Object Reference : Graph Creation Commands
  
 
area
Display an area graph view.
Syntax
area(options) o1 [o2 o3 ... ]
object_name.area(options) [categorical_spec(arg)]
where o1, o2, ..., are series or group objects. Following the area keyword, you may specify general graph characteristics using options. Available options include multiple graph handling, dual scaling, template application, data contraction, adding axis extensions, and rotation.
The optional categorical_spec allows you to specify a categorical graph (see “Categorical Spec”).
Options
Scale options
 
a (default)
Automatic single scale.
d
Dual scaling with no crossing. The first series or column is scaled on the left and all other series or columns are scaled on the right.
x
Dual scaling with possible crossing. See the “d” option.
n
Normalized scale (zero mean and unit standard deviation). May not be used with the “s” option.
rotate
Rotate the graph so the observation axis is on the left.
ab=type
Add axis border along data scale, where type may be “hist” or “h” (histogram), “boxplot” or “b”, “kernel” or “k”.
(Note: axis borders are not available for panel graphs with “panel=” options that involve summaries: mean, median, etc.)
Multiple series options (categorical graph settings will override these options)
 
m
Plot areas in multiple graphs (will override the “s” option).
s
Stacked area graph. Each area represents the cumulative total of the series listed. The difference between areas corresponds to the value of a series.
Template and printing options
 
o=template
Use appearance options from the specified template. template may be a predefined template keyword (“default” - current global defaults, “classic”, “modern”, “reverse”, “midnight”, “spartan”, “monochrome”) or a graph in the workfile.
t=graph_name
Use appearance options and copy text and shading from the specified graph.
b / -b
[Apply / Remove] bold modifiers of the base template style specified using the “o=” option above.
w / -w
[Apply / Remove] wide modifiers of the base template style specified using the “o=” option above.
reset
Resets all graph options to the global defaults. May be used to remove existing customization of the graph.
p
Print the graph.
The options which support the “–” may be preceded by a “+” or “–” indicating whether to turn on or off the option. The “+” is optional.
Graph data options
The following option is available in non-panel or categorical graph settings:
 
contract=key
Contract the data as specified by key, where key may be: “mean”, “median”, “max”, “min”, “sum”, “var” - variance, “sd” - standard deviation, “sumsq” - sum of the squared values, “skew” - skewness, “kurt” - kurtosis, “nas” - number of missing values, “obs” - number of observations, “unique” - error if the series is not identical for all observations in a given group, “first” - first observation in category using workfile order, “last” - last observation in category using workfile order, “quant(quantile)” - where quantile is a number between 0 and 1.
Panel options
The following option applies when graphing panel structured data:
 
panel=arg (default taken from global settings)
Panel data display: “stack” (stack the cross-sections), “individual” or “i” (separate graph for each cross-section), “combine” or “c” (combine cross-section graphs in a single frame), “mean” (plot means across cross-sections), “median” (plot median across cross-sections).
(Note: more general versions of these panel graphs may be constructed as categorical graphs.)
Categorical graph options
These options only apply to categorical graphs ( “Categorical Spec”) where the graph has one or more within factors and a contraction method other than raw data (see the contract option above).
 
favorlegend
Favor the use of legends over axis labels to describe categories.
elemcommon = int
Specifies the number of within factors for which the graph uses common area colors. For example, with multiple within dimensions, if “elemcommon=1”, then only categories defined by the first within factor will have common colors. If “elemcommon=2”, then categories defined by the first two within factors will have common colors. If “elemcommon=0”, all areas will have different colors.
The default is one less than the number of within factors.
Examples
Basic examples
area ser1 ser2 ser3
displays area graphs of SER1, SER2, and SER3.
group g1 ser1 ser2 ser3
g1.area(s)
defines a group G1 containing the three series SER1, SER2 and SER3, then plots a stacked area graph of the series in the group.
area(l, o=gra1) s1 gdp cons
creates an area graph of series S1, together with line graphs of GDP and CONS. The graph uses options from graph GRA1 as a template.
g1.area(o=midnight, b, w)
creates an area graph of the group G1, using the settings of the predefined template “midnight,” applying the bold and wide modifiers.
Panel examples
ser1.area(panel=individual)
displays area graphs with a separate graph for each cross-section, while,
ser1.area(panel=mean)
displays an area graph of the means for each period computed across cross-sections.
Categorical spec examples
ser1.area across(firm, dispname)
displays a categorical area graph of SER1 using distinct values of FIRM to define the categories. The graphs in multiple frames with the display names used as labels.
ser1.area across(firm, dispname, iscale)
shows the same graph with individual scaling for each of the frames.
ser1.area within(firm, inctot)
displays a graph with the same categorization (along with a category for the total), but with all of the graphs in a single frame.
Cross-references
See “Graphing Data” for a detailed discussion of graphs in EViews, and “Templates” for a discussion of graph templates.
See Graph::graph for graph declaration and other graph types.