shape Function (For GPL Graphic Elements)

Note: If you are modifying the shape for a guide, refer to shape Function (For GPL Guides) .

Syntax

shape(<algebra>)

or 

shape(shape.<constant>)

<algebra>. Graph algebra using one categorical variable or a blend of categorical variables.

<constant>. A constant indicating a specific shape, such as shape.square. See the topic Shape Constants (GPL) for more information.

Description

Controls the shape of a graphic element. What shape controls depends on the graphic element type. The shape of a line specifies whether the line is solid or dashed. The border around a bar has a similar shape. The shape of a point or interval specifies whether the point or interval is shaped like a square or a line. All of these shapes are controlled by the shape function, but you can append .interior or .exterior to the function to ensure that you are specifying the desired one. shape.interior specifies the overall shape of the graphic element, including the dashing of edge, line, and path elements. shape.exterior specifies the shape of the exterior of the graphic element, which is often the border on graphic elements with fills. shape.exterior does not apply to edge, line, and path elements. Using shape without a qualifier implies shape.interior.

Examples

Figure 1. Example: Specifying a shape value
ELEMENT: point(position(salbegin*salary), shape.interior(shape.square))
Figure 2. Example: Using the values of a variable to control shape
ELEMENT: point(position(salbegin*salary), shape.interior(jobcat))
Figure 3. Example: Using the values of a variable to control line dashing
ELEMENT: line(position(salbegin*salary), shape.interior(jobcat))
Figure 4. Example: Using the values of a variable to control border dashing
ELEMENT: interval(position(gender*salary*jobcat), shape.exterior(gender))