PLMAPSTRING(3plplot)

💖 PLMAPSTRING — plot shapefile data as strings or points, in world coords ✨

okay so real quick, we're in the PLplot API manual, section 3, and this page is all about plmapstring. buckle up bestie 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

plmapstring — plots all of a Shapefile's data, or just a subset of it, using strings or points in world coordinates 🗺️💅

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

plmapstring(mapform, name, string, minx, maxx, miny, maxy, plotentries,
nplotentries)

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So it's basically plmapline(3plplot) — same energy — except the items get plotted as strings or points, exactly the way plstring(3plplot) does it. that's the whole vibe ✨

Redacted form, for the girlies who like it short:

plmapstring(mapform, name, string, minx, maxx, miny, maxy, plotentries)

ngl, this function is not used in any examples. she's a little mysterious. main character energy tho 👑

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🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• mapform (PLMAPFORM_callback(3plplot), input) — a user-supplied function that transforms the coordinates from the shapefile into your plot's coordinate system. using this transform, you can flip from, like, longitude/latitude coords into a polar stereographic projection, for example. so at first, x[0]..[n-1] are the longitudes and y[0]..y[n-1] are the matching latitudes. after the call to mapform(), x[] and y[] should be swapped out for the corresponding plot coordinates. and if you don't want a transform at all? just replace mapform with NULL. easy 💅
• name (PLCHAR_VECTOR(3plplot), input) — an ascii character string with the file name of a set of Shapefile files, without the file extension. like, drop the extension, she knows what you mean 🍓
• string (PLCHAR_VECTOR(3plplot), input) — a UTF-8 character string to be drawn ✍️
• minx (PLFLT(3plplot), input) — the minimum x value to be plotted. has to be in the same units the Shapefile uses, no cap. you could throw in a very large negative number to plot literally everything, but you get better performance if you limit the area drawn 🏃‍♀️💨 the units must match those of the Shapefile projection, which might be longitude or distance, for example. also minx must be less than maxx. rules are rules bestie.
• maxx (PLFLT(3plplot), input) — the maximum x value to be plotted. again, a very large number plots everything, but limiting the area drawn = better performance ✨
• miny (PLFLT(3plplot), input) — the minimum y value to be plotted. same units as the Shapefile, periodt. very large negative number plots everything but limits your performance gains. units must match the Shapefile projection, which may be latitude or distance, for example. and miny must be less than maxy 💖
• maxy (PLFLT(3plplot), input) — the maximum y value to be plotted. big number = plot everything, but you can improve performance by limiting the area drawn 🦋
• plotentries (PLINT_VECTOR(3plplot), input) — a vector holding the zero-based indices of the Shapefile elements that'll actually get drawn. set plotentries to NULL and she plots all the elements of the Shapefile. queen of not gatekeeping 👑
• nplotentries (PLINT(3plplot), input) — the number of items in plotentries. literally ignored if plotentries is NULL 🙈

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🌈 AUTHORS 🌈

so many developers contributed to PLplot over its long history, and they're all credited at http://plplot.sourceforge.net/credits.php 🫶 iconic behavior, honestly.

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⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

PLplot documentation at http://plplot.sourceforge.net/documentation.php 📚

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that's the whole page bestie, go plot something gorgeous 💜✨

signed off from the PLplot API pages, August, 2026 — PLMAPSTRING(3plplot), mwah 💋