Axes

Specifies the minimum and maximum data values displayed along the axis. The range for an axis fits the value of the first variable assigned to that axis. If you deactivate the current layer and activate another layer, it may be necessary to reset the axis range.

Specifies the physical length of the axis on the screen or paper.

Specifies the ratio of the axis length to the axis range.

Toggle-on this checkbox to show the selected axis (n) on the plot. Use the buttons [X], [Y], etc. to the right of this checkbox to select the axis to show.

Enter the minimum value of the axis range.

Enter the maximum value of the axis range.

Reset the Max and Min fields by selecting one of three options from the drop-down menu:

If toggled-on, and your axes are Independent, changes to the X to Y Ratio will affect the axes' range, but not their scale. Toggle-off to change both the axis range and axis scale simultaneously. See Figure 1.

The X and Y axes of 2D or XY Line plots can have a linear scale (default) or logarithmic scale. When "Auto Spacing" is selected with logarithmic scale, large numbers are displayed in scientific notation (i.e., 3.48x10⁵). It is strongly recommended that you use "Auto Spacing" with log axes. Navigate to the Ticks or Labels page of the dialog, and toggle-on "Auto Spacing" to use this option.

Toggle on to display the axis from high to low rather than from low to high. Not available for 3D Cartesian plots.

Select whether to set the axes as dependent upon or independent of each other. For XY Line or 2D Cartesian, select "Independent" or "Dependent".

Automatically adjusts the axis ranges to the nearest major axis increments.

If the axes are XY-dependent, changing the X or Y size factor changes the other. If the axes are XYZ-dependent, changing one size factor changes the other two.

Resets the Dependency controls to their defaults.

Toggle-on this checkbox to show the selected axis on the plot. Use the buttons Theta, R, etc. to the right of this checkbox to select an axis.

Enter the minimum value of the axis range.

Enter the maximum value of the axis range.

Reset the Max and Min fields by selecting one of three options from the drop-down menu.

If toggled-on, changes to the Theta to R Ratio will affect the axes' range, but not their scale. Toggle-off to change both the axis range and axis scale simultaneously. See Figure 1 for an illustration of the difference.

The R axis can have a linear scale (default) or a logarithmic scale. When "Auto Spacing" is selected with logarithmic scale, large numbers are displayed in scientific notation (i.e., 3.48x10⁵). It is strongly recommended that you use "Auto Spacing" with log axes. Navigate to the Ticks or Labels page of the dialog, and toggle-on "Auto Spacing" to use this option.

Toggle on to display the axis from high to low rather than from low to high. Not available for 3D Cartesian plots.

For Polar Line plots, it is possible to have data that extends beyond the edges of the axes. Use this feature to eliminate data drawn outside of the range of the axes. Clipping data can be set independently for each axis. To activate or deactivate clipping, toggle "Clip Data to Axis" on or off. This feature is illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 2. An example of clipping polar data to an axis.

By default, the Theta-axis is expressed in degrees mode with a range of 0 to 360. For the Theta axis, you can plot the angles in units of Radians, Degrees, or Arbitrary (where arbitrary sets the Theta range to the maximum and minimum values of the Theta-axis variable).

The Theta Period specifies the Theta range that is required to create a complete circle. If your Theta Mode is "Degrees", the Theta Period is forced to 360; for "Radians", the period is 2 Pi; for "Fit to Var Min/Max", the period can be set to any value.

The "Theta Value on Circle Right" setting changes the orientation of the Theta-axis. By default, this value is zero, which means that the value zero (or equivalent value, 360 degrees, 720 degrees, and so forth) is displayed on the right hand side of the circle. You can change this value to change the orientation of the axis.

The R-origin specifies what value of R is represented at the center of the axis. The effect of changing the R-origin is displayed in Figure 3.

Figure 3. An example of changing the R-origin from a range of 0.3 to 0.6 on a polar plot.

Match the spacing of tick marks.

Subdivisions of Gridlines.

To activate Gridlines or Minor Gridlines, toggle-on "Show" under these headings on the Grid page. Both kinds of gridlines have the following options:

The precise dot grid is a set of small dots drawn at the intersection of every minor gridline. In line plots, the axis assignments for the first active mapping govern the precise dot grid. The precise dot grid option is disabled for the 3D Cartesian plots and Line plots when either axis for the first active line mapping uses a log scale.

For each plot type, you can display tick marks at different sections of the axis.(This description also applies to Labels and Titles.)

Tick mark length and thickness can be set independently for major and minor tick marks using the Length and Thickness fields o.

To specify the number of minor tick marks, you must first toggle-off "Auto Spacing" at the bottom of the page. The number of minor tick marks can be set in the "Number of Minor Ticks" text field in the Minor Ticks section of the dialog. You may also set their length and thickness.

You can control tick mark and label spacing directly, or use "Auto Spacing" (the default) to calculate an optimal spacing for tick marks and tick mark labels. As you change views, particularly in zooming, Tecplot 360 recalculates the spacing. With "Auto Spacing" selected, Tecplot 360 also calculates the number of minor tick marks for you.

Toggle-on the appropriate options for label display. The available options are dependent on plot type.

Select the color and font in which you want your labels to appear. (See Font Folders and Fallback for more information on how fonts work with Tecplot 360.)

Choose how the numbers should be formatted for axis labels using the Specify Number Format dialog.

Enter the offset of the tick mark labels from the axis.

Select from the following additional options for label display:

[2D, XY, and Polar Only] - Toggle-on to draw a label at the point where two axes intersect. Use this toggle if you have axis labels that are colliding, or are stacked on top of one another at the intersection of two axes.

Toggle-on to include a rectangle (with the color of the frame background) behind the label to increase the visibility of the label.

Specify the interval between tick mark labels.

For any plot type, you can specify where to show the axis title. Toggle-on "Axis Line" to show the axis title directly on the corresponding axis. The remaining available options are dependent upon plot type.

Select the color and font in which you would like your axis to appear. (See Font Folders and Fallback for more information on how fonts work with Tecplot 360.)

Prevents Tecplot 360 from printing your axis title directly on top of the axis. You may specify a positive or negative offset from one side or the other of the axis. An offset of zero prints the edge of the axis title on the axis.

Specify the start position of the axis title as a percentage of axis length.

Choose one of the following display options:

Toggle-on or off to display or hide an axis line.

(3D Cartesian only) - Toggle-on or off to draw a line on the opposite edge from the selected axis line.

Turning on the grid border draws a border around your grid. Toggle-on or off to display or hide the borders of your grid. Not available for 3D Cartesian plots.

Select what part of your plot with which you would like to align your axis. Not available for 3D Cartesian plots.

Specify a Theta-axis value to specify the position of the axis line.

In addition to setting the alignment of the R-axis, you may choose to extend the R-axis by drawing an axis line perpendicular or parallel to the existing axis line.

Toggle-on "Draw Perpendicular Axis" to draw an axis line perpendicular to the main axis line.

(Polar line plots only) Toggle-on "Show Viewport Border" to show the viewport border. The viewport border is defined on the Area page of the Axis Details dialog.

(3D Cartesian only) - When toggled-on, axis lines will display on the opposite edge of the plot.

(3D Cartesian only) Toggle-on "Show Axis Box" to display all edges of all axes.

(3D Cartesian only) - Toggle-on "Auto 3D Edge Assignment" to place the three axis lines so they will not interfere with the drawing of the plot. If toggled-off, you have the option to place the line at any pair of edges, such as Y-Minimum & Z-Minimum, Y-Maximum & Z-Minimum, Y-Minimum and Z-Maximum, or Y-Maximum & Z-Maximum. The available pairs depend on the axis selected to edit.

For Sketch, XY Line, and 2D Cartesian plots, you can alter the size of the grid area by changing the extents of the viewport. (For these plot types, the viewport and grid area are synonymous.) Click the Color button to select the color using the Color Chooser.

Select the position of the Viewport. The Viewport is the percentage of the entire plot area occupied by the plot grid. Select the location (as a percentage of the entire plot area) in which to place the Left, Right, Top, and Bottom borders of your grid area.