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Inconsistency in ListPlot vs. other plotting functions (solution)

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  • Subject: [mg102690] Inconsistency in ListPlot vs. other plotting functions (solution)
  • From: dr DanW <dmaxwarren at gmail.com>
  • Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 07:01:39 -0400 (EDT)

I have been trying to write a fully functional legend function for the
Plot family of functions.  I have been baffled by some inconsistencies
between the behavior of ListPlot and the other plotting functions,
about which I have posted previously on this forum.  To wit:

ListLogPlot[ Tooltip [ Range[4], "Data" ] ] ]

works as expected, but

ListPlot[ Tooltip [ Range[4], "Data" ] ] ]

looses the tooltip.  Also,

ListLogPlot[ { Range[4], Range[4]/2 } , Joined->True, PlotStyle->
{Thick, Dashed} ]

gives you a solid thick line and a thin dashed line, whereas

ListPlot[ { Range[4], Range[4]/2 } , Joined->True, PlotStyle->{Thick,
Dashed} ]

gives you a solid thick line and a thick dashed line.

These inconsistencies have challenged my faith in Mathematica.
However, through much experimentation I have discovered that
ListLinePlot is a rewritten version of ListPlot (similar to
ListLogPlot being a rewritten version of LogListPlot.)  As far as I
can tell, ListLinePlot has behavior that is consistent with the other
plotting functions.  The only nagging difference is that, by default,
Joined->True, but we know how to deal with that.  I suspect that
ListPlot should have been put on a deprecated function list but was
not.

So, my suggestion is to get into the habit of using ListLinePlot
instead of ListPlot.

Daniel



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