List of Graphical Devices

Description

The following graphics devices are currently available:

• postscript Writes PostScript graphics commands to a file
• pdf Write PDF graphics commands to a file
• pictex Writes LaTeX/PicTeX graphics commands to a file
• xfig Device for XFIG graphics file format
• bitmap bitmap pseudo-device via GhostScript (if available).

The following devices will be functional if R was compiled to use them (they exist but will return with a warning on other systems):

• X11 The graphics device for the X11 Window system
• bmp Windows bitmap device
• jpeg JPEG bitmap device
• png PNG bitmap device
• tiff TIFF bitmap device
• cairo_pdf, cairo_ps PDF and PostScript devices based on cairo graphics.
• quartz The graphics device for the Mac OS X native Quartz 2d graphics system. (This is only functional on Mac OS X, but unlike R < 2.7.0 can be used from the command line and not just from the GUI console.)

Details

If no device is open, using a high-level graphics function will cause a device to be opened. Which device is given by options("device") which is initially set as the most appropriate for each platform: a screen device for most interactive use and pdf (or the setting of R_DEFAULT_DEVICE) otherwise. The exception is interactive use under Unix if no screen device is known to be available, when pdf()is used.

See Also

The individual help files for further information on any of the devices listed here; X11.options, quartz.options, ps.options and pdf.options for how to customize devices.

dev.interactive, dev.cur, dev.print, graphics.off, image, dev2bitmap.

capabilities to see if X11, jpeg png and quartz are available.

Examples

## Not run: 
## open the default screen device on this platform if no device is
## open
if(dev.cur() == 1) dev.new()
## End(Not run)