gf_ecdf: Formula interace to empirical cumulative distribution

In ggformula: Formula Interface to the Grammar of Graphics

Formula interace to empirical cumulative distribution

Description

The empirical cumulative distribution function (ECDF) provides an alternative visualization of distribution. Compared to other visualizations that rely on density (like histograms or density plots) the ECDF doesn't require any tuning parameters and handles both continuous and categorical variables. The downside is that it requires more training to accurately interpret, and the underlying visual tasks are somewhat more challenging.

Usage

gf_ecdf(
  object = NULL,
  gformula = NULL,
  data = NULL,
  ...,
  group,
  pad,
  n = NULL,
  xlab,
  ylab,
  title,
  subtitle,
  caption,
  geom = "step",
  stat = "ecdf",
  position = "identity",
  show.legend = NA,
  show.help = NULL,
  inherit = TRUE,
  environment = parent.frame()
)

Arguments

object	When chaining, this holds an object produced in the earlier portions of the chain. Most users can safely ignore this argument. See details and examples.
gformula	A formula with shape y ~ x. Faceting can be achieved by including | in the formula.
data	The data to be displayed in this layer. There are three options: If NULL, the default, the data is inherited from the plot data as specified in the call to ggplot(). A data.frame, or other object, will override the plot data. All objects will be fortified to produce a data frame. See fortify() for which variables will be created. A function will be called with a single argument, the plot data. The return value must be a data.frame, and will be used as the layer data. A function can be created from a formula (e.g. ~ head(.x, 10)).
...	Other arguments passed on to layer()'s params argument. These arguments broadly fall into one of 4 categories below. Notably, further arguments to the position argument, or aesthetics that are required can not be passed through .... Unknown arguments that are not part of the 4 categories below are ignored. Static aesthetics that are not mapped to a scale, but are at a fixed value and apply to the layer as a whole. For example, colour = "red" or linewidth = 3. The geom's documentation has an Aesthetics section that lists the available options. The 'required' aesthetics cannot be passed on to the params. Please note that while passing unmapped aesthetics as vectors is technically possible, the order and required length is not guaranteed to be parallel to the input data. When constructing a layer using a ⁠stat_*()⁠ function, the ... argument can be used to pass on parameters to the geom part of the layer. An example of this is stat_density(geom = "area", outline.type = "both"). The geom's documentation lists which parameters it can accept. Inversely, when constructing a layer using a ⁠geom_*()⁠ function, the ... argument can be used to pass on parameters to the stat part of the layer. An example of this is geom_area(stat = "density", adjust = 0.5). The stat's documentation lists which parameters it can accept. The key_glyph argument of layer() may also be passed on through .... This can be one of the functions described as key glyphs, to change the display of the layer in the legend.
group	Used for grouping.
pad	If TRUE, pad the ecdf with additional points (-Inf, 0) and (Inf, 1)
n	if NULL, do not interpolate. If not NULL, this is the number of points to interpolate with.
xlab	Label for x-axis. See also gf_labs().
ylab	Label for y-axis. See also gf_labs().
title, subtitle, caption	Title, sub-title, and caption for the plot. See also gf_labs().
geom	The geometric object to use to display the data for this layer. When using a ⁠stat_*()⁠ function to construct a layer, the geom argument can be used to override the default coupling between stats and geoms. The geom argument accepts the following: A Geom ggproto subclass, for example GeomPoint. A string naming the geom. To give the geom as a string, strip the function name of the geom_ prefix. For example, to use geom_point(), give the geom as "point". For more information and other ways to specify the geom, see the layer geom documentation.
stat	The statistical transformation to use on the data for this layer. When using a ⁠geom_*()⁠ function to construct a layer, the stat argument can be used the override the default coupling between geoms and stats. The stat argument accepts the following: A Stat ggproto subclass, for example StatCount. A string naming the stat. To give the stat as a string, strip the function name of the stat_ prefix. For example, to use stat_count(), give the stat as "count". For more information and other ways to specify the stat, see the layer stat documentation.
position	A position adjustment to use on the data for this layer. This can be used in various ways, including to prevent overplotting and improving the display. The position argument accepts the following: The result of calling a position function, such as position_jitter(). This method allows for passing extra arguments to the position. A string naming the position adjustment. To give the position as a string, strip the function name of the position_ prefix. For example, to use position_jitter(), give the position as "jitter". For more information and other ways to specify the position, see the layer position documentation.
show.legend	logical. Should this layer be included in the legends? NA, the default, includes if any aesthetics are mapped. FALSE never includes, and TRUE always includes. It can also be a named logical vector to finely select the aesthetics to display.
show.help	If TRUE, display some minimal help.
inherit	A logical indicating whether default attributes are inherited.
environment	An environment in which to look for variables not found in data.

Examples

Data <- data.frame(
  x = c(rnorm(100, 0, 1), rnorm(100, 0, 3), rt(100, df = 3)),
  g = gl(3, 100, labels = c("N(0, 1)", "N(0, 3)", "T(df = 3)") )
)
gf_ecdf( ~ x, data = Data)
# Don't go to positive/negative infinity
gf_ecdf( ~ x, data = Data, pad = FALSE)

# Multiple ECDFs
gf_ecdf( ~ x, data = Data, color = ~ g)

ggformula documentation built on Aug. 9, 2025, 1:07 a.m.