Customizing scatterbar

Jean Fan and Dee Velazquez

2024-08-14

Below, we will simulate some data for demo purposes. We will create a small dataset to demonstrate the create_scatterbar function.

# Load the scatterbar library
library(scatterbar)

# Define positional data: coordinates (x, y) for each spot
pos <- data.frame(x = c(1,1,2,2),
                  y = c(1,2,1,2))

# Define proportional data: proportions of different categories (p1, p2, p3, p4) at each spot
prop <- matrix(c(0.5, 0.5,  0,   0,
                 0.5, 0,    0,   0.5,
                 0,   0.5,  0.5, 0,
                 0,   0,    0.5, 0.5), nrow=4)

# Assign row names to both positional and proportional data, representing the spot identifiers
rownames(pos) <- rownames(prop) <- c('a','b','c','d')

# Assign column names to the proportional data, representing the categories/groups
colnames(prop) <- c('Dogs', 'Cats', 'Fish', 'Snakes')

# Print out the positional data
print(pos)

##   x y
## a 1 1
## b 1 2
## c 2 1
## d 2 2

# Print out the positional data
print(prop)

##   Dogs Cats Fish Snakes
## a  0.5  0.5  0.0    0.0
## b  0.5  0.0  0.5    0.0
## c  0.0  0.0  0.5    0.5
## d  0.0  0.5  0.0    0.5

Here, we will create scatterbar plots using the scatterbar function and demonstrate various customization options using ggplot2.

# Basic scatterbar plot with default settings
create_scatterbar(prop, pos)

# Scatterbar plot with a black-and-white theme and customized y-axis label
create_scatterbar(prop, pos) +
  ggplot2::theme_bw() + ggplot2::ylab('y')

# Scatterbar plot with fixed x and y scale factors of 1 (size_x and size_y)
create_scatterbar(prop, pos, 
                  size_x = 1, size_y = 1) +
  ggplot2::theme_bw() + ggplot2::ylab('y')

# Scatterbar plot with padding applied to the x and y axes, making the tiles slightly smaller
create_scatterbar(prop, pos, 
                  size_x = 1, size_y = 1, 
                  padding_x = 0.1, padding_y = 0.1) +
  ggplot2::theme_bw() + ggplot2::ylab('y')

# Scatterbar plot with flipped coordinates, so that x and y axes are interchanged
create_scatterbar(prop, pos, 
                  size_x = 1, size_y = 1, 
                  padding_x = 0.1, padding_y = 0.1) +
  ggplot2::theme_bw() + ggplot2::ylab('y') + 
  ggplot2::coord_flip()

# Scatterbar plot with customized legend title
create_scatterbar(prop, pos, 
                  size_x = 1, size_y = 1, 
                  padding_x = 0.1, padding_y = 0.1, legend_title= "Animals") +
  ggplot2::theme_bw() + ggplot2::ylab('y')

# Scatterbar plot using the custom colors
# Define a custom set of colors for the categories
custom_colors <- c("#FF0000",  # Red
                   "#00FF00",  # Green
                   "#0000FF",  # Blue
                   "#A020F0")  # Purple
create_scatterbar(prop, pos, 
                  size_x = 1, size_y = 1, 
                  padding_x = 0.1, padding_y = 0.1, legend_title= "Animals", colors=custom_colors) +
  ggplot2::theme_bw() + ggplot2::ylab('y')

# Scatterbar plot with title
create_scatterbar(prop, pos, 
                  size_x = 1, size_y = 1, 
                  padding_x = 0.1, padding_y = 0.1, legend_title= "Animals", colors=custom_colors) +
  ggplot2::theme_bw() + ggplot2::ylab('y') + ggplot2::labs(title="Favorite Animals Among Classrooms")

# Scatterbar plot modifying the order of categories plotted 
create_scatterbar(prop[, c("Fish", "Snakes", "Cats", "Dogs")], pos, 
                  size_x = 1, size_y = 1, 
                  padding_x = 0.1, padding_y = 0.1, legend_title= "Animals", colors=custom_colors) +
  ggplot2::theme_bw() + ggplot2::ylab('y') + ggplot2::labs(title="Favorite Animals Among Classrooms")

What if my proportions don’t add up to 1?

# Define a new proportional data matrix where proportions do not sum to 1
prop <- matrix(c(0.1, 0.2,  0,   0,
                 0.1, 0,    0,   0.4,
                 0,   0.2,  0.3, 0,
                 0,   0,    0.3, 0.4), nrow=4)

# Assign row names representing the spots
rownames(prop) <- c('a','b','c','d')

# Assign column names representing the categories/groups
colnames(prop) <- c('Dogs', 'Cats', 'Fish', 'Snakes')

# Print the new proportional data
print(prop)

##   Dogs Cats Fish Snakes
## a  0.1  0.1  0.0    0.0
## b  0.2  0.0  0.2    0.0
## c  0.0  0.0  0.3    0.3
## d  0.0  0.4  0.0    0.4

# Create a scatterbar plot with the new data
create_scatterbar(prop, pos)

# Customize the scatterbar plot using a black-and-white theme and customized y-axis label
create_scatterbar(prop, pos) +
  ggplot2::theme_bw() + ggplot2::ylab('y')

# Create a scatterbar plot with fixed x and y scales and customized theme
create_scatterbar(prop, pos, 
                  size_x = 1, size_y = 1) +
  ggplot2::theme_bw() + ggplot2::ylab('y')

# Apply padding to the scatterbar plot to make the tiles smaller
create_scatterbar(prop, pos, 
                  size_x = 1, size_y = 1, 
                  padding_x = 0.1, padding_y = 0.1) +
  ggplot2::theme_bw() + ggplot2::ylab('y')

# Scatterbar plot with flipped coordinates
create_scatterbar(prop, pos, 
                  size_x = 1, size_y = 1, 
                  padding_x = 0.1, padding_y = 0.1) +
  ggplot2::theme_bw() + ggplot2::ylab('y') + 
  ggplot2::coord_flip()

# Scatterbar plot with customized legend title
create_scatterbar(prop, pos, 
                  size_x = 1, size_y = 1, 
                  padding_x = 0.1, padding_y = 0.1, legend_title= "Animals") +
  ggplot2::theme_bw() + ggplot2::ylab('y')

# Scatterbar plot using the custom colors
# Define a custom set of colors for the categories
custom_colors <- c("#FF0000",  # Red
                   "#00FF00",  # Green
                   "#0000FF",  # Blue
                   "#A020F0")  # Purple
create_scatterbar(prop, pos, 
                  size_x = 1, size_y = 1, 
                  padding_x = 0.1, padding_y = 0.1, legend_title= "Animals", colors=custom_colors) +
  ggplot2::theme_bw() + ggplot2::ylab('y')

# Scatterbar plot with title
create_scatterbar(prop, pos, 
                  size_x = 1, size_y = 1, 
                  padding_x = 0.1, padding_y = 0.1, legend_title= "Animals", colors=custom_colors) +
  ggplot2::theme_bw() + ggplot2::ylab('y') + ggplot2::labs(title="Favorite Animals Among Classrooms")

# Scatterbar plot modifying the order of categories plotted 
create_scatterbar(prop[, c("Fish", "Snakes", "Cats", "Dogs")], pos, 
                  size_x = 1, size_y = 1, 
                  padding_x = 0.1, padding_y = 0.1, legend_title= "Animals", colors=custom_colors) +
  ggplot2::theme_bw() + ggplot2::ylab('y') + ggplot2::labs(title="Favorite Animals Among Classrooms")