set_xaxis

Synopsis

Modifies the attributes of an existing x axis.

set_xaxis(attributes)
set_xaxis(id, attributes)

Description

The function arguments.

The set_xaxis command sets the specified attributes to the provided values. The modified x axis becomes current. To modify a y axis, use the set_axis or set_yaxis command.

Customizing the Axis

There are several attributes that control the characteristics of the x-axis. The set_xaxis command may be used to modify the attribute values of an existing x-axis at any time during a ChIPS session. See "ahelp attributes" and "ahelp setget" for more general information.

If multiple attributes are being set simultaneously and one of them fails, the entire command will fail and the x-axis will not be modified.

Please see the "Axis Preferences and Attributes" section below the examples for a list of the axis attributes.

Axis labels

The x.label.angle, x.label.text, y.label.angle, and y.label.text fields allow you to both retrieve the label text by saying

xlbl = get_xaxis("ax1", "x.label.text")
ylbl = get_yaxis("ay1", "y.label.text")

or to change it with calls like

set_yaxis(['y.label.text', 'Flux (erg/cm^s/s)'])

Note that the "x." or "y." suffix must be used, even when using the get_xaxis/yaxis or set_xaxis/yaxis routines. The set_plot_xlabel(), set_plot_ylabel(), and get_axis_text() routines can also be used to change the label text.

Examples

Example 1

chips> set_xaxis(["color", "blue", "thickness", 2, "tickformat",
"%0.0z"])

Using attribute/value pairs, set the x-axis color to blue, the thickness to 2, and the tickformat style to use n * 10^x notation.

The "%0.0z" tickformat is ideal for logarithmically-scaled axes, since it suppresses the leading "1 x" from the label if all major tick marks are at an exact power of 10.

Example 2

chips> avals = {"color": "blue", "thickness": 2, "tickformat": "%0.0z"}
chips> set_xaxis(avals)

This is a repeat of the previous example but this time using a dictionary, rather than a list of attribute/value pairs, for defining the new values.

Example 3

chips> set_xaxis(["tickformat", "ra"])

Change the current X axis to label the axis using sexagesimal hour notation.

The following call is equivalent - assuming "ax1" is the name of the current X axis:

chips> set_axis("ax1", ["tickformat", "ra"])

Example 4

chips> set_xaxis(["*.color", "blue"])

Change all the color attributes of the X axis - such as the label and tick mark colors - to blue.

Example 5

chips> av = {}
chips> av['x.label.text'] = r'\nu^\gamma'
chips> av['x.label.angle'] = 45
chips> av['label.size'] = 20
chips> set_xaxis(av)

Here we set the X-axis label text, angle, and size. An angle of 45 means that the text is rotated from the X axis; the default angle for X axes is 0, i.e. parallel to the X axis.

Note that the label size does not need the "x." prefix, but the label text and angle do. As the label text contains the '\' character for LaTeX symbols, we use a r character before the string to prevent them from being used as escape characters (see the String Literal section of the Python documentation for more information).

Example 6

chips> s = ChipsAxis()
chips> s.color = "steelblue"
chips> s.ticklabel.angle = 45
chips> s.ticklabel.halign = "right"
chips> s.majorgrid.visible = True
chips> set_xaxis("ax2", s)

Populate the "s" structure with the attribute values, then use it to set axis ax2 to have visible major grids, right-justified tick labels rotated at 45 degrees, and a steelblue baseline color.

Axis Preferences and Attributes

The attributes associated with axes are given in the following table, where the "Set?" column refers to whether the attribute can be changed using the set_axis() command. To change the axis preference settings prepend "axis." to the attribute name.

The label.angle field

The label.angle field was removed in CIAO 4.6; the x.label.angle and y.label angle fields should be used instead.

Bugs

See the bugs pages on the ChIPS website for an up-to-date listing of known bugs.

See Also

axes

add_axis, bind_axes, current_axis, delete_axis, display_axis, display_major_ticks, display_minor_ticks, get_axis, get_xaxis, get_yaxis, hide_axis, hide_major_ticks, hide_minor_ticks, lin_scale, log_scale, move_axis, reverse_axes, set_arbitrary_tick_positions, set_axis, set_yaxis, shuffle_axis, unbind_axes

concepts

setget

utilities

set_current