Figure 67: Unpopulated Label Menu
The Plot Labels Menu contains options used to define and place labels within the parent plotting window. The menu is is invoked directly from the Main Menu.
Putting labels within a plot can be either easy or frustrating depending on where the label is to be placed. Labeling plot axes or putting up labels aligned with plot axes is generally straight forward while trying to place a label at a specific location within a plot is often challenging. Labels within the UDFAnalysis framework are defined and output relative to plot axes, but, once output can be dragged and dropped into new locations on within the parent plot window. The final position is reflected back into the menus. Saving the menu after replacement of labels ensures that they will appear at their new location the next time the program is run from the menu. So for labels which need to be set at an exact location you just need to put it somewhere on the screen and then move it to where you want it when you first execute the menu.
Label positions are anchored to either the minimum, maximum or center position of any axis of a plot defined in the Plot Setup menu. This can be shifted to either inside or outside of the plot box which moves the label anchor point to be positioned at the edge of any axis tick marks or annotation extending in that direction. If, for example, a label is being output outside of a plot on an axis which is not numerical labeled and the tick marks extend inside the plot, then the anchor point will lie on the axis. The anchor can then be further offset in both X and Y. In practice this allows a label to be placed anywhere within the parent plot window.
To move a label move once it is displayed move the mouse cursor over the label and left click. The move the mouse to the position on the plot where the label is to be moved and right click. This will move the label to the new position which becomes the new label anchor point. The label output at the new anchor point using the justification specified in the label definition.
If you are putting labels around the edge of the parent plot window or between plots it may be necessary to add extra white space to accommodate a label using the Gap options in the Plot Setup menu.
Clicking the PLOT LABELS button in the Main Menu brings up the plot label menu shown in Figure 67.
The menu is divided into two sections. At the top is a text window with a set of controlling options to its right. The text window gives a summary of the labels which have been defined and the controlling options are used to add new label definitions as well as to edit existing ones. Labels are output in the order of the label definitions in the window. You can shift a definition around in the window by hilighting it and then moving it up or down using the arrow keys. The options below the text window constitute a work area. When a label definition is being edited its current definition is copied to the work area where changes are made and then copied back into the definition.
To create a label from an empty menu, click the ADD button. This creates a new label definition in the text window populating it with the current work area settings. You can set some or all of the work area options settings before clicking ADD but that’s not necessary. Hilight the added entry in the text window and click the EDIT button. This transfers the current label option settings into the work. Since you created the new label definition from the current work are settings you won’t see any changes. Next make whatever changes to the label definitions you want to make. When you are complete click ACCEPT to accept the changes. Some of the changes will be reflected back into the text window. Repeat the above steps until you have defined all of the labels you want to define. The figure below shows a populated Plot Labels menu in the process of being edited.
The following describes the options found below the label text window.
The label. This can contain both ASCII and UDF-8 (unicode) characters and data within internal variables. UDF-8 characters are specified as \u# where # is the hex UTF-8 designation. You can also right click within the label box which will bring up the Symbol Picker Menu which contains a number of predefines symbols and characters which can be added to any label.
There are 3 predefined labels which can be output. The label _S_TiMe_ translates to the beginning time of a plot as Year Day Hr:Mn:Sec.Msec. The _E_TiMe_ label does the same to the ending time of a plot. The label _SE_TiMe is equivalent to _S_TiMe_ TO _E_TiMe. These find use both in time based plots where the initial time of the plot may not be labeled on the axis and in non-time based plots to show the time range covered by a plot.
Data stored in internal variables can included in a label by specifying it as $V__Fmt where V is the variable to be output and __Fmt is an optional format statement to use when converting the variable to text. If omitted the variable is output using the format %s. In the label the variable specification must be space delineated unless it is in the leading or ending position. NOTE: the __ in the format is 2 underscores.
As an example, suppose you have run a fit on a set of data to a first order polynomial. The fit information was returned in the variable fP. You want to include both the slope of the fit (the fit coefficient at array index 1) and the goodness of fit parameter as labels to a plot. The values should be output with three decimal places of accuracy. These labels can be stated as:
”SLOPE = $fP(1)__%.3f”
”CHI SQ = $fP(gFit)__%.3f”
The identifier of the plot the label position is computed relative to. This was set in the Plot Setup menu when the plot was defined. If a label is manually repostioned in a plot this will be set to _PW_ to indicate that the label is being output at an absolute position in the parent plot window. In this case neither the Anchor or Pos options are used, the Axis option is used to determine the direction the label is to be drawn (horizontal or vertical) and the X-Off and Y-Off hold the absolute anchor location of the label in the parent plot window.
The axis against which the label is to be output. This can be the BOTTOM or TOP X axes or the LEFT or RIGHT Y axes. Labels output against a Y axis are output vertically and those against an X axis horizontally. This option is not used if the PlotID options is _PW_.
The anchor position of the label along the selected Axis. This can be at the axis MINIMUM, CENTER, or MAXIMUM position. This option is not used if the PlotID options is _PW_.
Indicates if the label anchor position it is to be positioned INSIDE or OUTSIDE of the plot box.
The label justification with respect to the anchor point. Labels can be left, right, or center justified. Left justification places the right-hand edge of the text against the anchor position (text is to the left of the anchor position), right justification text places the left-hand edge of the text against the anchor position (text is to the right of the anchor position) and center centers the text on the anchor point.
When PlotID holds a plot identifier associated with plot defined in the Plot Setup menu this is an offset to move the label anchor point in the X direction. If the label is associated with a Y axis then positive offsets move the anchor point away from the axis otherwise positive offsets move the anchor point to the right and negative offsets move the anchor point to the left. If the PlotID options is _PW_ then this option holds the absolute X position of the label in the parent plotting window.
When PlotID holds a plot identifier associated with plot defined in the Plot Setup menu this is an offset to move the label anchor point in the Y direction. The distance moved is given in units of characters. If the label is associated with an X axis then positive offsets move the anchor point away from the axis otherwise positive offsets move the anchor point upward and negative offsets move the anchor point downwards. If the PlotID options is _PW_ then this option holds the absolute Y position of the label in the parent plotting window.
The label size in points.
The color of the label. This is set through the Color Picker Menu. Click the color to bring up the menu. The default is white.
Set to ON is if the label is to output in a bold font otherwise set to OFF.
The buttons to the right of text windows allow for the addition, modification and removal of selected label definitions. Their actions are described below.
Adds a new label definition in the text window. For a new label definition to be added a plot definition must have been selected for editing The new label will be associated with that plot. Adding simply takes the current label work area option settings and assigns them to the new plot or label.
Edit the hilighted label definition. This copies the current label options into the work area where they can be modified. After making any changes click the ACCEPT button to copy them back into the label definition and update its the text window entry.
Delete a hilighted label. If this is a plot definition then its associate label definitions will also be deleted.
Accepts the changes made in an edit. This copies the work area setting back into the label settings and makes them the current label settings. It also updates the definition in the text window.
Resets all of the options in the work area to their default values. If an label is being edited this does not activate the changes until they are ACCEPTED.
