[R] newbie graphics question

[Arlin Stoltzfus]

james.holtman at convergys.com wrote:
> 
> Here is the help page from R indicating what 'par' parameters can not be
> set with the 'high-level' commands. 'new' is one of these:
> 
>  All but these R.O. and the following low-level arguments can be
>      set as well in high-level and mid-level plot functions, such as

Yes, thanks to you & Gavin Simpson & Brian Ripley for making this clear. 

However, I was not asking how to use 'plot'.  Instead, I was pointing
out that the text of the help system is less than ideal in this case.  
Perhaps I am not expecting enough effort from the user, but it seems to 
me that the user should not have to read the "details" section on a second 
command in order to get the valid list of arguments for the first command, 
which in this case means finding out that about 1/3 of the 60 or so 
'par' arguments are not valid for 'plot'.  The help on "plot" could be 
changed to say something like "graphics parameters can be set from 'plot', 
except when they can't (for restrictions, see 'DETAILS' for 'par')", 
or "*some* graphics parameters can be set from 'plot'", but instead,
it just indicates that graphics parameters can be set from 'plot'. 

Arlin
-- 
Arlin Stoltzfus (arlin at carb.nist.gov)
 Research Biologist, NIST; Adj. Asst. Prof., UMBI
CARB, 9600 Gudelsky Dr., Rockville, Md 20850
ph. 301 738-6208; fax 301 738-6255; http://www.molevol.org/camel
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