berryFunctions (version 1.22.5)

panelDim: Arrange panels in a multipanel plot (par mfrow)

Description

Returns the optimum where deviation from ncol=nrow and number of panels left empty have a minimum sum.

Usage

panelDim(
  n,
  weight = c(1, 1),
  maxempty = round(n/4),
  landscape = FALSE,
  all = FALSE,
  plot = FALSE,
  mfcol = FALSE
)

Value

vector with 2 values, can be passed to par(mfrow), or a data.frame if all=TRUE.

Arguments

n

Number of panels to be arranged

weight

Weights to avoid empty panels and discrepancy between ncol and nrow, respectively. DEFAULT: c(1,1)

maxempty

Maximum number of panels that are allowed to be left empty. If maxempty=0, no panel is left blank, so 11 plots would be beneath each other instead of in a 4x3 grid with one panel left blank. DEFAULT: round(n/4)

landscape

Use landscape orientation instead of portrait? DEFAULT: FALSE

all

Show all reasonable possibilities in a data.frame? DEFAULT: FALSE

plot

Show the panel layout result? (the 4 best options are compared if all=TRUE). DEFAULT: FALSE

mfcol

use mfcol instead of mfrow. DEFAULT: FALSE

Author

Berry Boessenkool, , Dec 2014, Jan 2015

Details

There probably are other ways to find the optimal way to arrange panels, so if you find anything, please give me a hint.

See Also

groupHist, which is using this function

Examples

# basic usage
op <- par(mfrow=panelDim(6))
for(i in 1:6) plot(i:10, main=i)
par(op)

# Adcanced options
panelDim(7)
g <- panelDim(7, all=TRUE)
panelDim(7, plot=TRUE)
panelDim(7, plot=TRUE, all=TRUE) # compares 4 best options

panelDim(26, all=TRUE)
panelDim(26, plot=TRUE, all=TRUE) # compares 4 best options
panelDim(26, plot=TRUE, all=TRUE, weight=c(3,0) ) # fewer empty panels

# effect of maxempty:
panelDim(13, plot=TRUE)             #  4 x 4
panelDim(13, maxempty=2, plot=TRUE) #  5 x 3
panelDim(13, maxempty=1, plot=TRUE) #  7 x 2
panelDim(13, maxempty=0, plot=TRUE) # 13 x 1

panelDim(45, plot=TRUE) # no empty panels
# focus on aspect ratio of each panel (make it as square as possible):
panelDim(45, weight=c(1,3), plot=TRUE) # better aspect for each panel

# Orientation of plot:
panelDim(45, plot=TRUE) # good for portrait orientation of plot
panelDim(45, landscape=TRUE, plot=TRUE) # better if plot width > height

if (FALSE) {
## Rcmd check --as-cran doesn't like to open external devices,
## so this example is excluded from running in the checks.
# plot of several n with defaults
dev.new(record=TRUE)
for(i in 1:50)  panelDim(i, plot=TRUE)
}