Geom examples"

In highdir: Unified Data Visualization Framework for Dynamic and Static Graphics

knitr::opts_chunk$set(
  collapse  = TRUE,
  comment   = "#>",
  eval      = FALSE,  # figures require a browser; set TRUE for local preview
  out.width = "60%",
  fig.align = "center",
  fig.width = 7,
  fig.height = 4,
  message = FALSE,
  warning = FALSE   # optional
)

This vignette shows how to use each geometry in highdir. Every example follows the same two-step workflow:

1. hd_spec() — describe what the data means (columns, labels)
2. hd_make() — decide how to render it (geom, backend, options)

#| echo: FALSE
#| eval: TRUE

alco1 <- 
structure(list(year = 2012:2025, adj_mean = c(29.5688209339651, 
26.3820822909097, 30.2479196947083, 24.9407936417249, 25.1552075711597, 
27.7067665662493, 26.6906409447571, 25.4251533588897, 22.5086285695819, 
25.7139807039743, 26.9308848055767, 26.2342670110855, 27.3435961548172, 
26.1531628575368), SE = c(1.31401820814255, 0.898223842915541, 
1.22017849767529, 0.957939144175014, 1.07138968311867, 0.953327936942322, 
1.04394544742553, 0.982999807380581, 0.964926259096375, 1.06360056066082, 
1.0789167751084, 1.04762055989223, 0.738525586449375, 0.807543719380914
), lower_95CI = c(26.991788087279, 24.6205796839981, 27.8550502174718, 
23.0622482786227, 23.0540848610285, 25.837246795542, 24.6434098689602, 
23.4974198595009, 20.6163601352583, 23.62820174148, 24.8149252900896, 
24.1797904994535, 25.8957573623531, 24.569989140382), upper_95CI = c(32.1458537806512, 
28.1435848978212, 32.6407891719448, 26.819339004827, 27.2563302812909, 
29.5762863369565, 28.737872020554, 27.3528868582785, 24.4008970039054, 
27.7997596664686, 29.0468443210639, 28.2887435227175, 28.7914349472813, 
27.7363365746917), adj_enhet = c(19.7, 17.6, 20.2, 16.6, 16.8, 
18.5, 17.8, 17, 15, 17.1, 18, 17.5, 18.2, 17.4), SE_enhet = c(0.9, 
0.6, 0.8, 0.6, 0.7, 0.6, 0.7, 0.7, 0.6, 0.7, 0.7, 0.7, 0.5, 0.5
), lower_enhet = c(18, 16.4, 18.6, 15.4, 15.4, 17.2, 16.4, 15.7, 
13.7, 15.8, 16.5, 16.1, 17.3, 16.4), upper_enhet = c(21.4, 18.8, 
21.8, 17.9, 18.2, 19.7, 19.2, 18.2, 16.3, 18.5, 19.4, 18.9, 19.2, 
18.5)), row.names = c(NA, 14L), class = "data.frame")

alco2 <- 
structure(list(kjonn = c(1L, 2L, 2L, 1L, 2L, 1L, 1L, 2L, 1L, 
2L, 1L, 2L, 1L, 2L, 2L, 1L, 1L, 2L, 1L, 2L, 2L, 1L, 2L, 1L, 1L, 
2L, 1L, 2L), year = c(2012L, 2012L, 2013L, 2013L, 2014L, 2014L, 
2015L, 2015L, 2016L, 2016L, 2017L, 2017L, 2018L, 2018L, 2019L, 
2019L, 2020L, 2020L, 2021L, 2021L, 2022L, 2022L, 2023L, 2023L, 
2024L, 2024L, 2025L, 2025L), adj_mean = c(39.9534494013342, 19.2158069961127, 
16.2987229537047, 36.4366085172398, 20.4071713171405, 40.1218495785968, 
33.5071360168995, 16.3684523600791, 33.7999998752251, 16.5144875220263, 
34.0407778185931, 21.4046942833816, 34.4416520612159, 18.8811860315978, 
18.8902437612744, 31.9644150234791, 28.3125963087005, 16.6742604519355, 
34.6111331093157, 16.7988662922662, 17.7598442065029, 36.0934348693515, 
18.1477985410825, 34.3912521953532, 35.4129728498304, 19.2754560917665, 
33.5140480551725, 18.7864609065691), SE = c(2.37961465920224, 
1.05842075962891, 0.805528008154603, 1.58875647328087, 1.31567166848581, 
2.0546200666149, 1.63223247158945, 1.00102712568767, 1.93202810956404, 
0.868936995947687, 1.49238954144028, 1.18378539463991, 1.72844402301913, 
1.13242241796748, 0.926270989221471, 1.69287641926772, 1.66628519349481, 
0.933798980264774, 1.86851200933237, 0.99289119454813, 0.97504817595482, 
1.91289210595667, 1.04561834491425, 1.80516167675502, 1.1224943436911, 
0.95929056172763, 1.40593962010721, 0.812443770607349), lower_95CI = c(35.2837640271632, 
17.1387107311799, 14.7180739832502, 33.319140066092, 17.8255902148301, 
36.0902209662603, 30.3044984625189, 14.404369655018, 30.0088950080673, 
14.8093609774398, 31.1124633028755, 19.0819939701495, 31.0502826663131, 
16.6591559746196, 17.0726142656199, 28.6428742031312, 25.0431691496594, 
14.8419870446381, 30.9448270211324, 14.8506720256205, 15.8463948865644, 
32.3395415558719, 16.096031819571, 30.8492011715321, 33.2118342823919, 
17.3943660331341, 30.7569565608956, 17.1932864023274), upper_95CI = c(44.6231347755053, 
21.2929032610456, 17.8793719241591, 39.5540769683877, 22.9887524194509, 
44.1534781909332, 36.7097735712802, 18.3325350651401, 37.591104742383, 
18.2196140666128, 36.9690923343106, 23.7273945966137, 37.8330214561187, 
21.1032160885759, 20.7078732569288, 35.2859558438269, 31.5820234677416, 
18.5065338592329, 38.277439197499, 18.7470605589119, 19.6732935264414, 
39.8473281828311, 20.1995652625939, 37.9333032191744, 37.6141114172688, 
21.1565461503989, 36.2711395494494, 20.3796354108107), adj_enhet = c(26.6, 
12.8, 10.9, 24.3, 13.6, 26.7, 22.3, 10.9, 22.5, 11, 22.7, 14.3, 
23, 12.6, 12.6, 21.3, 18.9, 11.1, 23.1, 11.2, 11.8, 24.1, 12.1, 
22.9, 23.6, 12.9, 22.3, 12.5), SE_enhet = c(1.6, 0.7, 0.5, 1.1, 
0.9, 1.4, 1.1, 0.7, 1.3, 0.6, 1, 0.8, 1.2, 0.8, 0.6, 1.1, 1.1, 
0.6, 1.2, 0.7, 0.7, 1.3, 0.7, 1.2, 0.7, 0.6, 0.9, 0.5), lower_enhet = c(23.5, 
11.4, 9.8, 22.2, 11.9, 24.1, 20.2, 9.6, 20, 9.9, 20.7, 12.7, 
20.7, 11.1, 11.4, 19.1, 16.7, 9.9, 20.6, 9.9, 10.6, 21.6, 10.7, 
20.6, 22.1, 11.6, 20.5, 11.5), upper_enhet = c(29.7, 14.2, 11.9, 
26.4, 15.3, 29.4, 24.5, 12.2, 25.1, 12.1, 24.6, 15.8, 25.2, 14.1, 
13.8, 23.5, 21.1, 12.3, 25.5, 12.5, 13.1, 26.6, 13.5, 25.3, 25.1, 
14.1, 24.2, 13.6)), row.names = c(NA, 28L), class = "data.frame")

The same hd_spec object can be passed to hd_make() multiple times with different geom types, backends, or hd_opts() objects — there is no need to rebuild the spec.

#| eval: TRUE

library(highdir)
# ── Age-group survey dataset (bars and pie) ────────────────────────────────────
survey <- data.frame(
  age_group = rep(c("18-24", "25-34", "35-44", "45-54", "55-64"), each = 2),
  kjonn       = rep(c("Male", "Female"), times = 5),
  pct       = c(42, 38, 55, 61, 48, 52, 60, 57, 65, 70),
  n         = c(120, 115, 200, 210, 180, 175, 160, 155, 140, 145)
)

Column chart

Column charts are the default geometry and work with both grouped and ungrouped data. The n column is shown in the highcharter tooltip alongside the percentage.

#| eval: TRUE

spec_col <- hd_spec(survey,
                    x     = "age_group",
                    y     = "pct",
                    group = "kjonn",
                    n     = "n")

opts_col <- hd_opts(
  title    = "Alcohol use by age group and kjonn",
  subtitle = "Source: Norwegian Directorate of Health",
  ylim     = c(0, 100),
  yint     = 20,
  ylab     = "Percentage (%)"
)

## Alternatively using ggplot2 syntax
# hd(survey, x = "age_group", y = "pct", group = "kjonn", n = "n") +
#  hd_opts(title = "Alcohol use by age group and kjonn",
#       subtitle = "Source: Norwegian Directorate of Health",
#       ylim = c(0, 100),
#       yint = 20,
#       ylab = "Percentage (%)") +
#       hd_geom_column()

Interactive figure

#| eval: TRUE

# Interactive (default)
hd_make(spec_col, "column", opts_col)

# alternatively
# hd(spec_col) + hd_geom_column() + hd_opts(opts_col)

Static figure

#| eval: TRUE

# Static ggplot2
hd_make(spec_col, "column", opts_col, mode = "static")

Column with groups

#| eval: TRUE

# Horizontal bars — flip applies to both backends
opts_flip <- hd_opts(
  title    = "Alcohol use by age group and kjonn",
  subtitle = "Source: Norwegian Directorate of Health",
  ylim     = c(0, 100),
  flip     = TRUE
)

hd_make(spec_col, "column", opts_flip)

#| eval: TRUE

hd_make(spec_col, "column", opts_flip, mode = "static")

Line chart

Line charts suit time-series data. Use smooth = TRUE (default) for spline curves, or FALSE for straight segments between points. dot_size controls the marker radius.

#| eval: TRUE

# ── Time-series dataset (single group) ────────────────────────────────────────
# Annual alcohol consumption estimate with 95 % confidence interval.
# data("alco1")

# ── Time-series dataset (kjonn groups) ──────────────────────────────────────────
# data("alco2")

# Single series — no group column
spec_line1 <- hd_spec(alco1,
                      x    = "year",
                      y    = "adj_mean"
                      )

opts_line <- hd_opts(
  title    = "Alcohol consumption over time",
  subtitle = "Source: Norwegian Directorate of Health",
  ylim     = c(0, 50),
  ylab = "Litres per capita"
)


# Straight segments
hd_make(spec_line1, "line", opts_line, smooth = FALSE)
hd_make(spec_line1, "line", opts_line, smooth = FALSE, mode = "static")

Interactive figure

#| eval: TRUE

# Spline (smooth) — default
hd_make(spec_line1, "line", opts_line)

Static

#| eval: TRUE

# Spline (smooth) — default
hd_make(spec_line1, "line", opts_line, mode = "static")

# Grouped by kjonn
spec_line2 <- hd_spec(alco2,
                      x     = "year",
                      y     = "adj_mean",
                      group = "kjonn")

# Larger markers, straight lines
hd_make(spec_line2, "line", opts_line, smooth = FALSE, dot_size = 6)
hd_make(spec_line2, "line", opts_line, smooth = FALSE, dot_size = 6,
        mode = "static")

# Highcharter only: custom per-group marker shapes
hd_make(spec_line2, "line", opts_line,
        line_symbols = c("circle", "square"))

Ranked bar chart

A ranked bar chart sorts bars by value so comparisons across categories are immediate. Use ranked_bar when the order of categories matters more than their nominal labels - for example, ranking regions by a health indicator.

Automatic label placement is one of the key features of this geom. In the ggplot2 backend, value labels are placed inside a bar when the bar is long enough to fit the text, and outside when the bar is too short. The cut-off is calculated per bar from the label character width relative to the axis range, so the placement is fully automatic — no manual threshold is needed.

#| eval: TRUE

# Regional health indicator dataset
regions <- data.frame(
  region = c("Oslo", "Viken", "Vestland", "Rogaland",
             "Trondelag", "Innlandet", "Agder",
             "Nordland", "Troms og Finnmark"),
  rate   = c(68.4, 71.2, 87.8, 64.5, 61.3, 6.1, 54.2, 49.8, 42.1),
  n      = c(402, 448, 681, 318, 297, 251, 198, 177, 148)
)

#| eval: TRUE

spec_rb <- hd_spec(regions,
                   x    = "region",
                   y    = "rate",
                   n    = "n")

opts_rb <- hd_opts(
  title    = "Health indicator by region",
  subtitle = "Source: Norwegian Directorate of Health",
  ylab     = "Rate per 100 000",
  flip     = TRUE
)

# Static ggplot2 — value labels placed inside or outside bars automatically
hd_make(spec_rb, "ranked_bar", opts_rb, mode = "static")

# Interactive — default ascending order (lowest bar at bottom)
hd_make(spec_rb, "ranked_bar", opts_rb)

Pass ascending = FALSE to flip the sort order so the highest-ranked category appears at the top:

hd_make(spec_rb, "ranked_bar", opts_rb, ascending = FALSE)
hd_make(spec_rb, "ranked_bar", opts_rb, ascending = FALSE, mode = "static")

Use aim to draw a dashed reference line at a target value. The line is drawn in a contrasting brand colour so it reads clearly against the bars:

# Draw a dashed target line at rate = 60
hd_make(spec_rb, "ranked_bar", opts_rb, aim = 60, mode = "static")

#| eval: TRUE

# Draw a dashed target line at rate = 60
hd_make(spec_rb, "ranked_bar", opts_rb, aim = 60)

Use vs to highlight one specific category with a contrasting fill colour. The argument accepts a partial string match against the x column, so vs = "Oslo" will match "Oslo" exactly, and vs = "Troms" would match "Troms og Finnmark":

# Highlight Oslo as the comparison reference
hd_make(spec_rb, "ranked_bar", opts_rb, vs = "Oslo")
hd_make(spec_rb, "ranked_bar", opts_rb, vs = "Oslo", mode = "static")

# Combine: descending order + target line + comparison highlight
hd_make(spec_rb, "ranked_bar", opts_rb,
        ascending = FALSE,
        aim       = 60,
        vs        = "Oslo")

#| eval: TRUE

hd_make(spec_rb, "ranked_bar", opts_rb,
        ascending = TRUE,
        aim       = 60,
        vs        = "Oslo",
        backend   = "static")

The n column in hd_spec() appends sample sizes to category labels in the ggplot2 backend ("Oslo (N=502)") and shows them in the highcharter tooltip. Omit n from hd_spec() if you do not want sample sizes displayed:

spec_rb_no_n <- hd_spec(regions,
                        x    = "region",
                        y    = "rate")

# No N= labels in ggplot2; no N line in HC tooltip
hd_make(spec_rb_no_n, "ranked_bar", opts_rb, mode = "static")
hd_make(spec_rb_no_n, "ranked_bar", opts_rb)

Arearange chart

Arearange is designed for displaying a central estimate alongside a confidence interval or min/max band. ymin and ymax are required — they name the columns that define the lower and upper bounds of the shaded band.

#| eval: TRUE

# Single series
spec_ar1 <- hd_spec(alco1,
                    x    = "year",
                    y    = "adj_enhet")

opts_ar <- hd_opts(
  title    = "Alcohol consumption with 95% CI",
  subtitle = "Source: Norwegian Directorate of Health",
  ylim     = c(0, 30),
  ylab = "Number of units alcohol"
)

Interactive

#| eval: TRUE

hd_make(spec_ar1, "arearange", opts_ar,
        ymin = "lower_enhet", ymax = "upper_enhet")

Static

#| eval: TRUE

hd_make(spec_ar1, "arearange", opts_ar,
        ymin = "lower_enhet", ymax = "upper_enhet", mode = "static")

#| eval: TRUE

# Grouped by kjonn
spec_ar2 <- hd_spec(alco2,
                    x     = "year",
                    y     = "adj_enhet",
                    group = "kjonn")

hd_make(spec_ar2, "arearange", opts_ar,
        ymin = "lower_enhet", ymax = "upper_enhet")

hd_make(spec_ar2, "arearange", opts_ar,
        ymin = "lower_95CI", ymax = "upper_95CI", mode = "static")

Pie chart

Pie charts map one categorical column to slice labels and one numeric column to slice values. Pass inner_size = "50%" (or any CSS percentage) to draw a donut chart. The group column is ignored for pie charts — use x for labels and y for values.

#| eval: TRUE

# Category share dataset (pie)
drinking_freq <- data.frame(
  category = c("Never", "Rarely", "Monthly", "Weekly", "Daily"),
  pct      = c(18, 25, 30, 20, 7))

spec_pie <- hd_spec(drinking_freq,
                    x    = "category",
                    y    = "pct")

opts_pie <- hd_opts(
  title    = "Drinking frequency",
  subtitle = "Source: Norwegian Directorate of Health",
  ylab = "Share (%)"
)

Donut

#| eval: TRUE

# Donut interactive
hd_make(spec_pie, "pie", opts_pie, inner_size = "50%")

# Donut static
hd_make(spec_pie, "pie", opts_pie, inner_size = "50%", mode = "static")

Solid pie

# Solid pie
hd_make(spec_pie, "pie", opts_pie)
hd_make(spec_pie, "pie", opts_pie, mode = "static")

Stacked column chart

Stacked column charts display multiple series grouped into named stacks. Each stack is a separate pile of bars; series that share the same stack accumulate on top of each other.

The data must be in long format with one row per (x, group, facet) combination:

• x — the category axis (e.g. medal type)
• y — the numeric value
• group — the series label shown in the legend (e.g. country)
• facet — the column that assigns rows to a stack group (e.g. continent)

#| eval: TRUE

# Olympics all-time medal table
olympics <- data.frame(
  Country   = c("Norway", "Norway", "Norway",
                "Germany", "Germany", "Germany",
                "United States", "United States", "United States",
                "Canada", "Canada", "Canada"),
  Continent = c("Europe", "Europe", "Europe",
                "Europe", "Europe", "Europe",
                "North America", "North America", "North America",
                "North America", "North America", "North America"),
  Medal     = rep(c("Gold", "Silver", "Bronze"), times = 4),
  Count     = c(148, 133, 124,
                102,  98,  65,
                113, 122,  95,
                 77,  72,  80)
)

spec_st <- hd_spec(olympics,
                   x     = "Medal",
                   y     = "Count",
                   group = "Country")

opts_st <- hd_opts(
  title    = "Olympic Games all-time medal table, grouped by continent",
  subtitle = "Source: Olympics",
  ylab     = "Count medals"
)

# Interactive — stacked column
hd_make(spec_st, "stacked_column", opts_st)

# Interactive — stacks are separated by continent
hd_make(spec_st, "stacked_column", opts_st, facet = "Continent")

# Static ggplot2 — continents become facet panels
hd_make(spec_st, "stacked_column", opts_st,
        facet   = "Continent",
        mode = "static")

The stacking argument controls how values accumulate. "normal" (default) shows absolute values; "percent" rescales each stack to 100 % so you can compare compositions across stacks:

#| eval: TRUE

# 100% stacked — shows share within each continent, not absolute counts
hd_make(spec_st, "stacked_column", opts_st,
        facet    = "Continent",
        stacking = "percent")

## Static
hd_make(spec_st, "stacked_column", opts_st,
        facet    = "Continent",
        stacking = "percent",
        backend  = "static")

The same hd_opts() controls — title, axis labels, colours, and theme — work identically for stacked columns as for every other geom:

# Custom colour palette and Norwegian labels
opts_no <- hd_opts(
  title    = "Olympiske medaljer etter kontinent",
  subtitle = "Kilde: OL-statistikk",
  ylab     = "Antall medaljer",
  colors   = c("#025169", "#7C145C", "#C68803", "#047FA4")
)

hd_make(spec_st, "stacked_column", opts_no, facet = "Continent")
hd_make(spec_st, "stacked_column", opts_no,
        facet   = "Continent",
        mode = "static")

Reusing a spec across geoms

Because hd_spec() and hd_opts() are separate from hd_make(), the same data description can be rendered as any geometry — no code duplication.

# One spec, three geoms
spec_shared <- hd_spec(alco2,
                       x     = "year",
                       y     = "adj_mean",
                       group = "kjonn")

opts_shared <- hd_opts(
  title    = "Alcohol consumption by kjonn",
  subtitle = "Source: Norwegian Directorate of Health",
  ylim     = c(0, 50),
  ylab  = "Litres per capita"
)

hd_make(spec_shared, "column",    opts_shared)
hd_make(spec_shared, "line",      opts_shared)
hd_make(spec_shared, "arearange", opts_shared,
        ymin = "lower_95CI", ymax = "upper_95CI")

Reusing opts across languages

An hd_opts() object only controls presentation. Create one per language and pair it with the same spec.

opts_no <- hd_opts(
  title    = "Alkoholbruk over tid",
  subtitle = "Kilde: Helsedirektoratet",
  caption  = "Tall om alkohol",
  ylim     = c(0, 50)
)

opts_en <- hd_opts(
  title    = "Alcohol use over time",
  subtitle = "Source: Norwegian Directorate of Health",
  caption  = "Annual health report",
  ylim     = c(0, 50)
)

spec_ts <- hd_spec(alco2,
                   x     = "year",
                   y     = "adj_mean",
                   group = "kjonn")

hd_make(spec_ts, "line", opts_no)
hd_make(spec_ts, "line", opts_en)

Theming

Use hd_set_theme() once per session to apply a consistent visual style across all figures. Per-figure overrides are set via hd_opts(hc_theme = ..., gg_theme = ...).

# Session-wide defaults
hd_set_theme(
  hc_theme = "gridlight",
  gg_theme = "classic",
  colors   = c("#025169", "#7C145C", "#C68803")
)

hd_make(spec_ts, "line", opts_en)
hd_make(spec_ts, "line", opts_en, mode = "static")

# Per-figure override — does not change the session default
hd_make(spec_ts, "line",
        hd_opts(title = "Dark theme", hc_theme = "darkunica"),
        mode = "dynamic")

# Reset to package defaults
hd_set_theme(hc_theme = "default", gg_theme = "classic", colors = NULL)

Saving figures

hd_save() exports highcharter figures to HTML or JSON and ggplot2 figures to PNG, SVG, or PDF. The format is inferred from the file extension.

hc_fig <- hd_make(spec_ts, "line", opts_en)
gg_fig <- hd_make(spec_ts, "line", opts_en, mode = "static")

hd_save(hc_fig, "alcohol_line.html")
hd_save(hc_fig, "alcohol_line.json")

hd_save(gg_fig, "alcohol_line.png")
hd_save(gg_fig, "alcohol_line.svg")

highdir documentation built on July 31, 2026, 5:06 p.m.