[Scilab-users] plotplots() in Scilab

[Samuel Gougeon]

Hello,

Le 02/04/2021 à 17:15, Samuel Gougeon a écrit :
> Dear all,
>
> Thanks for your first feedbacks. I am somewhat answering in the body 
> of this message:
>
> Le 02/04/2021 à 14:49, Antoine Monmayrant a écrit :
>> On 02/04/2021 12:16, CRETE Denis wrote:
>>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> I am also in favour of including this function in Scilab, with an 
>>> “improved” name. However, as far as I know, an inset has very 
>>> frequently its own pair of axes, as opposed to a ticks-switching in 
>>> (only one of) the axes. Thus, I would not recommend a name with 
>>> “inset” and reserve it for a function more closely implementing an 
>>> inset.
>>>
>>> Zoom is quite appealing.
>>>
>>> I was wondering about “non-linear”_something…
>>>
>> Hello Denis,
>>
>> I'm with you here: this should be included, but the name is not well 
>> matching the features of the function.
>> Indeed, 'inset' is not at all what 'plot_plot' is offering.
>> I was also thinking about "non-linear-axis" or something like that, 
>> but I am not sure such a name will improve discoverability of the 
>> function.
>> But you are right: this is about having non-regular or non-linear axis.
>>
>> nonlinear-plot ? non-regular-plot ? All this is not convincing for me...
>>
> You know, i thought very hard about the plotplots() naming before 
> finding and choosing this one and first publishing it ;-))
>
> Indeed, plotplots() is not at all about insets, although an actually 
> zooming inset plotting separate function could also be useful (with 
> the zooming box and possibly rays linking it to the inset).
>
> plotplots() is *not* about zooming or non-linear axis either: it can 
> be used with different and only linear scales, without mixing log and 
> lin ones.
> So why "plotplots"? Typing "plot" in /Google Translate/ (from english 
> to french), i've got and we still get:
>
> <Google's screenshot>
>
> So *"plots" is very frequently used with the meanings "parcels, 
> pieces, patches, particles, shreds"*.
> To me, this is just the right one, close to what the function actually 
> addresses: plotting several parcels/pieces/patches of some given graphics.
> This led me to this compact -- and i think talkative and meaningful -- 
> plotplots() name, that's not (only) a word game.
>
> Other names i thought about were with "multiscaled", or thinks like 
> "plot_multiscale". But to me, this could lead to some confusion with 
> multiple axes covering the same whole graphic, as documented @ 
> https://help.scilab.org/docs/6.1.0/en_US/plot_multiscaled.html.
>
> That's (almost) the whole story about this plotplots() name.
> Is it more meaningful to you?
>

Apparently, the current plotplots() name used for 3 years is not so bad. 
I agree with Denis in private mail that it could be a bit more specific. 
Here are some other name suggestions:

cutaxes
plotcutaxes
plotslicedaxes
slicedaxes
slice_axes
sliceaxes
plotfractional

cutaxes() would have my own preferences:

  * the "plot" prefix is not really required, as "axes" already clearly
    refers to graphics. Moreover, plotplots() works as well on an
    already plotted axes, to somewhat post-process it by cutting and
    presenting it in another way. Actually, that's the main job of the
    function, even when data to plot are provided instead of an already
    plotted axes.

  * it's short, and it clearly tells what it does and the result


By the way, "cutaxes" almost means "cute axes" (with a french accent :-)

After including the function in Scilab, the current plotplots as 
external ATOMS module will no longer be maintained. If plotplots() is 
renamed into cutaxes(), current plotplots() users will have to rename it 
in their existing codes. This should not be a big deal, since a 
find/replace will be able to detect occurrences and replace them.

Final comments, suggestions and other feedbacks are still welcome!

Samuel

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