Installation | Syntax | Examples | Feedback | Change log

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polarspike v1.0

(09 May 2024)

Installation

The package can be installed via SSC or GitHub. The GitHub version, might be more recent due to bug fixes, feature updates etc, and may contain syntax improvements and changes in default values. See version numbers below. Eventually the GitHub version is published on SSC.

The SSC version (v1.0):

ssc install polarspike, replace

Or it can be installed from GitHub (v1.0):

net install polarspike, from("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/asjadnaqvi/stata-polarspike/main/installation/") replace

The palettes package is required to run this command:

ssc install palettes, replace
ssc install colrspace, replace

Even if you have the package installed, make sure that it is updated ado update, update.

If you want to make a clean figure, then it is advisable to load a clean scheme. These are several available and I personally use the following:

ssc install schemepack, replace
set scheme white_tableau  

You can also push the scheme directly into the graph using the scheme(schemename) option. See the help file for details or the example below.

I also prefer narrow fonts in figures with long labels. You can change this as follows:

graph set window fontface "Arial Narrow"

Syntax

The syntax for the latest version is as follows:

polarspike var [if] [in], by(var1) [ over(var2) ]
                 [ radmin(num) radmax(num) rotate(num) gap(num) palette(str) lwidth(str) format(str)
                   labcolor(str) labgap(num) labsize(str) ocolor(str) ogap(num) osize(str) 
                   nolegend legsize(str) legposition(str) legcolumns(num) *
                ]

See the help file help polarspike for details.

Examples

Pull the data:

use "https://github.com/asjadnaqvi/stata-polarspike/blob/main/data/gdp_per_capita.dta?raw=true", clear

Let's test the basic command:

polarspike rgdp_pc_ppp, by(countryname)

polarspike rgdp_pc_ppp, by(countryname) labgap(12) labsize(1) offset(10)

Rotation is great for optimizing the space:

polarspike rgdp_pc_ppp, by(countryname) labgap(8) labsize(1) offset(10) rotate(45)

Add colors by highlight different grouping in the graph:

polarspike rgdp_pc_ppp, by(countryname) labgap(8) labsize(1) offset(10) rotate(45) colorby(regionname)

polarspike rgdp_pc_ppp, by(countryname) labgap(8) labsize(1) offset(10) rotate(45) colorby(regionname) gap(0)

polarspike rgdp_pc_ppp, by(countryname) labgap(6) labsize(0.9) offset(10) rotate(45) colorby(regionname) gap(0) radmin(4) radmax(6)	///
	title("Real GDP per capita in 2022 (constant 2017 USD)") note("Source: World Bank Open Data", size(1.2))

polarspike rgdp_pc_ppp, by(countryname) labgap(6) labsize(0.9) offset(10) rotate(45) colorby(regionname) gap(0) radmin(4) radmax(6) nolegend	///
	title("Real GDP per capita in 2022 (constant 2017 USD)") note("Source: World Bank Open Data", size(1.2))

Condition the labels to only show values about a certain threshold:

polarspike rgdp_pc_ppp, by(countryname) labgap(6) labsize(0.9) offset(10) rotate(45) colorby(regionname) gap(0) radmin(4) radmax(6) nolegend labcond(10000)	///
	title("Real GDP per capita in 2022 (constant 2017 USD)") note("Source: World Bank Open Data", size(1.2))

Plotting change

polarspike change, by(countryname) labgap(6) labsize(0.9) offset(10) rotate(45) colorby(regionname) gap(0) radmin(4) radmax(6)	///
	title("5-year change in real GDP per capita (PPP) (2017-2022)") note("Source: World Bank Open Data", size(1.2))	

Plotting by groups

polarspike rgdp_pc_ppp, by(countryname) over(regionname) labgap(8) labsize(1) offset(10) palette(CET C6) 	///
	title("Real GDP per capita in 2022 (constant 2017 USD)") note("Source: World Bank Open Data", size(1.2))

polarspike rgdp_pc_ppp, by(countryname) over(regionname) labgap(8) labsize(1) offset(10) palette(CET C6) radmin(4) radmax(7) 	///
	title("Real GDP per capita in 2022 (constant 2017 USD)") note("Source: World Bank Open Data", size(1.2))	

polarspike change, by(countryname) over(regionname) labgap(6) labsize(0.9) offset(10) palette(CET C7) radmin(4) radmax(7) 	///
	title("Real GDP per capita in 2022 (constant 2017 USD)") note("Source: World Bank Open Data", size(1.2))

Feedback

Please open an issue to report errors, feature enhancements, and/or other requests.

Change log

v1.0 (09 May 2024)

• First release