The Graphics Output Environment

Controlling Dimensions

The outer dimensions of the device's display area are controlled by the values of the XMAX and YMAX device parameters. XMAX sets the maximum horizontal dimension; YMAX sets the maximum vertical dimension.

The outer dimensions of the graphics output area are controlled by the values of the HSIZE and VSIZE device parameters.

Since the dimensions of the device display area are typically the same as the dimensions of the graphics output area, the default value of HSIZE and VSIZE is 0. However, for hard-copy devices, because the XMAX, YMAX values represent the outer boundaries of the output medium (such as a sheet of paper), these devices might need a margin. Therefore, HSIZE, VSIZE, HORIGIN, and VORIGIN are assigned default values and the default graphics output area is somewhat smaller than the device's display area. Default Dimensions of the PSCOLOR Device illustrates such a device.

Note: The default unit of measurement for the XMAX and YMAX options is inches. [cautionend]

Default Dimensions of the PSCOLOR Device

[Default Dimensions of the PSCOLOR Device]

For further discussion of how the default values for HSIZE and HORIGIN are determined using the value of the LEFTMARGIN option, see HSIZE and HORIGIN.

Note that HORIGIN and VORIGIN define the left margin and bottom margin, respectively. The right margin and top margin are calculated by the device driver as follows:

right-margin = XMAX - (HSIZE + HORIGIN)

top-margin = YMAX - (VSIZE + VORIGIN)

You cannot specify values for right-margin and top-margin.

You can change the dimensions of the graphics output area for a SAS session or for a single graph with the HSIZE= and VSIZE= graphics options. Changing the size of the graphics output area does not change the dimensions of the device's display area or affect the resolution. The values of HSIZE= and VSIZE= cannot exceed the maximum dimensions for the device as specified by XMAX and YMAX. Furthermore, you cannot specify values for graphics options HSIZE= and VSIZE= that exceed the HSIZE and VSIZE values for that device.

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