Save plot without showing it at all

Question

Is it possible to save a plot without displaying it at all ?

I made a little ggplot hack to be able to copy graphs to powerpoint easily, it copies the plot to the clipboard, but one can see the device window open and close fast, it's a bit awkward, can I avoid this ?

I'm using windows and rstudio.

reproducible code:

library(ggplot)

`-.gg` <- function(e1,e2){
  assertthat::assert_that(is.numeric(e2),
                          length(e2)<= 2)
  if(identical(e2,0)) return(invisible(NULL))
  W <- 8
  H <- 4.5
  dev.new(width=W * head(e2,1), height=H * tail(e2,1),noRStudioGD =TRUE)
  print(e1)
  savePlot("clipboard", type="wmf")
  dev.off()
  e1
}

ggplot(data.frame(x=1:10,y=1:10),aes(x,y)) + geom_point() - 1 - 0

Edit:

My code, and chosen solution, have issues dealing with semi-transparency.It's ok most of the time, but exceptions will be annoying. Maybe a path to a general solution would be to save it with tempfile then read it into the clipboard, either through an appropriate R function, or with command line using system (maybe something that would open the file invisibly and copy).

user2554330 · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-10 11:55:11Z

3

This works on Windows: use the win.metafile() device. If you give no filename, it saves to the clipboard. So your function should be

library(ggplot2)

`-.gg` <- function(e1,e2){
  assertthat::assert_that(is.numeric(e2),
                          length(e2)<= 2)
  if(identical(e2,0)) return(invisible(NULL))
  W <- 8
  H <- 4.5
  win.metafile(width=W * head(e2,1), height=H * tail(e2,1))
  print(e1)
  dev.off()
  e1
}

ggplot(data.frame(x=1:10,y=1:10),aes(x,y)) + geom_point() - 1 - 0

answered Nov 10, 2017 at 11:55

user2554330

46.8k4 gold badges52 silver badges114 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

3 Comments

moodymudskipper Over a year ago

I was too good to be true, ggplot(data.frame(x=1:10,y=1:10),aes(x,y)) + geom_smooth() - 1 - 0 returns semi-transparency is not supported on this device. geom_smooth won't work completely, but it seems the alpha parameter is supported.

moodymudskipper Over a year ago

better example: ggplot(iris,aes(Sepal.Length,Sepal.Width)) + geom_smooth() - 1 - 0

user2554330 Over a year ago

I get the same warning from your original savePlot code. It's a limitation of the WMF device. Maybe the WMF format supports transparency by now, but the device doesn't know that.

akrun · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-10 11:27:01Z

1

On windows and R 3.4.2, using Sys.sleep was able to view the plot instead of blink and miss

`-.gg` <- function(e1,e2){
    assertthat::assert_that(is.numeric(e2),
                      length(e2)<= 2)
    if(identical(e2,0)) return(invisible(NULL))
     W <- 8
     H <- 4.5
    dev.new(width=W * head(e2,1), height=H * tail(e2,1),noRStudioGD =TRUE)
    print(e1)
    savePlot("clipboard", type="wmf")
    Sys.sleep(3) ##
    dev.off()
    e1
 }

ggplot(data.frame(x=1:10,y=1:10),aes(x,y)) + geom_point() - 1 - 0

answered Nov 10, 2017 at 11:27

akrun

891k38 gold badges590 silver badges700 bronze badges

1 Comment

moodymudskipper Over a year ago

It's a good idea as it makes it less awkward, but I'm also curious if I can actually not show it at all.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Save plot without showing it at all

2 Answers 2

3 Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

3 Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related