Dodge overlapping objects side-to-side

Dodging preserves the vertical position of an geom while adjusting the horizontal position. position_dodge() requires the grouping variable to be be specified in the global or geom_* layer. Unlike position_dodge(), position_dodge2() works without a grouping variable in a layer. position_dodge2() works with bars and rectangles, but is particularly useful for arranging box plots, which can have variable widths.

position_dodge(
  width = NULL,
  preserve = "total",
  orientation = "x",
  reverse = FALSE
)

position_dodge2(
  width = NULL,
  preserve = "total",
  padding = 0.1,
  reverse = FALSE
)

Arguments

width

Dodging width, when different to the width of the individual elements. This is useful when you want to align narrow geoms with wider geoms. See the examples.

preserve

Should dodging preserve the "total" width of all elements at a position, or the width of a "single" element?

orientation

Fallback orientation when the layer or the data does not indicate an explicit orientation, like geom_point(). Can be "x" (default) or "y".

reverse

If TRUE, will reverse the default stacking order. This is useful if you're rotating both the plot and legend.

padding

Padding between elements at the same position. Elements are shrunk by this proportion to allow space between them. Defaults to 0.1.

See also

Other position adjustments: position_identity(), position_jitter(), position_jitterdodge(), position_nudge(), position_stack()

Aesthetics

position_dodge() understands the following aesthetics. Required aesthetics are displayed in bold and defaults are displayed for optional aesthetics:

•

order

→ NULL

Learn more about setting these aesthetics in vignette("ggplot2-specs").

Examples

ggplot(mtcars, aes(factor(cyl), fill = factor(vs))) +
  geom_bar(position = "dodge2")


# By default, dodging with `position_dodge2()` preserves the total width of
# the elements. You can choose to preserve the width of each element with:
ggplot(mtcars, aes(factor(cyl), fill = factor(vs))) +
  geom_bar(position = position_dodge2(preserve = "single"))


# \donttest{
ggplot(diamonds, aes(price, fill = cut)) +
  geom_histogram(position="dodge2")
#> `stat_bin()` using `bins = 30`. Pick better value `binwidth`.

# see ?geom_bar for more examples

# In this case a frequency polygon is probably a better choice
ggplot(diamonds, aes(price, colour = cut)) +
  geom_freqpoly()
#> `stat_bin()` using `bins = 30`. Pick better value `binwidth`.

# }

# Dodging with various widths -------------------------------------
# To dodge items with different widths, you need to be explicit
df <- data.frame(
  x = c("a","a","b","b"),
  y = 2:5,
  g = rep(1:2, 2)
)
p <- ggplot(df, aes(x, y, group = g)) +
  geom_col(position = "dodge", fill = "grey50", colour = "black")
p


# A line range has no width:
p + geom_linerange(aes(ymin = y - 1, ymax = y + 1), position = "dodge")
#> Warning: Width not defined
#> ℹ Set with `position_dodge(width = ...)`


# So you must explicitly specify the width
p + geom_linerange(
  aes(ymin = y - 1, ymax = y + 1),
  position = position_dodge(width = 0.9)
)


# The same principle applies to error bars, which are usually
# narrower than the bars
p + geom_errorbar(
  aes(ymin = y - 1, ymax = y + 1),
  width = 0.2,
  position = "dodge"
)

p + geom_errorbar(
  aes(ymin = y - 1, ymax = y + 1),
  width = 0.2,
  position = position_dodge(width = 0.9)
)


# Box plots use position_dodge2 by default, and bars can use it too
ggplot(mpg, aes(factor(year), displ)) +
  geom_boxplot(aes(colour = hwy < 30))


ggplot(mpg, aes(factor(year), displ)) +
  geom_boxplot(aes(colour = hwy < 30), varwidth = TRUE)


ggplot(mtcars, aes(factor(cyl), fill = factor(vs))) +
  geom_bar(position = position_dodge2(preserve = "single"))


ggplot(mtcars, aes(factor(cyl), fill = factor(vs))) +
  geom_bar(position = position_dodge2(preserve = "total"))