Re: st: Why is the legend in xtline limited to 2 to 15?

[Austin Nichols <austinnichols@gmail.com>]

re: " interactive graphic in which
names pop up on demand and the curious reader can interrogate at will.
I leave this on one side because you can't do in Stata."

It's relatively easy to write out some JavaScript from Stata to go
with a series of graphs, e.g. the graphics in
http://blog.metrotrends.org/2014/03/good-dcs-schools/
are straight out of Stata, which also writes the content of the drop-down menu.



On Wed, Mar 12, 2014 at 7:05 AM, Nick Cox <njcoxstata@gmail.com> wrote:
> Peeling off the last question: Don't use a legend for one item. Seeing
> that reminds me of a certain spreadsheet application, which if I
> remember correctly uses by default the legend "Series 1" for one
> variable; it doesn't even say "G", or whatever, which in its own terms
> would mean something. Use a title or (usually better) a subtitle for
> that information; you can just add it yourself.
>
> On the main question:
>
> I am guessing here, but have a look at -help pstyle- for a clue. By
> default there are 15 different plotstyles, so I imagine that if you
> don't spell out 17 or 20 different ways of showing 17 or 20 different
> countries, -twoway- is just going to cycle around the same
> possibililities from 16 onwards.  I don't think I've ever tried it.
>
> I am impressed at your optimism that this could work well at all. With
> 17 or 20 countries,
>
> a. Clearly the country names mean something and you would prefer
> seeing them, but a legend with that many entries will take up a large
> fraction of your real estate.
>
> b. The plot itself is all too likely to look like a tangled mess.
>
> This is a standard problem, and a difficult one, and all solutions are
> wrong from some point of view, but let's try some positives:
>
> 0. There's a serious argument, which is hardly novel, that the only
> way to do this properly is through an interactive graphic in which
> names pop up on demand and the curious reader can interrogate at will.
> I leave this on one side because you can't do in Stata. Whether it
> would be the answer for Nirina I can't tell.
>
> 1. Separating the series, one to a panel, might be tolerable. Names
> would be shown better, but clearly you lose out on how easily you can
> compare the series. Naturally that's the default for -xtline-. (I
> guess that Nirina is using the -overlay- option.)
>
> 2. There is a compromise in which every panel contains all the series,
> best shown as a backdrop, but each panel highlights just one series.
> The main idea occurs in many places, but two that spring to mind are
> http://www.stata-journal.com/sjpdf.html?articlenum=gr0046 and
> http://www.stata-journal.com/sjpdf.html?articlenum=gr0040 The links
> lead to .pdf accessible to all.
>
> 3. Do you need all the countries to be identifiable? Sometimes what
> works reasonably is to show all and just to identify only a few
> countries of greatest interest. We don't know what the research is
> here, but it is rare in my experience that every country really needs
> individual identification and comment.
>
> Nick
> njcoxstata@gmail.com
>
>
> On 12 March 2014 08:56, Nirina F <fstata@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I have panel data and I am graphing a simple line graph through
>> years for 17 and then 20 countries with xtline. It looks like the
>> legend is only limited to 15 countries so then it reports to me two
>> countries under the same legend such as this ---------USA/Luxembourg
>> and ______China/Uruguay when I graph 17 countries and then five
>> countries under the same legend for 20 countries. do you know how to
>> expand it so it is not confusing like this?
>>
>> Also, when I am just graphing one country
>> xtline yvar if Country=="USA", overlay then I do not get the legend
>> that that single line is for USA and I do not see any option to add
>> legend.
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