Make dots of grid lines in log log scatter plot reflect units

[Tom Storwitz]

Dear all,
I would like to create a plot with logarithmic axes and grid lines whose dots reflect the units.
For example, consider the following plot, generated by

sysuse auto
tw scatter price mpg, yscale(log) xscale(log) xlabel(10 100, grid) ylabel(1000 10000)

I would like the dots of the grid lines reflect the units, i.e. their distance to each other should vary according to the logarithmic axes. I would like to set the number of dots to 9 per interval (in this example this might look odd, but in my actual plot I will have more powers of 10 per axis).

Is this possible? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Nick Cox]

I think you could get those only by generating the dot coordinates as new data.

[Tom Storwitz]

Thank you, Nick, for your reply and assessment!

[Nick Cox]

Not what you're asking quite, but in nearby territory:

webuse grunfeld , clear
niceloglabels invest, style(125) local(yla)
niceloglabels mvalue, style(125) local(xla)
scatter invest mvalue, ysc(log) xsc(log) yla(`yla', grid glp(solid) glc(gs12)) xla(`xla', grid glp(solid) glc(gs12)) aspect(1)

What's in common: a grid that is designed to work well on logarithmic scale.

The trade-off with a grid I take to be that it should be prominent enough to fulfil its role of guiding the reader and subdued enough not to interfere with showing the data. In Stata 18 grid lines default to dashed, which I don't like myself, but the more crucial point is that you can tune line pattern, line color and line width.

niceloglabels is from the Stata Journal. In its terms you seem to be asking for a style 123456789, which I have not implemented for the simple if personal reason that I've never wanted it.

.

 search niceloglabels, sj

Search of official help files, FAQs, Examples, and Stata Journals

SJ-20-4 gr0072_1  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Software update for niceloglabels
        (help niceloglabels)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  N. J. Cox
        Q4/20   SJ 20(4):1028--1030
        new unitfraction option has been added and code tweaked to fix
        two small occasional puzzles

SJ-18-1 gr0072  . . . . . . . Speaking Stata: Logarithmic binning and labeling
        (help niceloglabels)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  N. J. Cox
        Q1/18   SJ 18(1):262--286
        introduces the niceloglabels command for helping (even automating)
        label choice