Trace Options for 2D Plots

To select options for each trace on an X-Y plot or a Polar Plot:

  1. Double-click on the plot or select the plot and choose Graph > X-Y Plot or Graph > Polar Plot from the Format menu to open a tabbed dialog box.

  2. Click on the Traces tab.

Trace names appear in the Legend label column. Various options for symbol, line type, weight, and color are available for each trace. To modify the options for a particular trace row, click on the box under the option column you want to change, then select the desired property from the drop-down list or color palette.

Click "Apply" to preview changes without closing the dialog. Click "OK" to close the dialog box and save all changes.

Legend Label

Legend label is the name of the trace as it appears on the legend. Click on the legend label box for a trace to select it for editing. Type a new label if you wish to change it. Note that the legend is not displayed by default, so you won't see any labels until you uncheck the Hide legend box.

Symbol Frequency

The Frequency setting specifies how often to plot a symbol. A frequency of 1 means plot a symbol for every plotted point. A frequency of 2 means plot a symbol for every second point, and so on. All available points are used when drawing lines. This setting affects the plotting of symbols only.

Symbol

The Symbol drop-down list specifies a symbol for each point on the curve. Pull down the drop-down list to choose from the ten styles of opened and closed symbols. If you have many close-packed points, you should probably select "none" (blank box), which is the default.

Symbol Weight

The Symbol Weight drop-down list specifies a size for each symbol on the curve, independent of line size.

Line

The Line setting controls whether the trace is solid, dotted, dashed, or alternating dashes and dots. This setting provides a useful way to distinguish unmarked curves in black and white printouts. If you wish to have no line at all, select trace type "points."

Line Weight

Controls trace thickness. Use 1 for fine curves and 9 for thick curves. Use "p" to make the finest possible curve, a single pixel wide. Keep in mind that a "p" curve may not print on printers with inadequate resolution. This setting also controls the size of the symbols marking data points, if you have selected a symbol other than "none." If you have selected trace type "points," this field sets the weight of the dot plotted at each data point.

Color

The Color setting allows you to pick from a wide range of colors or set custom colors. This setting is unavailable for a monochrome display.

Type

The Type setting controls whether the selected trace appears as a curve, a symbol/point, a bar chart, error bars, a stepped curve, a stem plot, or as a solid bar plot. The error bar type must be selected for two sequential traces.

Use the "draw" trace type if you only wish to connect points displayed within the axis limits, without extending the lines to the edge of the graph box. This is useful for plotting multiple traces represented in a single vector or matrix, where the data repeats itself. With the "draw" trace type and axis limits set smaller than the data maximum, the lines won't double back across the graph to start over at the next point.

Y-axis (X-Y plots only)

This setting reports whether an expression is plotted on the primary (left - Y) or secondary (right - Y2) axis. It cannot be changed from the Traces tab - you must move expressions using the graph placeholders.

Hide Arguments

Check this box to hide the math expressions you typed in the middle placeholder of each axis. Use this setting to hide complicated expressions in favor of clearer axis labels or legend labels.

Hide Legend

Check this box to hide the legend that appears under the plot (the default). When the legend is displayed, it uses the legend label specified for each trace, along with the chosen line type, to identify traces.

You have five choices of position for the legend using the radio buttons below the Hide legend check box. The legend can be displayed in any of the four interior corners of the graph or below the bottom-left corner. These radio buttons are disabled if the Hide legend box is checked.