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Bob
USA
14 Posts |
 Posted - 01/22/2002 : 1:48:53 PM
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Hi:
I was wondering if anyone has found a way around minor tick marks that don't align with the major tick marks. An example plot of what I'm describing is here:
<http://www.gwscientific.com/instrumentation/data/gpst1a.jpg >
This doesn't happen with every time series plot I make but it does happen every now and then and I don't really know how to fix it.
The X data I have are dates of the format "mm/dd/yyy hh:mm" and the Y data are just numbers. Thanks very much.
--Bob |
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rtoomey
USA
184 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2002 : 1:43:10 PM
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An increment of '1month' can be anywhere from 28 to 31 days. When 1 minor tick is specified, the minor tick mark positioning routine searches for the next lowest increment after '1month' which is closest to 1/2 of a month (i.e. '2weeks'). It then sets the first minor tick at the 14th day and the next one at the 28th day. This is why you see the second minor tick mark for all months (except a normal February).
In a time and space sense, this type of placement is completely correct. However, there are cases where our users (like yourself) want to be able to display a tick mark in the middle of a month no matter what exact day/time it lands on. Unfortunately, this is not easily done in Origin.
This tick mark placement issue has been debated for quite some time. In fact, there is a related report about this in our database. To be sure your comments are heard, I have added them to this report. Please refer to AMPO ID #1890 if you have any additional comments/questions.
Until this is fixed you might consider either of the following options:
- Turn off the minor ticks by setting the # Minor Ticks to 0. This one is a no-brainer.
- Create your own minor tick marks using a vertical bar type scatter plot. In other words, create an X column that contains values at exactly where you want your minor tick marks. Then, fill a corresponding Y column with zeroes (or whatever Y value your X axis appears at). Plot the Y column. Finally, disable the original minor tick marks. If this one doesn't make much sense, I would suggest you contact Technical Support. I have a project I use in cases like this to illustrate my point.
Sincerely,
Ryan Toomey
Technical Support
OriginLab Corporation
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Bob
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - 01/28/2002 : 4:31:13 PM
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Cool, thanks for the reasoning. I guess if the method of calculating minor ticks in timescales ever changes I don't mind the tick being broken up into 2 weeks instead of 15.5 days. But having the ticks start at the first of each new month would be nice. Thanks.
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rtoomey
USA
184 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2002 : 08:41:02 AM
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I should also mention that you can get your major ticks to start at the first of each month by setting the First Tick text box on the Scale tab in the Axis dialog box. Is this what you were looking for?
- Ryan
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Minor Tick Offset