PlotIron - Rust Plotting Library

A Rust plotting library inspired by matplotlib for creating 2D charts and visualizations.

Features

• 🎨 Multiple Chart Types: Line plots, scatter plots, bar charts, and more
• 🎯 Easy to Use: matplotlib-like API design
• 📊 SVG Output: Generate high-quality vector graphics
• 🎪 Custom Styling: Support for colors, markers, line styles, and more
• 📈 Multiple Subplots: Create multiple subplots in a single figure
• 🔧 Flexible Configuration: Configurable axes, grids, legends, and more

Quick Start

Installation

Add to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
plotiron = { path = "." }

Basic Usage

use plotiron::*;

fn main() {
    // Create data
    let x: Vec<f64> = (0..100).map(|i| i as f64 * 0.1).collect();
    let y: Vec<f64> = x.iter().map(|&x| x.sin()).collect();

    // Create figure
    let mut fig = figure();
    fig.add_subplot()
        .plot(&x, &y)
        .set_title("Sine Function")
        .set_xlabel("x")
        .set_ylabel("sin(x)");
    
    // Save as SVG file
    std::fs::write("plot.svg", fig.to_svg()).unwrap();
}

Examples

Line Plot

let x = vec![1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0];
let y = vec![1.0, 4.0, 2.0, 3.0, 5.0];

let mut fig = figure();
fig.add_subplot()
    .plot(&x, &y)
    .set_title("Simple Line Plot");
std::fs::write("line_plot.svg", fig.to_svg()).unwrap();

Scatter Plot

let x = vec![1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0];
let y = vec![2.0, 5.0, 3.0, 8.0, 7.0];

let mut fig = figure();
fig.add_subplot()
    .scatter(&x, &y)
    .set_title("Scatter Plot");
std::fs::write("scatter_plot.svg", fig.to_svg()).unwrap();

Bar Chart

let categories = vec![1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0];
let values = vec![23.0, 45.0, 56.0, 78.0, 32.0];

let mut fig = figure();
fig.add_subplot()
    .bar(&categories, &values)
    .set_title("Bar Chart");
std::fs::write("bar_plot.svg", fig.to_svg()).unwrap();

Multiple Line Plot

let x: Vec<f64> = (0..100).map(|i| i as f64 * 0.1).collect();
let y1: Vec<f64> = x.iter().map(|&x| x.sin()).collect();
let y2: Vec<f64> = x.iter().map(|&x| x.cos()).collect();

let mut fig = figure();
fig.add_subplot()
    .plot(&x, &y1)
    .plot(&x, &y2)
    .set_title("Sine and Cosine Functions")
    .legend(true);
std::fs::write("multi_line.svg", fig.to_svg()).unwrap();

Multiple Subplots

let x: Vec<f64> = (0..50).map(|i| i as f64 * 0.2).collect();
let y1: Vec<f64> = x.iter().map(|&x| x.sin()).collect();
let y2: Vec<f64> = x.iter().map(|&x| x.cos()).collect();
let scatter_x: Vec<f64> = (0..20).map(|_| rand::random::<f64>() * 10.0).collect();
let scatter_y: Vec<f64> = scatter_x.iter().map(|&x| x * 0.5 + rand::random::<f64>() * 2.0).collect();

let mut fig = figure_with_size(1200.0, 800.0);

// First subplot: sine wave
fig.add_subplot()
    .plot(&x, &y1)
    .set_title("Sine Wave")
    .set_xlabel("x")
    .set_ylabel("sin(x)");

// Second subplot: cosine wave
fig.add_subplot()
    .plot(&x, &y2)
    .set_title("Cosine Wave")
    .set_xlabel("x")
    .set_ylabel("cos(x)");

// Third subplot: scatter plot
fig.add_subplot()
    .scatter(&scatter_x, &scatter_y)
    .set_title("Random Scatter Plot")
    .set_xlabel("x")
    .set_ylabel("y");

std::fs::write("multiple_subplots.svg", fig.to_svg()).unwrap();

DOT Graph Example

let dot_content = r#"
digraph G {
    rankdir=TB;
    A [label="Start"];
    B [label="Process"];
    C [label="Decision"];
    D [label="End"];
    
    A -> B;
    B -> C;
    C -> D [label="Yes"];
    C -> B [label="No"];
}
"#;

let mut fig = figure();
fig.add_dot_subplot(dot_content).unwrap()
    .set_title("Workflow Diagram");

std::fs::write("workflow_diagram.svg", fig.to_svg()).unwrap();

Mixed Subplots: Scatter Plot and DOT Graph

// Create scatter plot data
let scatter_x: Vec<f64> = (0..30).map(|_| rand::random::<f64>() * 10.0).collect();
let scatter_y: Vec<f64> = scatter_x.iter().map(|&x| x * 1.5 + rand::random::<f64>() * 3.0).collect();

// DOT graph content
let dot_content = r#"
digraph Network {
    rankdir=LR;
    node [shape=circle];
    
    A -> B -> C;
    A -> D -> C;
    B -> E;
    D -> E;
    E -> F;
    C -> F;
}
"#;

let mut fig = figure_with_size(1200.0, 600.0);

// First subplot: scatter plot
fig.add_subplot()
    .scatter(&scatter_x, &scatter_y)
    .set_title("Data Distribution")
    .set_xlabel("Input Values")
    .set_ylabel("Output Values")
    .grid(true);

// Second subplot: DOT graph
fig.add_dot_subplot(dot_content).unwrap()
    .set_title("Network Topology")
    .show_x_axis(false)
    .show_y_axis(false);

std::fs::write("mixed_subplots.svg", fig.to_svg()).unwrap();

API Reference

Figure

• figure() - Create a figure with default size
• figure_with_size(width, height) - Create a figure with specified size
• add_subplot() - Add a subplot
• add_dot_subplot(dot_content) - Add a subplot with DOT graph
• add_dot_subplot_with_layout(dot_content, layout) - Add DOT subplot with specific layout
• to_svg() - Generate SVG string
• show() - Display figure (print SVG to console)

Axes

• plot(x, y) - Add line plot
• scatter(x, y) - Add scatter plot
• bar(x, y) - Add bar chart
• set_title(title) - Set title
• set_xlabel(label) - Set X-axis label
• set_ylabel(label) - Set Y-axis label
• set_xlim(min, max) - Set X-axis range
• set_ylim(min, max) - Set Y-axis range
• grid(enable) - Enable/disable grid
• legend(enable) - Enable/disable legend
• show_x_axis(enable) - Show/hide X-axis
• show_y_axis(enable) - Show/hide Y-axis

DOT Layout Algorithms

• LayoutAlgorithm::Circular - Arrange nodes in a circle
• LayoutAlgorithm::Hierarchical - Hierarchical top-down layout
• LayoutAlgorithm::ForceDirected - Force-directed layout
• LayoutAlgorithm::Grid - Grid-based layout

Colors

Supported predefined colors:

• Color::RED, Color::BLUE, Color::GREEN, etc.
• Hex colors: Color::from_hex("#FF0000")
• String colors: Color::from("red")

Marker Styles

• Marker::Circle - Circle
• Marker::Square - Square
• Marker::TriangleUp - Upward triangle
• Marker::Diamond - Diamond
• Marker::Plus - Plus sign
• Marker::Cross - Cross
• Marker::Star - Star

Saving Plots

To save plots as SVG files, use the to_svg() method combined with std::fs::write():

let mut fig = figure();
fig.add_subplot()
    .plot(&x, &y)
    .set_title("My Plot");

// Save to file
std::fs::write("my_plot.svg", fig.to_svg()).unwrap();

Running Examples

cargo run --example demo

This will generate several example SVG files in the output/ directory:

• sine_plot.svg - Sine function plot
• multi_line_plot.svg - Multi-line plot
• scatter_plot.svg - Scatter plot
• bar_plot.svg - Bar chart

Architecture

src/
├── lib.rs          # Main library entry point
├── main.rs         # Example program
├── figure.rs       # Figure management
├── axes.rs         # Axes functionality
├── plot.rs         # Plot types
├── colors.rs       # Color definitions
├── markers.rs      # Marker styles
└── utils.rs        # Utility functions

Dependencies

• svg - SVG generation
• num-traits - Numeric traits
• rand - Random number generation (examples only)

License

MIT License

Contributing

Issues and Pull Requests are welcome!

TODO

• More chart types (histograms, pie charts, etc.)
• Animation support
• Interactive charts
• 3D chart support
• Better error handling
• Performance optimization