Arguments to high-level plotting functions

There are a number of arguments which may be passed to high-level graphics functions, as follows:

Forces the function to act as a low-level graphics function, superimposing the plot on the current plot (some functions only).

Suppresses generation of axes - useful for adding your own custom axes with the axis() function. The default, axes=T, means include axes.

Causes the x, y or both axes to be logarithmic. Only works for scatterplots (and variants).

The type= argument controls the type of plot produced, as follows:

type="p"

Plot individual points (the default)

type="l"

Plot lines

type="b"

Plot points connected by lines (``both'')

type="o"

Plot points overlaid by lines

type="h"

Plot vertical lines from points to the zero axis (``high-density'')

type="s" or type="S"

Step-function plots. In the first form, the top of the vertical defines the point; in the second, the bottom.

type="n"

No plotting at all. However axes are still drawn (by default) and the coordinate system is set up according to the data. Ideal for creating plots with subsequent low-level graphics functions.

xlab="string"
ylab="string"

Axis labels for the x and y axes. Use these arguments to change the default labels, usually the names of the objects used in the call to the high-level plotting function.

main="string"

Figure title, placed at the top of the plot in a large font.

sub="string"

Sub-title, placed just below the x-axis in a smaller font.