Rscript

The prerequisite for an Rscript chart is an existing R installation on your system. R is a package-extensible, free programming language for statistical applications, which in turn provides broad support for all types of charts. The current version can be found at www.r-project.org.

You can either write scripts directly in the large code entry field or use an external editor that is integrated into the List & Label workflow. In this case, the code can be automatically exchanged between List & Label and the external editor. Since the free RStudio development environment has largely established itself as the standard for R, we explicitly recommend the additional installation and use of RStudio as an external editor for the effective development of scripts. RStudio provides debugging tools. You can then not only view the result in List & Label at any time, but also in the RStudio environment. The current version can be found at www.rstudio.com.

Proceed as follows:

1.  On the "Data Source" tab, create entries for fields and variables you want to export and then use them in your Rscript.

       * Fields correspond to the columns that exist in each individual data record. The selection of fields is primarily used to define the data to be processed.

       * Variables, however, also correspond to columns of a data set, but unlike fields, this data set is defined only once.

          The selection of variables is primarily used to define boundary conditions and parameters.

          Here you can e.g. comfortably generate variables for e.g. headline, colors etc. and pass them to the script.

       * Unless otherwise specified, fields in the dataset "Data" and variables in the dataset "Var" are generated.

          You can also define your own "R-Dataset" names for both fields and variables.

          Each defined dataset corresponds to a single CSV file when exporting.

2.  Define the general charts options on the "Chart" tab.

       * Automatic variables, which you select under "Chart > Automatic Variables", are added to the first existing dataset or "Var".

          This makes it easier for you to include frequently used basic entries in your script without the need for a large number of individual entries in the "Data Source".

          For better clarity, however, you should also activate the option "Add Variables as Code" when using automatic variables.

          Instead of in the dataset or var area, these entries will then be available directly as code and thus structured in your own list "cmbtll".

          This code block also contains general information about file names and e.g. size ratios which can be used for a user-defined output.

       * While the List & Label chart types work with generated example data, an Rscript chart requires real data for technical reasons.

          For performance reasons, you can limit the number of data records in the live data preview using the "Number of Records for Design " property.

          With a value of 0, all data records are exported. The real data preview can also be completely deactivated if required.

       * You can limit the runtime of the script using the "Timeout" property. If not specified, a script is automatically terminated with an error after 30 seconds.

       * You can influence the output format using the property of the same name and the subproperties available there.

3.  In the "Chart Area" tab you can adjust the background and filling of the entire object in the same way as for the other chart types, for example. Note that an Rscript chart could of course also create its own background. In this case, the List & Label background should be either disabled or transparent.

In the "Colors" tab, you can specify the color display. Note that in this case you must first transfer the chart colors to the script using the automatic variables and then use them there.