Plot Toolbar

The Plot Toolbar provides user interface connections to frequently used commands for adjusting the appearance of plotted data. It also displays the coordinates of the mouse pointer as it moves over the plot.

The toolbar functionality is duplicated in the Cursor Mode submenu of the Plot Context Menu. This is handy if you do not want to lose your visual context looking at the plot or if you have the Plot Toolbar undocked or disabled. To cause the Plot Toolbar to be shown or hidden in new Plot Windows, use the check box on the Plot Preferences page.

 The controls on the Plot Toolbar are described in the following table.

Plot Toolbar Buttons

Re-plots the data at the default scale. The x- and y-axes are autoscaled to fit all the data within the plot space.

Enables Magnify mode, which magnifies up and down by dragging the mouse at a point. The range is 1/10x to 10x in both axes.

To magnify the image:

  1. Mouse down at the target point.

    Magnify: Drag the mouse right + up.

    De-magnify: Drag the mouse down + left.

Using the Drop Menu

The drop arrow opens a menu with 3 constrained magnify commands. These commands magnify in 1/2X and 2X steps horizontally, vertically, or in both directions. To use these buttons,

  1. Mouse down at the target point.

  2. Click the mouse to magnify:

    Left click: magnifies 2X in the selected direction.

    [Shift]+Left click: Magnifies 1/2X in the selected direction.

Activates Expand Mode. In this mode you rubber-band a rectangle around a region of data you wish to enlarge. Disable Expand Mode by clicking the Roam button.

Changes the plot appearance. It has two functions:

  1. Left click: Opens the Plot Attributes dialog from which you can change the axes, labels, caption, plot frame and other attributes.

  2. Right click: Opens the Series Attributes dialog from which you can set the properties of the various plot series.

Enables Centering mode, which shifts the plot data within the plot box. Use this to re-position the data or bring different data into view. To re-center the image:

  1. Mouse down at the target point.

  2. Drag the mouse to re-center the plot. The plot stays where you release the left mouse button.

Using the Drop Menu

The drop arrow opens a menu with 2 constrained re-centering commands for shifting the plot horizontally or vertically.

  1. Mouse down at the target point.

  2. Click the mouse to recenter:

    Left click: magnifies 2X in the selected direction.

    [Shift]+Left click: Magnifies 1/2X in the selected direction.

Activates Roam Mode. This disables all other command modes for the Plot Window, including modes of other toolbars.

Related Topics

Plot Windows