NAME

PDL::Graphics::Prima::Axis - class for axis handling

SYNOPSIS

use PDL::Graphics::Prima::Simple;

# Specify details for an axis during plot construction:
plot(
    -data => ds::Pair($x, $y),
    
    # Details for x-axis:
    x => {
        # Scaling can be either sc::Log or sc::Linear (the default)
        scaling => sc::Log,
        # Labels are optional:
        label => 'Time [s]',
    },
    # Details for y-axis:
    y => {
        # explicitly specify min/max if you like
        min => 0,
        max => 100,
        onChangeLabel => sub {
            my $self = shift;
            print "You changed the label to ", $self->label, "\n";
        },
    },
);

# Get the current x-min:
my $x_min = $plot->x->min;
# Get the x-max and inquire if it's autoscaling:
my ($x_min, $is_auto) = $plot->x->min;
# Set the current y-min to -5:
$plot->y->min(-5);
# Turn on x min autoscaling:
$plot->x->min(lm::Auto);
# Stop autoscaling, use the current max (deprecated):
$plot->x->max($plot->x->max);

# Note: All changes to min/max values
# fire the ChangeBounds notification

# Get the x-label:
my $x_label = $plot->x->label;
# Set the x-label:
$plot->x->label($new_label);

# Note: All changes to the label
# fire the ChangeLabel notification

# Conversion among real, relative, and pixel positions,
# useful for plotType drawing operations
$x_rels = $plot->x->reals_to_relatives($xs);
$xs = $plot->x->relatives_to_reals($x_rels);
$x_pixels = $plot->x->relatives_to_pixels($x_rels);
$x_rels = $plot->x->pixels_to_relatives($x_pixels);
$x_pixels = $plot->x->reals_to_pixels($xs);
$xs = $plot->x->pixels_to_reals($x_pixels);

# Get the current scaling object/class:
$x_scaling = $plot->x->scaling;
# Set the current scaling object/class:
$plot->x->scaling(sc::Log);

# Note: All changes to the scaling
# fire the ChangeScaling notification

DESCRIPTION

PDL::Graphics::Prima handles the axes with full Prima objects for both the x- and the y-axes. Although the current implementation is not terribly flexible, it is still quite useful and poweful, and ripe for extensions and improvements.

recalculate_edge_requirements

Calculates the edge requirements to draw tick labels based on the current min/max. This does not initiate an autoscaling recalculation, precisely because it is meant to be used within that calculation. An identical calculation is performed during drawing operations (though that may change in the future).

update_edges

Updates the cached edge data and initiates a recomputation of the autoscaling, if appropriate. This is usually triggered by a window resize, a new or modified dataset, or a label change, and it does not change

This function's semantics (or even its presence) is likely to change in the future, so do not depend on its behavior unless you are willing to keep on top of updates to this library.

Properties

min, max

Gets/sets the the individual extrema. The return value depends upon the calling context. If requested in scalar context, you simply get the current calculated extreme value. If requested in list context, you get two return values, the first being the extremum and the second being a boolean value indicating whether or not the Auto flag is set.

minmax

Pair accessor. You can set the min/max values in one shot with this function, and you will get a two-element list if you call it as a getter. For example:

my $piddle = get_data;
$graph_widget->x->minmax($piddle->minmax);

# ...

print "The x min/max values are ", join(', ', $graph_widget->x->minmax), "\n";

Note that if you are setting both the min and the max to autoscaling, calling minmax(lm::Auto, lm::Auto) is faster than calling min(lm::Auto) followed by max(lm::Auto).

scaling

Gets or returns the axis' scaling object. You can change the scaling using this example with something like this:

# Switch to logarithmic scaling:
$widget->x->scaling(sc::Log);

Note, however, that some scalings allow values that are not permissible in others. For example, Linear scaling allows negative values but Logarithmic scaling does not. At the moment, if you try to switch to Logarithmic scaling without ensuring that the current min and max are positive, this will die telling you that negative values are not allowed.

For more details about scaling, see PDL::Graphics::Prima::Scaling.

label

Gets or sets the axis' label. You can remove the label by passing an empty string or by explicitly passing an undefined value. Adding a label will cause the viewing rectangle to shrink so that your widget can accomodate the label dimensions.

NOTIFICATIONS

Axis widgets provide a handful of notifications that are useful for handling user or other interaction.

ChangeBounds

This event is fired immediately after the bounds are changed, whether the change is due to the user's mouse interaction or by a setter call of "min", "max", or "minmax".

ChangeScaling

This event is fired immediately after the axis' scaling type is changed (i.e. from linear to logarithmic).

ChangeLabel

This event is fired immediately after setting, changing, or removing the axis' label.

METHODS

reals_to_relatives, relatives_to_reals

Signature: $axis->reals_to_relatives($data, [$min, $max])

Converts real values (i.e. numbers in the set of reals, as opposed to the set of complex numbers, or integers) to their relative pixel positions within the plot window, where by relative, I mean the result is a number between 0 and 1. This takes the scaling (logarithmic, linear, etc) into account. The min and the max are optional and the axis's min and max values will be used if a min and max are not supplied.

Actually, it can be less than 0 or greater than 1. If you have a real number that is less than the plot's minimum value, it will have a negative relative value, and if you have a real number that is greater than the plot's maximum value, it will have a relative number greater than 1. This is probably better understood through a few examples.

Suppose your graph has a min/max of 0 and 100. For linear scaling, a value of 50 would have a relative position of 0.5, a value of 10 would have a relative position of 0.1, 200 would have a relative position of 2, and -10 would have a relative position of -0.1.

If you do not provide a min or a max value, the axis's current min and max are used by default.

pixels_to_relatives, relatives_to_pixels

Converts relative plot positions to their on-widget pixel locations. The widget's pixel origin is taken to be zero at the lower left corner of the widget, so this both rescales the numbers and includes the appropriate offset.

reals_to_pixels, pixels_to_reals

A convenience function to convert real values directly to on-widget pixel locations. This simply combines the previous two documented functions.

draw

Draws the axis, including the bounding box, ticks, and tick labels

RESPONSIBILITIES

The axes of a plot are responsible for knowing and doing the following:

knowing min/max: Axes know the min and max values, and whether or not the plot is autoscaling in their axis.
knowing axis labels: Axis labels are the property of the axis, not the plot. This is important for the next item...
reporting the space it needs for tick and axis labels: Both tick labels and axis labels (descriptions) are known to the axis, so it is responsible for determining and reporting (upon request) the amount of space it needs to draw these items.
tracking
converting data <-> pixels: Utilizing the Scaling object/class and knowing the data's min and max, the axis can coordinate the calculation of data values to relative positions to pixel offsets, and back, important for drawing operations and for autoscaling calculations.
drawing tick marks: Although the Scaling object/class determines the tick mark locations, the axis itself is responsible for drawing them.

The axes of a plot are not responsible for knowing or doing the following:

mouse interaction: All user interaction with the mouse is handled by the plot object itself
calculating tick mark locations: The Scaling object or class that is held by the axis is responsible for calculating the locations of the tick marks

TODO

better autoscaling for function datasets

The ds::Func dataset does not get proper y-axis spacing. This needs to be figured out an fixed.

tick customization

Lots more customization, including inward vs outward tick marks, more automatic tick algorithms (including customizable ticks), or even no ticks. Actually, the tick algorithms are controlled by the Scaling object/class, not the Axis class. But still. Other tick properties, like the font size and style, need to be adjustable.

hard minima/maxima

Add abs_min, abs_max, etc, which means "*Never* make this axis less than than (or greater than) specified value.

multiple axes

Allow for multiple x- and y-axes. This is likely to impact PDL::Graphics::Prima more than this module, but the upshot is that instead of calling an axis x or y, any key prefixed with x or y would be assumed to be an axis specification. This way, you could have:

plot(
    ...
    x_power => axis::log('x'
        , on => 'bottom'
        , label => 'Power (W)'
        , x_decibels => sub {
            # computes the decibels when the min/max Power is changed:
            my ($self, $power) = @_;
            # Assume a normalizatin of 1 Watt:
            return log($power)/log(10);
        },
    ),
    x_decibels => axis::linear('x'
        , on => 'top'
        , label => 'Decibels (dB)'
        , x_intensity => sub {
            # Computes the power when the min/max decibels are changed:
            my ($self, $decibels) = @_;
            return 10**$decibels;
        },
    ),
);

This would have logarithmic Power scaling tick marks on the bottom axis and linear Decibel scaling tick marks on the top, with proper conversion functions so that if the min or max of one changes, the min/max of the other is properly changed as well. However, this code sketch suggests an interface that is far from finalized, and the implementation details (especially regarding autoscaling and collation) will require some major work in order to make this function correctly.

special drawing

When drawing, I need to have the axes query the Scaling to see if any special drawing needs to happen. I am thinking at the moment about broken axes.

AUTHOR

David Mertens (dcmertens.perl@gmail.com)

ADDITIONAL MODULES

Here is the full list of modules in this distribution:

PDL::Graphics::Prima: Defines the Plot widget for use in Prima applications
PDL::Graphics::Prima::Axis: Specifies the behavior of axes (but not the scaling)
PDL::Graphics::Prima::DataSet: Specifies the behavior of DataSets
PDL::Graphics::Prima::Limits: Defines the lm:: namespace
PDL::Graphics::Prima::Palette: Specifies a collection of different color palettes
PDL::Graphics::Prima::PlotType: Defines the different ways to visualize your data
PDL::Graphics::Prima::ReadLine: Encapsulates all interaction with the Term::ReadLine family of modules.
PDL::Graphics::Prima::Scaling: Specifies different kinds of scaling, including linear and logarithmic
PDL::Graphics::Prima::Simple: Defines a number of useful functions for generating simple and not-so-simple plots

LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT

This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

To install PDL::Graphics::Prima, copy and paste the appropriate command in to your terminal.

cpanm

cpanm PDL::Graphics::Prima

CPAN shell

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install PDL::Graphics::Prima

For more information on module installation, please visit the detailed CPAN module installation guide.

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