\Header{gpar}{Handling Grid Graphical Parameters}
\alias{get.gpar}{gpar}
\keyword{dplot}{gpar}
\begin{Description}\relax
\code{gpar()} should be used to create a set of graphical
parameter settings.  It returns an object of class \code{"gpar"}.  This is
basically a list of name-value pairs.

\code{get.gpar()} can be used to query the current
graphical parameter settings.
\end{Description}
\begin{Usage}
\begin{verbatim}
gpar(...)
get.gpar(names = NULL)
\end{verbatim}
\end{Usage}
\begin{Arguments}
\begin{ldescription}
\item[\code{...}] Any number of named arguments. 
\item[\code{names}] A character vector of valid graphical parameter names.
\end{ldescription}
\end{Arguments}
\begin{Details}\relax
All grid viewports and (predefined) graphical objects have a slot
called \code{gp}, which contains a \code{"gpar"} object.  When
a viewport is pushed onto the viewport stack and when a graphical object
is drawn, the settings in the \code{"gpar"} object are enforced.
In this way, the graphical output is modified by the \code{gp}
settings until the graphical object has finished drawing, or until the
viewport is popped off the viewport stack, or until some other
viewport or graphical object is pushed or begins drawing.

Valid parameter names are:
\Tabular{ll}{
col & Colour for lines and borders. \\
fill & Colour for filling rectangles, polygons, ... \\
lty & Line type \\
lwd & Line width \\
fontsize & The size of text (in points) \\
cex & Multiplier applied to fontsize \\
fontfamily & The font family \\
fontface & The font face (bold, italic, ...) \\
lineheight & The height of a line as a multiple of the size of text \\
font & Font face (alias for fontface;  for
backward compatibility) \\
}

The size of text is \code{fontsize}*\code{cex}.  The size of a line
is \code{fontsize}*\code{cex}*\code{lineheight}.

For most devices, the \code{fontfamily} is specified when the device
is first opened and may not be changed thereafter -- i.e., specifying
a different font family via \code{fontfamily} will be ignored.  This
will hopefully change in future versions of R.  Also, there is an
important exception:  \code{fontfamily} may be used to specify one
of the Hershey Font families (e.g., \code{HersheySerif})
and this specification will be honoured
on all devices.

The specification of \code{fontface} follows the R base graphics
standard:  1 = plain, 2 = bold, 3 = italic, 4 = bold italic.

Specifying the value \code{NULL} for a parameter is the same as not
specifying any value for that parameter, except for \code{col} and
\code{fill}, where \code{NULL} indicates not to draw a border or
not to fill an area (respectively).

All parameter values can be vectors of multiple values.  (This will
not always make sense -- for example, viewports will only take
notice of the first parameter value.)

\code{get.gpar()} returns all current graphical parameter settings.
\end{Details}
\begin{Value}
An object of class \code{"gpar"}.
\end{Value}
\begin{Author}\relax
Paul Murrell
\end{Author}
\begin{SeeAlso}\relax
\code{\Link{Hershey}}.
\end{SeeAlso}
\begin{Examples}
\begin{ExampleCode}
get.gpar()
gpar(col = "red")
gpar(col = "blue", lty = "solid", lwd = 3, fontsize = 16)
get.gpar(c("col", "lty"))
grid.newpage()
vp <- viewport(w = .8, h = .8, gp = gpar(col="blue"))
grid.draw(gTree(children=gList(rectGrob(gp = gpar(col="red")),
                     textGrob(paste("The rect is its own colour (red)",
                                    "but this text is the colour",
                                    "set by the gTree (green)",
                                    sep = "\n"))),
      gp = gpar(col="green"), vp = vp))
grid.text("This text is the colour set by the viewport (blue)",
          y = 1, just = c("center", "bottom"),
          gp = gpar(fontsize=20), vp = vp)
grid.newpage()
## example with multiple values for a parameter
pushViewport(viewport())
grid.points(1:10/11, 1:10/11, gp = gpar(col=1:10))
popViewport()
\end{ExampleCode}
\end{Examples}

