Pgfplots version 1.8 released

Hello users of pgfplots,

I am glad to announce the release of version 1.8!

Note that the version on CTAN is version 1.8, even if it still displays 
version number 1.7 (probably some missing database update on CTAN).

Attaches you find the release notes for version 1.8.

Kind regards

Christian

1.8:
- new feature: tight bounding box even if the axis is no box and bb 
excludes clip path
- new feature: mesh/color input=explicit
- new feature: shader=interp now has drivers for both dvipdfmx and xetex
- new feature: support for more color spaces in colormap definitions
- new feature: shader=interp and device-level gray colorspaces
- new feature: 'contour/contour dir=[xyz]' to draw contours in different 
directions
- new feature: statistics library with boxplot handler (both boxplot 
prepared and automatic computation)
- fixed bug: 3d centered axis lines and label placement (requires 
compat=1.8 or higher)
- fixed bug: axis lines and placement of labels, tick scale labels, and 
reversed axes
     (requires compat=1.8 or higher)
- fixed bug: filtering out coords from a mesh plot failed

Scatter plot: using a discrete/sampled colormap

Dear all,

I hevaily use pgfplots for preparing graphs. I encountered a problem I 
was not able to solve yet. While it is possible to use the key "sampled" 
for the colorbar the respective data points in the plot are still 
linearly mapped onto the provided colormap. I have not found an option 
yet to force a discrete colormapping for the scatter plot, i.e. one 
color for a range of values instead of color interpolation. I hope you 
can provide some advice on how to solve this issue.

Best regards
Mike

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automatically selecting some non-overlapping tick labels

Hi,

I wrote a program to generate plots.  It specifies the tick labels
that pgfplots should use.  This works great except when I have too
many ticks.  In this case, the labels overlap.  Is it possible to have
pgfplots select, say, the maximum number of nicely spaced tick labels
between which there is at least 1em of space?  Right now, I have a
hacky solution that selects at most 8 tick labels, but sometimes even
this is too many.

Thanks,

Neal

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Unusual warning messages

Hi,

AFAIK, usual warning messages provided by packages start by:

Package <package name> Warning:

Those provided by pgfplots start with an extra exclamation mark
(followed by a space):

! Package pgfplots Warning:

Some TeX editors, for instance TeXstudio, parse the log file looking
for, I guess:

<beginning of the line>Package <something> Warning:

in order to filter warnings.

Hence, instead of (cf. line 33 of pgfplotscore.code.tex):

\def\pgfplots <at> warning#1{\pgfplots <at> message{! Package pgfplots Warning:
#1}}%

what about a regular:

\def\pgfplots <at> warning#1{\PackageWarning{pgfplots}{#1}{}}%

as that's already the case for pgfplots errors:

\def\pgfplots <at> error#1{\PackageError{pgfplots}{#1}{}}%

x coord inv trafo/.code & logarithmic axes

Hi,

I'm using x coord inv trafo/.code to transform seconds into more
(human) meaningful labels.  For instance, my macro turns 7000 seconds
into '2h'.  This works correctly for normal axes, however, if I use a
logarithmic axes, my macro is passed the exponent rather than the
value.  How do I programmatically determine what I am being passed?

A minimal example follows.

Thanks for your help,

Neal

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{pgfplots}

% number
% threshold
% divisor
% suffix
% else
\def\secondspphelper#1#2#3#4#5{%
  \pgfmathfloatparsenumber{#1}%
  \edef\num{\pgfmathresult}%
  \pgfmathfloatparsenumber{#2}%
  \edef\threshold{\pgfmathresult}%
  \pgfmathfloatparsenumber{#3}%

Re: pgfplots manual

Dear Dr. Zolili Ndlela,

this is a bug, probably in the viewers, see

http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/79931/does-the-pgfplots-manual-crash-your-preview-and-or-skim-app-on-osx

I am unsure how to proceed here as I the success of acroread and all
linux viewers in displaying that stuff indicates that it (the
pgfplots.pdf) is correct.

And I cannot really experiment since I do not have the viewers at hand (?).

The solution for you would be to use acrobat reader to open the manual.

I would have an idea how to change some shading drivers such that the
pdf becomes simpler. Perhaps I can generate such a version and send it
so you, if you are willing to experiment.

Best regards

Christian

2013/1/11 Ndlela, Zolili <zndlela@...>:
> Dr. Feuersanger :
>
> I have come across a problem which might "infect" your user documentation,
> Manual for Package PGFPLOTS.
>
> Over the last few days I have tried, unsuccessfully, to compile a Ternary
> plot from examples. [Note: i have been able to compile!]

Re: pgfplots Frage zu Legendeneinträgen

Dear Nils Schuhardt,

thanks for your request! Since it might be of interest to a larger 
audience, I cc'ed the pgfplots mailing list.

The question was "How can I use a different marker size for the legend, 
assuming that my plot has a 'mark size=0.01mm' set?" .

The answer is to rely on the style 'every legend image post' (or its 
equivalent short-cut key 'legend image post style').

Here is a suitable minimal example:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pgfplots}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
     \begin{axis}
         \addplot+[
             mark=+,
             blue,
             only marks,
             mark size={0.1mm},
             legend image post style={mark size=1mm},
         ]
         {x};
         \addlegendentry{$x$}
     \end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}

lualatex and plotting file

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Dates as input coordinates with seconds

Hello,

in technological experiences, it is frequent to collect data every
second (or every 2 seconds, etc.) and that the data acquisition
softwares record the dates as absolute ones of the form:

2012-11-26 15:40:31
2012-11-26 15:40:32
2012-11-26 15:40:33
etc.

If I'm right, this format is currently unavailable (section "4.20.2
Dates as Input Coordinates"). Would it be possible to make pgfplots
deals with dates as input coordinates with seconds?

Thanks in anticipation.

Best regards.
--

-- 
Denis

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Layout of bar plots

Hi,

I have some questions on the layout of bar plots (xbar) I couldn't
find a solution so far. Below follows a minimal working example
(MWE). I have many data to plot which is why I'm looking for
automated solutions.

1. How can I use comma in “symbolic y coords”? (second plot MWE:
“Waschen, Reinigen” instead of “Waschen/Reinigen”)

2. Can “symbolic y coords” automatically be filled with the content
of a table row?

3. I do not understand how “text width” in “yticklabel style” works.
Increasing it shifts the whole plot to the right but it does not
seem to increase the text width for the labels; at least there's a
lot of white space on the left of the plot while there's enough text
to fill the white space.

4. How can I automatically adjust vertical spacing? Both plots in
the MWE have the same height and width. But the second plot needed
more space.---JFTR: I already asked a similar question here:
http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/84073/space-between-bars-height-and-width-of-the-plot

%Minimal working example: --->
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{%
  pgfplots%
  ,filecontents%
  ,fontspec%
}
\usepackage[ngerman]{babel}

\begin{document}

\begin{filecontents}{drei-balken.dat}
6, zu groß
59, genau passend
3, zu klein
\end{filecontents}
\begin{tikzpicture}
  \begin{axis}[%
    xbar, %
    symbolic y coords={zu groß,genau passend,zu klein},%
    ytick=data,%
    nodes near coords,%
    nodes near coords align={horizontal},%
    ]
    \addplot table[col sep=comma,header=false] {drei-balken.dat};
  \end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}

\begin{filecontents}{vierzehn-balken.dat}
57, Waschen/Reinigen
50, Obst abholen
47, Verteilen
44, Zerkleinern
43, Abfall entsorgen
38, Schälen
38, Arbeitsgeräte säubern
5, Sonstiges
2, Tisch decken
1, Waschen u. Zurückbringen d. Container
1, Mit zunehmendem Alter übernehmen die Kinder immer mehr
Arbeitsschritte
1, Keine
1, Geschirr + Besteck holen
1, Dekoratives Anrichten
\end{filecontents}
\begin{tikzpicture}
  \begin{axis}[%
    xbar, %
    symbolic y coords={%
      Waschen/Reinigen,%
      Obst abholen,%
      Verteilen,%
      Zerkleinern,%
      Abfall entsorgen,%
      Schälen,%
      Arbeitsgeräte säubern,%
      Sonstiges,%
      Tisch decken,%
      Waschen u. Zurückbringen d. Container,%
      Mit zunehmendem Alter übernehmen die Kinder immer mehr
Arbeitsschritte,%
      Keine,%
      Geschirr + Besteck holen,%
      Dekoratives Anrichten,%
    },%
    ytick=data,%
    yticklabel style={text width=7cm,align=right},%
    nodes near coords,%
    nodes near coords align={horizontal},%
%    y post scale=2.2 % schlechter Workaround, um die
		      %	Balken auseinanderzuziehen
                      % bzw. auszurichten
    ]
    \addplot table[col sep=comma,header=false] {vierzehn-balken.dat};
  \end{axis}
\end{tikzpicture}

\noindent x \hfill{} x
\end{document}
%<---

I use TL 2012 with lualatex.

Best Regards
Christoph
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erstellen und Einführung in dctt: http://www.latex-einfuehrung.de/
+++ Veraltete Befehle, Pakete und andere Fehler:
ftp://ftp.dante.de/tex-archive/info/l2tabu/german/l2tabu.pdf
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Re: colorbar logarithmic scaling

Hi Timo,

thanks for your request about colorbars with log scale.

This is an old(er) feature request for pgfplots: it does not handle log 
colorbars automatically.

It is still possible, but it requires lots of manual tweaks and hints. 
More specifically, you have to

1. define the color data by taking the log of your data (point meta 
key). This is similar to your link.

2. in order to get log scale for the colorbar as such, you need to undo 
the log trafo of step (1.); otherwise
pgfplots will take the log a second time. Here, "undo" means to define 
'point meta min' and 'point meta max'
for the colorbar manually.

The open feature request is to let Pgfplots handle such a case 
automatically. You may want to wait until it has been addressed eventually.

If you still want something which works right now, you have to proceed 
along the (admittadly tedious) step 1 and 2.

Here is your example (I also attached the .tex file and the resulting .pdf):

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{pgfplots}

% for patch type=bilinear
\usepgfplotslibrary{patchplots}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{semilogyaxis}[
     view={0}{90},
     colorbar,
     colorbar style={
         % unfortunately, pgfplots has no good support for log
         % colorbars.
         % You have to take logs manually from the color data (point
         % meta) - and then, you have to tell the colorbar the
         % original, non-log value.
         %
         % In your case, I had to retrieve it from the data file.
         ymode=log,
         point meta min=1,
         point meta max=62,
     },
]
\addplot3[surf,mesh/rows = 7,
     % this here tells pgfplots that the point meta is provided by the
     % table:
     point meta=explicit,
     %
     % ... this is just for fun...
     shader=interp,
     patch type=bilinear,
]
table[
     x=Kr,
     y=Kt,
     % this applies logs to the z column:
     meta expr=ln(\thisrow{ratio}),
]
     {simBiomass_out2.dat};
\end{semilogyaxis}
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

There are two key steps: the first is to apply the log to the color 
data. This is done by means of the combination "point meta=explicit" and 
"meta expr=ln(\thisrow{ratio})".  This is sufficient in order to get a 
log scale for your color data - and the colorbar reflects this 
automatically (but its tick labels show the log values). The second step 
is to customize the colorbar axis such that it has log mode. This is 
done by means of the "colorbar style".

Best regards

Christian

PS
Note that I posted a copy of this mail to the pgfplots mailing list in 
order to help others with similar issues.

Am 22.11.2012 10:23, schrieb Timo Maarleveld:
> Hi Christian,
>
> I do have one more question regarding colorbars.
>
> I like to use a logarithmic scale for the colorbar. I looked on-line 
> for examples 
> (http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/23750/log-color-bar-meta-data-in-pgfplot), 
> but I am not able to get it working.
>
> Can you have a look?
>
> Thanks,
>
> -- 
> Timo Maarleveld

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