations defaults to the integers 0 to n-1 where n is the number of items in zticklabels.

Notes:

1. If you have applied scaling to your object using the Scale module, AutoAxes disregards that scaling when labeling the axes. This allows you to display data conveniently with an aspect ratio much different from 1, and still have correct labels on the axes. AutoAxes only disregards the top-level transformation and does not disregard the transformations of the Translate or Rotate module. (The macro AutoScaleMacro in /usr/local/dx/samples/macros can be used just before Image or AutoAxes to scale the object. See also How to Avoid Stretching or Squashing Glyphs.) Because scaling is disregarded if not done at the top level, you cannot have a Collect module following the Scale module. For example, if you want to Collect a caption with an object, you should use Scale after the Collect of the object with the caption.

2. If you are setting the corners parameter as a vector list, and the input object is scaled, corners should be in units of the scaled object.

3. If corners is more restrictive than the given ticklocations, then the given locations outside the corners are not shown.

4. If corners is less restrictive than the given ticklocations, or if corners is not specified, then all given tick locations are shown, whether or not there is data there.

5. If ticklocations is specified, then the data range determines the extent of the axes, unless corners is specified, in which case the given corners are used.

6. You can change the point at which a change is made from fixed-format to scientific notation for tick labels by setting the DXAXESWIDTH environment variable (see "Other Environment Variables" in IBM Visualization Data Explorer User's Guide).

Example Visual Programs

AutoAxesSpecifyTicks  (as part of the Image tool) 

GeneralImport1.net  (as part of the Image tool) 
SIMPLE/AutoAxes.net

See Also

 Collect,  Color,  Options,  Plot