Once instance of the Axis Definition Menu is spawned for each Plot Definition Menu. The menu is created silently that is, it does not pop immediately up onto the screen. It is added to the Menu List in the lower section of the Control Panel and can be brought to the foreground from that listing.
This menu contains all of the definable axis related options for the Plot Definition with which it is associated. All options are available to all axes which include the four principle plot axes (Left-Y Axis Right-Y Axis, Top-X Axis and Bottom-X Axis) as well as the annotated axis on any displayed color bar and 1D Cut plots. The latter are generated in conjunction with either Contour Plots or plots which have undergone Contour Smoothing.
The default Axis Definition Menu prior to any selection of UDF sources appears as.
CLOSE closes the Axes Definition Menu window.
MINIMUM VALUE associated with the axis. This field is ignored in the case of the X-axis when the X-axis is based on time. In addition this field may be automatically set in response to selections of other menu options. If the axis is specified to be a function of either Theta or Phi it is set to -90 or -180 respectively. If the binning along the axis is selected to be User Defined then this field is set to value assigned as the minimum bin value. Lastly this field may be set when the source is selected if suitable units can be obtained from the PIDF.
MAXIMUM VALUE associated with the axis. This field is ignored in the case of the X-axis when the X-axis is based on time. In addition this field may be automatically set in response to selections of other menu options. If the axis is specified to be a function of either Theta or Phi it is set to 90 or 180 respectively. If the binning along an Axis is selected to be User Defined then this field is set to value assigned as the maximum bin value. Lastly this field may be set when the source is selected if suitable units can be obtained from the PIDF.
SCALING defines how the axis is scaled. This field is ignored in the case of the X-axis when the X-axis is based on time. The options are:
| Option | Definition |
|---|---|
| LINEAR | Axis is scaled linearly. |
| LOG | Axis is scaled logarithmically. With this selected neither the maximum nor minimum axis values can be less than or equal to zero. |
If the axis is specified to be a function of either Theta or Phi the field is set to Linear. If the binning along the axis is selected to be User Defined then the field is set to the scaling used in the binning. Lastly this field may be set when the source is selected if suitable units can be obtained from the PIDF.
MAJOR TICKS sets the number of intervals into which the major ticks break an axis. Note: This is not the number of major ticks which is always one less than the number of intervals. This field is ignored for the X-Axis when that axis is defined to be time-based.
MAJOR TICK LENGTH determines the length of the major ticks along the axis. Valid values run from 0 to 32767 and a value of 1024 is approximately the width of the plot.
MAJOR TICK FORMAT determines how the major tick marks are output along the axis. The options are:
| Option | Definition |
|---|---|
| INSIDE | The tick marks are drawn to the inside (plot side) of the axis. |
| OUTSIDE | The tick marks are drawn to the outside (anti-plot side) of the axis. |
| STRADDLE | The tick marks are drawn centered on the plot axis. |
| SPAN | The tick marks are drawn from the axis left to the right Y axes or the top to bottom X axes. |
MINOR TICKS sets the number of intervals into which the minor ticks intervals are broken. Note: This is not the number of minor ticks which is always one less than the number of intervals. This field is ignored for the X-Axis when that axis is defined to be time-based.
MINOR TICK LENGTH determines the length of the minor ticks along the axis. Valid values run from 0 to 32767 and a value of 1024 is approximately the width of the plot.
MINOR TICK FORMAT determines how the minor tick marks are output along the axis. The options are:
| Option | Definition |
|---|---|
| INSIDE | The tick marks are drawn to the inside (plot side) of the axis. |
| OUTSIDE | The tick marks are drawn to the outside (anti-plot side) of the axis. |
| STRADDLE | The tick marks are drawn centered on the plot axis. |
| SPAN | The tick marks are drawn from the axis left to the right Y axes or the top to bottom X axes. |
NUMERICAL LABEL SIZE sets the size of any numerical labels associated with the major ticks along the axis. Sizes run from 3 to 32767 with character size increasing with value. As a general rule of thumb 12 to 25 is a good size. At a value of 1000 a single character will completely fill the plot window.
NUMERICAL LABEL FORMAT sets the output format for the numerical labels associated with the major ticks along an axis. The formats are identical to the C language output format specifications with the exception of:
Log output is given as 10exponent. Expon outputs the exponent. Only .aE output is similar to standard C %.ae format with the exception that the exponential is output as x10exponent. There is always one number before the decimal point. The .a is not necessary.
NUMERICAL AUTOLEVELS sets the autoleveling feature of the axis numerical labeling to OFF and ON. When autoleveling is on, numerical labels will be output for each major tick provided numerical labels are to be output. The labels can be output on multiple levels (lines), the levels being changed whenever a label would overlap a previously output label on the same level. When autoleveling is turned off, any label which would overlap a previously output label is not output. Overlap is not checked for time outputs.
NUMERICAL LABEL OFFSET set the distance from the axis to the first line of numerical labels. The distance is given in units of character height at the current numerical label size. A value of .75 is then .75 of the current character height.
NUMERICAL LABEL SPACING defines the distance between adjacent lines of output numerical labels. The distance is given in units of character height at the current numerical label size. This option is only applicable when the NUMERICAL AUTOLEVELS option for the axis is set to ON.
NUMERICAL LABEL GAP defines the minimum acceptable gap between adjacent numerical labels on the same output level (line). Labels with a smaller gap will either placed on a new output level or dropped depending on the setting of the NUMERICAL AUTOLEVELS option.
NUMERICAL LABEL SKIP specifies the number numerical labels to skip between output labels. A value of 0 will output all possible labels. A value of 1 outputs every other numerical label along the axis, a value of 2 every third label, and so on.
TEXT LABEL SIZE sets the size of any text labels associated with the axis. Sizes run from 3 to 32767 with character size increasing with value. As a general rule of thumb 12 to 25 is a good size. At a value of 1000 a single character will completely fill the plot window. Standard axis text labels are the axis definition and unit labels.
TEXT LABEL OFFSET sets the distance from the last line of numerical labels or from the axis if there are not numerical labels, to the first line of text labels. The distance is given in units of character height at the current text label size. A value of .75 is then .75 of the current character height. Standard axis text labels are the axis definition and unit labels.
TEXT LABEL SPACING sets the distance between adjacent levels of text along an axis. The distance is given in units of character height at the current text label size. Standard axis text labels are the axis definition and unit labels.
The following examples show some of the effects obtainable through the Axis Definition settings.
A sample menu showing the minimum and maximum settings for the Left-Y axis. Right-Y axis are left in the default configuration and the X-axis values are not set. The latter does not matter as the X-Axis is based on time.
The plot produced is:
Tick Mark and Label Size Options
Make the following changes in the Axis Definition menu associated with the the upper plot shown above.
The upper plot when compared to the lower plot, which still has its Axis Definition settings in the default state, illustrates the option effects.
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