X-Y Plot Options

The X–Y plot options allow you to customize the curves and the axes of your X–Y plot along with the overall appearance of the plot, such as its title and legend. Your X–Y plot options are saved with the simulation. When you create a new X–Y plot, it inherits your most recent X–Y plot options.

When the Curve options are displayed, you can locate an individual curve by selecting it from the Curve list. Selected curves are highlighted in the X-Y Plot Viewer. Curve highlighting works the other way as well; you can right-click a curve in the viewer and select Options to display that curve's options in the Plot Options dialog box.

Option Description Settings That Can Be Saved
Plot Customize the appearance of the plot background and the plot title.

Background: All settings

Title: Show title setting, title color and font settings, and all title background and border settings

Tooltip: tooltip color and font settings

Chart Customize the appearance of the chart background and the chart title.

Background: All settings

Title: Show title setting and title color and font settings

Grid Customize the color of the chart's grid area and the color, thickness, and style of the grid lines. All settings
Legend Customize the title of the chart's legend and its appearance and location. All settings except the legend title
Curve Select a curve from the Curve list and do the following:
  • Customize the name that appears in the legend
  • Customize the line that represents the curve
  • Customize the symbol that represents the curve and the frequency with which the symbols appear
  • Associate a selected curve with an X- and Y-axis

Attributes: Line weight and style settings

Axis For a selected axis:
  • Customize the appearance of the axis title
  • Select the type of scale (linear, base 10 logarithmic, 10 dB progression, or 20 dB progression)
  • Specify the minimum and maximum value along the axis

Title: Show title setting and axis title color and font settings

Scale: Type of scale (Linear, Log, 10 db, or 20 db)

Tick Marks For a selected axis, customize the appearance and the frequency of the tick marks.

Title: All tick mark customization settings

Labels For a selected axis:
  • Customize the appearance of the axis
  • Customize the position, frequency, format (decimal, engineering, or scientific), and precision of the labels along the axis

Axis: All tick mark customization settings

Labels: Show label setting, label placement, and label color and font

Saving Changes to the Defaults

Many of the changes you make to X-Y plot settings in the Options panel can be saved as the new default settings for those options. You can save settings related to an individual item—for example, the settings that appear when you select Plot or Chart in the panel—or for all items in the panel. The user preferences file is saved in the CATSettings directory. To save your changes, click Save as Default, then specify whether you want to save the custom settings for the currently selected item in the panel (that is, the settings that appear when you select Plot or Curve) or settings related to every item that appears in the panel.

When you reset the settings in the Options panel, two levels of control are available: you can restore the global preferences for X-Y plots or load the user preferences from the file you created; and you can reset settings for the currently selected item or settings for all items in the panel. To reset settings, click Reset, then specify whether you want to use global or user preferences and whether you want to reset settings for the current item or for all items.