[R] how can I plot bar plots with all the bars (negative and positive) in the same direction????

[Robert Baer]

As is often the case in R, just because you shouldn't do something, doesn't 
mean you can't do it.  Still, I'd urge you to consider the "visual honesty" 
of what you propose.

If you're still insistent:
dat <- (-3:4)
dat1=dat-min(dat)
barplot(dat1,axes=FALSE)
axis(2,dat1,labels=dat)

Typically, zero is a reference point and/or the identity element for 
addition.  Your plot audience will interpret it this way.  If you want to 
look at difference scores from the minimal value, shouldn't that be exactly 
how you label your y-axis, and not with the pre-transformed numbers?

Are you still sure you don't like the default behavior?

Rob Baer


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Zoppoli, Gabriele (NIH/NCI) [G]" <zoppolig at mail.nih.gov>
To: <r-help at r-project.org>
Sent: Friday, September 03, 2010 12:12 PM
Subject: [R] how can I plot bar plots with all the bars (negative and 
positive) in the same direction????


> Dear r-help mailing list,
>
> this seems stupid, but I actually don't find the solution:
>
> if I have a vector of numbers x of length n, ranging, say, from -3 to 4, 
> if I do
>
> barplot (x)
>
> all the values below 0 go downwards, and all the positive values go 
> upward. How can I make them all begin from the minimum pointing upwards?
>
> Thanks!
>
>
> Gabriele Zoppoli, MD
> Ph.D. Fellow, Experimental and Clinical Oncology and Hematology, 
> University of Genova, Genova, Italy
> Guest Researcher, LMP, NCI, NIH, Bethesda MD
>
> Work: 301-451-8575
> Mobile: 301-204-5642
> Email: zoppolig at mail.nih.gov
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