Sizing Issues
Row and Column Sizes
Unlike the LATTICE layout,
the GRIDDED layout offers no way to control column sizes or row sizes.
These sizes are determined by the contents of the cells. If only plots
are used in the cells, the grid is partitioned equally based on the
graph size. However, any individual cell in the grid might contain
a legend or text. Consider the next two examples, in which the sixth
cell of the grid is populated with a legend.
layout gridded / columns=3 rows=2 columngutter=10 rowgutter=10;
/* standalone plot statements define cells 1-3 */
boxplot x=sex y=age;
boxplot x=sex y=height;
boxplot x=sex y=weight;
/* overlay blocks define cells 4-5 */
layout overlay;
scatterplot y=weight x=height / group=sex name="scatter" ;
pbsplineplot y=weight x=height;
entry halign=right "Spline" / valign=bottom;
endlayout;
layout overlay;
scatterplot y=weight x=height / group=sex;
loessplot y=weight x=height;
entry halign=right "Loess " / valign=bottom;
endlayout;
/* legend defines cell 6 */
discretelegend "scatter" / title="Sex";
endlayout;
In this first case,
the legend height and width are smaller than the default column and
rows sizes, so the legend fits nicely into the empty cell.
However, this second
case demonstrates that if the legend is larger than the default column
width or row height, the legend size has precedence and the cell size
is adjusted to fit the legend. The same thing might happen when ENTRY
statements with lengthy strings are used in cells.
Because of this behavior,
you should consider using a LATTICE layout whenever you want to enforce
uniform or user-defined column widths and row heights for the grid,
regardless of cell contents. If this layout were changed to a LATTICE,
the legend would be either omitted or clipped, depending on the setting
of the DISPLAYCLIPPED= option of the DISCRETELEGEND statement.
Even when the GRIDDED
layout does not contain legend or text statements, the plot-area size
in a row or column in the grid might be changed by cell contents.
Consider this three-cell GRIDDED layout with OVERLAY layouts defining
each cell.
Because the Y axes are duplicated across cells, you might
try to conserve space by turning off the Y axes for the second and
third cells. You can do this with the YAXISOPTS=( DISPLAY=NONE) option
of the OVERLAY layout. Here is the result:
Once again, the three
cells have the same size, but the plot areas do not because the cells
that no longer display the Y axis have extended the plot areas into
the space that formerly displayed the axes. Rather than using the
GRIDDED layout, you can use the LATTICE layout to ensure that the
three plot areas have the same size:
This graph was produced
with LATTICE layout with an external axis. See Using an Advanced Multi-cell Layout for details.
Adjusting Graph Size
When defining the grid
size, you will generally have some idea of a good overall aspect ratio
for the graph. For example, if you are creating a one row by three
column grid, the graph has a default aspect ratio of 4:3 and looks
as follows:
The graph would look better if the graph height were
smaller in relation to the width. You can establish a good default
graph size in the template definition by setting the DESIGNWIDTH=
and DESIGNHEIGHT= options in the BEGINGRAPH statement. After some
experimentation, you might decide that something closer to a 2:1 aspect
ratio looks good:
begingraph / designwidth=400px designheight=180px;
The DESIGNWIDTH= and DESIGNHEIGHT=
options set the graph size as part of the template definition so that
if you later want a larger or smaller version of this graph, you can
use the ODS GRAPHICS statement rather than resetting the design size
and recompiling the template. You need only specify either a WIDTH=
or a HEIGHT= option in the ODS GRAPHICS statement. The other dimension
is automatically computed for you, based on the aspect ratio that
is specified in the compiled template by the DESIGNWIDTH= and DESIGNHEIGHT=
options.
