Shapes in JavaScript

How to make arbitrary D3.js-based SVG shapes in JavaScript. Examples of lines, circle, rectangle, and path.

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Highlighting Time Series Regions with Rectangle Shapes

var data = [
  {
    x: ['2015-02-01', '2015-02-02', '2015-02-03', '2015-02-04', '2015-02-05',
        '2015-02-06', '2015-02-07', '2015-02-08', '2015-02-09', '2015-02-10',
        '2015-02-11', '2015-02-12', '2015-02-13', '2015-02-14', '2015-02-15',
        '2015-02-16', '2015-02-17', '2015-02-18', '2015-02-19', '2015-02-20',
        '2015-02-21', '2015-02-22', '2015-02-23', '2015-02-24', '2015-02-25',
        '2015-02-26', '2015-02-27', '2015-02-28'],
    y: [-14, -17, -8, -4, -7, -10, -12, -14, -12, -7, -11, -7, -18, -14, -14,
        -16, -13, -7, -8, -14, -8, -3, -9, -9, -4, -13, -9, -6],
    mode: 'line',
    name: 'temperature'
  }
];

var layout = {

    // to highlight the timestamp we use shapes and create a rectangular

    shapes: [
        // 1st highlight during Feb 4 - Feb 6
        {
            type: 'rect',
            // x-reference is assigned to the x-values
            xref: 'x',
            // y-reference is assigned to the plot paper [0,1]
            yref: 'paper',
            x0: '2015-02-04',
            y0: 0,
            x1: '2015-02-06',
            y1: 1,
            fillcolor: '#d3d3d3',
            opacity: 0.2,
            line: {
                width: 0
            }
        },

        // 2nd highlight during Feb 20 - Feb 23
        
        {
            type: 'rect',
            xref: 'x',
            yref: 'paper',
            x0: '2015-02-20',
            y0: 0,
            x1: '2015-02-22',
            y1: 1,
            fillcolor: '#d3d3d3',
            opacity: 0.2,
            line: {
                width: 0
            }
        }
    ],
    height: 500,
    width: 500
}

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data, layout);

Highlighting Clusters of Scatter Points with Circle Shapes

function normal_array( mean, stddev, size ){
    var arr = new Array(size), i;
    // from http://bl.ocks.org/nrabinowitz/2034281
    var generator = (function() {
        return d3.random.normal(mean, stddev);
    }());

    for( i=0; i< arr.length; i++ ){
        arr[i] = generator();
    }
    return arr;
}

var x0 = normal_array(2, 0.45, 300);
var y0 = normal_array(2, 0.45, 300);

var x1 = normal_array(6, 0.4, 200);
var y1 = normal_array(6, 0.4, 200)

var x2 = normal_array(4, 0.3, 200);
var y2 = normal_array(4, 0.3, 200);

console.log(x0);

var data = [
    {
        x: x0,
        y: y0,
        mode: 'markers'
    }, {
        x: x1,
        y: y1,
        mode: 'markers'
    }, {
        x: x2,
        y: y2,
        mode: 'markers'
    }, {
        x: x1,
        y: y0,
        mode: 'markers'
    }
];

var layout = {
    shapes: [
        {
            type: 'circle',
            xref: 'x',
            yref: 'y',
            x0: d3.min(x0),
            y0: d3.min(y0),
            x1: d3.max(x0),
            y1: d3.max(y0),
            opacity: 0.2,
            fillcolor: 'blue',
            line: {
                color: 'blue'
            }
        },
        {
            type: 'circle',
            xref: 'x',
            yref: 'y',
            x0: d3.min(x1),
            y0: d3.min(y1),
            x1: d3.max(x1),
            y1: d3.max(y1),
            opacity: 0.2,
            fillcolor: 'orange',
            line: {
                color: 'orange'
            }
        },
        {
            type: 'circle',
            xref: 'x',
            yref: 'y',
            x0: d3.min(x2),
            y0: d3.min(y2),
            x1: d3.max(x2),
            y1: d3.max(y2),
            opacity: 0.2,
            fillcolor: 'green',
            line: {
                color: 'green'
            }
        },
        {
            type: 'circle',
            xref: 'x',
            yref: 'y',
            x0: d3.min(x1),
            y0: d3.min(y0),
            x1: d3.max(x1),
            y1: d3.max(y0),
            opacity: 0.2,
            fillcolor: 'red',
            line: {
                color: 'red'
            }
        }
    ],
    height: 400,
    width: 480,
    showlegend: false
}

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data, layout);

Vertical and Horizontal Lines Positioned Relative to the Axes

var trace1 = {
  x: [2, 3.5, 6],
  y: [1, 1.5, 1],
  text: ['Vertical Line', 'Horizontal Dashed Line', 'Diagonal dotted Line'],
  mode: 'text'
};

var layout = {
  title: 'Vertical and Horizontal Lines Positioned Relative to the Axes',
  xaxis: {
    range: [0, 7]
  },
  yaxis: {
    range: [0, 2.5]
  },
  width: 500,
  height: 500,
  shapes: [

    //line vertical

    {
      type: 'line',
      x0: 1,
      y0: 0,
      x1: 1,
      y1: 2,
      line: {
        color: 'rgb(55, 128, 191)',
        width: 3
      }
    },

    //Line Horizontal

    {
      type: 'line',
      x0: 2,
      y0: 2,
      x1: 5,
      y1: 2,
      line: {
        color: 'rgb(50, 171, 96)',
        width: 4,
        dash: 'dashdot'
      }
    },

    //Line Diagonal

    {
      type: 'line',
      x0: 4,
      y0: 0,
      x1: 6,
      y1: 2,
      line: {
        color: 'rgb(128, 0, 128)',
        width: 4,
        dash: 'dot'
      }
    }
  ]
};

var data = [trace1];

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data, layout);

Circle

var trace1 = {
  x: [1.5, 3.5],
  y: [0.75, 2.5],
  text: ['Unfilled Circle', 'Filled Circle'],
  mode: 'text'
};

var layout = {
  title: 'Circles',
  xaxis: {
    range: [0, 4.5],
    zeroline: false
  },
  yaxis: {
    range: [0, 4.5]
  },
  width: 500,
  height: 500,
  shapes: [

    // Unfilled Circle

    {
      type: 'circle',
      xref: 'x',
      yref: 'y',
      x0: 1,
      y0: 1,
      x1: 3,
      y1: 3,
      line: {
        color: 'rgba(50, 171, 96, 1)'
      }
    },

    // Filled Circle

    {
      type: 'circle',
      xref: 'x',
      yref: 'y',
      fillcolor: 'rgba(50, 171, 96, 0.7)',
      x0: 3,
      y0: 3,
      x1: 4,
      y1: 4,
      line: {
        color: 'rgba(50, 171, 96, 1)'
      }
    }
  ]
};

var data = [trace1];

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data, layout);

Rectangle Positioned Relative to the Plot and to the Axes

var trace1 = {
  x: [1.5, 3],
  y: [2.5, 2.5],
  text: ['Rectangle reference to the plot', 'Rectangle reference to the axes'],
  mode: 'text'
};

var layout = {
  title: 'Rectangles Positioned Relative to the Plot and to the Axes',
  xaxis: {
    range: [0, 4],
    showgrid: false
  },
  yaxis: {
    range: [0, 4]
  },
  width: 800,
  height: 600,
  shapes: [

    //Rectangle reference to the axes

    {
      type: 'rect',
      xref: 'x',
      yref: 'y',
      x0: 2.5,
      y0: 0,
      x1: 3.5,
      y1: 2,
      line: {
        color: 'rgb(55, 128, 191)',
        width: 3
      },
      fillcolor: 'rgba(55, 128, 191, 0.6)'
    },

    //Rectangle reference to the Plot

    {
      type: 'rect',
      xref: 'paper',
      yref: 'paper',
      x0: 0.25,
      y0: 0,
      x1: 0.5,
      y1: 0.5,
      line: {
        color: 'rgb(50, 171, 96)',
        width: 3
      },
      fillcolor: 'rgba(50, 171, 96, 0.6)'
    }
  ]
};

var data = [trace1];

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data, layout);

Rectangle Positioned Relative to the Axes

var trace1 = {
  x: [1.5, 4.5],
  y: [0.75, 0.75],
  text: ['Unfilled Rectangle', 'Filled Rectangle'],
  mode: 'text'
};

var layout = {
  title: 'Rectangle Positioned Relative to the Axes',
  xaxis: {
    range: [0, 7],
    showgrid: false
  },
  yaxis: {
    range: [0, 3.5]
  },
  width: 500,
  height: 500,
  shapes: [

    //Unfilled Rectangle

    {
      type: 'rect',
      x0: 1,
      y0: 1,
      x1: 2,
      y1: 3,
      line: {
        color: 'rgba(128, 0, 128, 1)'
      }
    },

    //Filled Rectangle

    {
      type: 'rect',
      x0: 3,
      y0: 1,
      x1: 6,
      y1: 2,
      line: {
        color: 'rgba(128, 0, 128, 1)',
        width: 2
      },
      fillcolor: 'rgba(128, 0, 128, 0.7)'
    }
  ]
};

var data = [trace1];

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data, layout);

Lines Positioned Relative to the Plot and to the Axis

var trace1 = {
  x: [2, 6],
  y: [1, 1],
  text: ['Line positioned relative to the plot', 'Line positioned relative to the axes'],
  mode: 'text'
};

var layout = {
  title: 'Lines Positioned Relative to the Plot & to the Axes',
  xaxis: {
    range: [0, 8]
  },
  yaxis: {
    range: [0, 2]
  },
  width: 500,
  height: 500,
  shapes: [

    //Line reference to the axes

    {
      type: 'line',
      xref: 'x',
      yref: 'y',
      x0: 4,
      y0: 0,
      x1: 8,
      y1: 1,
      line: {
        color: 'rgb(55, 128, 191)',
        width: 3
      }
    },

    //Line reference to the plot

    {
      type: 'line',
      xref: 'paper',
      yref: 'paper',
      x0: 0,
      y0: 0,
      x1: 0.5,
      y1: 0.5,
      line: {
        color: 'rgb(50, 171, 96)',
        width: 3
      }
    }
  ]
};

var data = [trace1];

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data, layout);

Basic Arbitrary SVG Paths

var trace1 = {
  x: [2, 1, 8, 8],
  y: [0.25, 9, 2, 6],
  text: ['filled triangle', 'filled Polygon', 'Quadratic Bezier Curves', 'Cubic Bezier Curves'],
  mode: 'text'
};

var layout = {
  title: 'Basic Arbitrary SVG Paths',
  xaxis: {
    range: [0, 9],
    zeroline: false
  },
  yaxis: {
    range: [0, 11],
    showgrid: false
  },
  width: 500,
  height: 500,
  shapes: [

    //Quadratic Bezier Curves

    {
      type: 'path',
      path: 'M 4,4 Q 6,0 8,4',
      line: {
        color: 'rgb(93, 164, 214)'
      }
    },

    //Cubic Bezier Curves

    {
      type: 'path',
      path: 'M 1,4 C 2,8 6,4 8,8',
      line: {
        color: 'rgb(207, 114, 255)'
      }
    },

    //Filled Triangle

    {
      type: 'path',
      path: 'M 1 1 L 1 3 L 4 1 Z',
      fillcolor: 'rgba(44, 160, 101, 0.5)',
      line: {
        color: 'rgb(44, 160, 101)'
      }
    },

    //Filled Polygon

    {
      type: 'path',
      path: ' M 3,7 L2,8 L2,9 L3,10, L4,10 L5,9 L5,8 L4,7 Z',
      fillcolor: 'rgba(255, 140, 184, 0.5)',
      line: {
        color: 'rgb(255, 140, 184)'
      }
    }
  ]
};

var data = [trace1];

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data, layout);

Venn Diagram with Circle Shapes

var trace1 = {
  x: [1, 1.75, 2.5],
  y: [1, 1, 1],
  type: 'scatter',
  mode: 'text',
  text: ['A', 'A+B', 'B'],
  textfont: {
    color: 'black',
    size: 18,
    family: 'Arial'
  }
};

var layout = {
  title: 'Venn Diagram with Circle Shapes',
  xaxis: {
    showticklabels: false,
    autotick: false,
    showgrid: false,
    zeroline: false
  },
  yaxis: {
    showticklabels: false,
    autotick: false,
    showgrid: false,
    zeroline: false
  },
  shapes: [{
    opacity: 0.3,
    xref: 'x',
    yref: 'y',
    fillcolor: 'blue',
    x0: 0,
    y0: 0,
    x1: 2,
    y1: 2,
    type: 'circle',
    line: {
      color: 'blue'
    }
  }, {
    opacity: 0.3,
    xref: 'x',
    yref: 'y',
    fillcolor: 'gray',
    x0: 1.5,
    y0: 0,
    x1: 3.5,
    y1: 2,
    type: 'circle',
    line: {
      color: 'gray'
    }
  }],
  margin: {
    l: 20,
    r: 20,
    b: 100
  },
  height: 500,
  width: 500
};

var data = [trace1];

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data, layout);

Creating Tangent Lines with Shapes

function linspace(a,b,n) {
  return d3.range(n).map(function(i){return a+i*(b-a)/(n-1);});
}

var xValues = linspace(1, 3, 200);

var yValues = [];

for ( var i = 0 ; i < xValues.length ; i++ ) {
  var result = xValues[i] * Math.sin(Math.pow(xValues[i], 2)) + 1;
  yValues.push(result);
};

var trace1 = {
  x: xValues,
  y: yValues,
  type: 'scatter'
};

var data = [trace1];

var layout = {
  title: 'Creating Tangent Lines with Shapes',
  shapes: [{
    type: 'line',
    x0: 1,
    y0: 2.30756,
    x1: 1.75,
    y1: 2.30756,
    opacity: 0.7,
    line: {
      color: 'red',
      width: 2.5
    }
  }, {
    type: 'line',
    x0: 2.5,
    y0: 3.80796,
    x1: 3.05,
    y1: 3.80796,
    opacity: 0.7,
    line: {
      color: 'red',
      width: 2.5
    }
  }, {
    type: 'line',
    x0: 1.90,
    y0: -1.1827,
    x1: 2.50,
    y1: -1.1827,
    opacity: 0.7,
    line: {
      color: 'red',
      width: 2.5
    }
  }],
  height: 500,
  width: 500
};

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data, layout);

Adding Labels to Shapes

This example adds a label to a rectangle and a line on the graph, sets a font size and color on the rectangle, and positions its label 'top center' using textposition. On the line, we specify a yanchor of "top" to anchor the top of the label to its textposition. You can also draw new shapes on the graph and each new shape automatically gets a text label.

var data = [
  {
    x: [
      '2015-02-01', '2015-02-02', '2015-02-03', '2015-02-04', '2015-02-05',
      '2015-02-06', '2015-02-07', '2015-02-08', '2015-02-09', '2015-02-10',
      '2015-02-11', '2015-02-12', '2015-02-13', '2015-02-14', '2015-02-15',
      '2015-02-16', '2015-02-17', '2015-02-18', '2015-02-19', '2015-02-20',
      '2015-02-21', '2015-02-22', '2015-02-23', '2015-02-24', '2015-02-25',
      '2015-02-26', '2015-02-27', '2015-02-28',
    ],
    y: [
      14, 17, 8, 4, 7, 10, 12, 14, 12, 11, 10, 9, 18, 14, 14, 16, 13, 8, 8,
      7, 7, 3, 9, 9, 4, 13, 9, 6,
    ],
    mode: 'line',
  },
];

var layout = {
  title: 'Product price changes and revenue growth',
  xaxis: { title: 'Date' },
  yaxis: { title: 'Revenue Growth' },
  dragmode: 'drawline',

  shapes: [
    {
      type: 'rect',
      xref: 'x',
      yref: 'paper',
      x0: '2015-02-02',
      y0: 0,
      x1: '2015-02-08',
      y1: 1,
      fillcolor: '#d3d3d3',
      opacity: 0.2,
      editable: true,
      line: {
        width: 0,
      },
      label: {
        text: 'Price drop',
        font: { size: 10, color: 'green' },
        textposition: 'top center',
      },
    },
    {
      type: 'line',
      x0: '2015-02-01',
      y0: 8,
      x1: '2015-02-28',
      y1: 8,
      fillcolor: '#d3d3d3',
      opacity: 0.2,
      editable: true,
      label: {
        text: 'January average',
        yanchor: 'top',
      },
    },
  ],
  newshape: { label: { text: 'New shape text' } },
  height: 500,
  width: 500,
};

var config = { 'modeBarButtonsToAdd': [
  'drawline',
  'drawopenpath',
  'drawclosedpath',
  'drawcircle',
  'drawrect',
  'eraseshape'
  ]
};

Plotly.newPlot('myDiv', data, layout, config);