[R] empty density plot for point pattern in spatstat

[Adrian Baddeley]

I think I have the solution to the problem 
experienced by users of 'spatstat' on Windows machines,
who are finding that plot.im() gives empty colour images.

Short answer: set useRaster=FALSE in the call to plot.im.

Long answer: 
spatstat::plot.im calls graphics::image.default with the argument 'useRaster=TRUE' by default.
When useRaster=TRUE, the image is displayed by the function rasterImage from the graphics package. 
This is done to improve behaviour on *some* Windows systems.
But, for unknown reasons, this does not work on Windows Server and on a few versions of Windows XP. 
On those systems you may need to set useRaster=FALSE to get a plot. 

You can also use the command dev.capabilities() to check whether your current device
supports useRaster=TRUE.

In the next release of spatstat we will automatically detect this and set appropriate defaults.

Adrian

Prof Adrian Baddeley FAA
University of Western Australia
________________________________________
From: Christopher W. Ryan [cryan at binghamton.edu]
Sent: Thursday, 19 June 2014 10:29 AM
To: Adrian Baddeley; Pablo Ramón; Rolf Turner
Cc: R-help
Subject: Re: [R] empty density plot for point pattern in spatstat

Let me just say that the expertise and support on this List is amazing,
and I'm very grateful. I'm learning a lot from your discussions.

I will not be at my problematic machine again until Friday 20 June. I
will take these steps then, and try to provide as many details about the
system as I can. It is Win XP, now R 3.1.0, and (IIRC) spatstat 1.37-0
'Model Prisoner'.

I do not encounter the problem on Windows 7, R 3.1.0, spatstat 1.36-0
‘Intense Scrutiny’.  Nor on Ubuntu 12.04, R 3.1.0, spatstat 1.36-0.

 Thanks.

--Chris Ryan

Adrian Baddeley wrote:
> Dear Pablo
>
> Please provide details of the system you are using (Windows - version?  R version? spatstat version?)
>
> Also, when you issue the plot command, what graphics device are you using?
> [To find out, type dev.cur() after performing the plot, and read the printout]
>
> Try changing the colour map by running 'example(plot.im)' or
> setting col=grey(seq(0,1,length=32)) in the call to plot.im
>
> Try setting 'useRaster=FALSE' in the call to plot.im.
>
> Let me know if any of these work. If not, let's talk on skype
> to figure it out.
>
> regards
> Adrian
>
>
> Prof Adrian Baddeley FAA
> University of Western Australia
> ________________________________________
> From: Pablo Ramón [paramon at utpl.edu.ec]
> Sent: Wednesday, 18 June 2014 9:36 PM
> To: Rolf Turner
> Cc: Christopher W Ryan; R-help; Adrian Baddeley
> Subject: Re: [R] empty density plot for point pattern in spatstat
>
> Dear Rolf,
>
> The problem persists with the function plot.im<http://plot.im>(), or plot (density ()), similar to with(bei.extra, plot (elev)). This problem occurs only with my personal machine, to another machine this problem does not occur. However, when I use another function, such kde2d () in the MASS package and perform the plot, the graph is obtained without problem.
>
> Best wishes
> Pablo
>
>
>
>
>
> 2014-06-17 16:23 GMT-05:00 Rolf Turner <r.turner at auckland.ac.nz<mailto:r.turner at auckland.ac.nz>>:
> On 18/06/14 03:49, Christopher W Ryan wrote:
> I upgraded to version 3.1.0 of R, still on Win XP, but that did not
> solve the problem:
>
> library(spatstat)
> data(redwood)
> str(redwood)
> plot(redwood)  # works OK
> plot(Kest(redwood))  # works OK
> plot(density(redwood))  # produces an "empty" plot
>                                         # with just the figure border
>                                         # and a thin vertical box for
> the color ramp
>                                         # but no color ramp in it
>
> Any other ideas? I'd be much obliged.
>
> I have had an inquiry of this nature previously and sad to say was completely unable to find a solution.  I made numerous suggestions to the inquirer, e.g.:
>
> *looking for a plot.im<http://plot.im>() function masking the "real"
> plot.im<http://plot.im>() function from spatstat
>
> * cleaning out the global environment
> (.RData) in case there were some "artefacts" hanging around that had an impact on plot.im<http://plot.im>()
>
> * completely *removing* .RData and starting again,...
>
> Nothing worked.
>
> It is very difficult to diagnose a problem like this remotely.  If you could find an R guru who was able to come and sit with you at your computer it is ***just possible*** that they could track down what is going wrong.
>
> However it seems to me that the problem is due to some sort of recalcitrance of the Windoze system and is thus probably insoluble.
>
> I am cc-ing this to the person who made the previous inquiry.  Pablo, have there been any further developments since we last communicated about this problem?
>
> cheers,
>
> Rolf Turner
>
> P. S. BTW Chris:  Does plot.im<http://plot.im>() screw up with other images?  E.g. what happens if you do
>
> with(bei.extra,plot(elev))
>
> ???
>
> R. T.
>
>
>
>
> --
> Mat. Pablo Ramón
> Sección de Ecología
> Departamento de Ciencias Naturales
> Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (http://www.utpl.edu.ec/)
> Telf. 593 7 2570275 Ext. 2505, 2258
>