The Graph Template
Language (GTL) provides draw statements that enable you to draw additional
graphics elements on your graphs that are independent of the graph
data. The types of elements that you can draw include the following:
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geometric shapes, such as ovals,
rectangles, polylines, and polygons
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You can use the draw
statements to add annotations that describe the non-data aspects of
your graph. You can also use them to create custom features on your
graph, such as a broken axis, that are difficult to create by other
means. You can draw the elements in one of the following drawing spaces
on your graph: the data area, the wall area, the layout area, or the
graph area. You can specify the location of each element using Cartesian
coordinates, and you can specify the axis to which the coordinates
are scaled. You can also specify other attributes of the graphics
element, such as line color and pattern, text font, and so on.
For more information,
see Selecting the Drawing Space and Units.
In addition to the drawing
space, you can also choose the layer on which your graphics elements
are drawn. Two layers are available that are relative to the graph:
front and back. The front layer appears in front of the graph. The
back layer appears behind the graph wall for graphs that have axes
or behind the graph for graphs that do not have axes. By default,
the graphics elements are drawn on the front layer. You can use the
LAYER=BACK option on your draw statement to draw the elements on the
back layer.
Note: For plots that have axes,
if the graph wall area is filled (default), graphics elements that
are drawn on the back layer are obscured by the wall fill. To make
the elements visible in that case, include the WALLDISPLAY=NONE or
WALLDISPLAY=(OUTLINE) option in your layout statement.
You can also use the
TRANSPARENCY= option in the plot statement to adjust the transparency
of the graph in order to allow the graphics elements underneath to
show through.