plotly / plotly/plotly.R

`add_trace` with `type = 'scatter', mode = 'lines'` works differently from `add_lines`

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Description

When plotting a regression line with confidence intervals, add_trace with type = 'scatter', mode = 'lines' works differently from add_lines. The latter works while the former fails (see examples).

Looks like add_trace(type = 'scatter', mode = 'lines', ...) attempts to connect datapoints pairwise instead of sequentially.

# load packages
require(dplyr)
require(plotly)

# prep data 
setosa <- iris |> 
  filter(Species == "setosa") |> 
  mutate(fit = predict(lm(Sepal.Width ~ Sepal.Length), interval = "conf")[, "fit"],
         lwr = predict(lm(Sepal.Width ~ Sepal.Length), interval = "conf")[, "lwr"],
         upr = predict(lm(Sepal.Width ~ Sepal.Length), interval = "conf")[, "upr"])

## Compare plots ##

# plot 1: add_lines works
plot_ly(data = setosa, x = ~Sepal.Length) |> 
  add_trace(y = ~Sepal.Width,
            type = 'scatter',
            mode = 'markers',
            showlegend = FALSE) |>
  add_lines(y = ~upr, # add_lines works
            color = I("#2ca02c"),
            name = 'CI upper') |> 
  add_lines(y = ~lwr, # add_lines works
            color = I("#2ca02c"),
            alpha = 0.2,
            fill = 'tonexty',
            name = 'CI lower') |> 
  add_trace(y = ~fit, # add_trace works
            type = 'scatter',
            mode = 'lines', 
            name = 'Predicted')

# plot 2: replaced add_lines with add_trace, no other changes
plot_ly(data = setosa, x = ~Sepal.Length) |> 
  add_trace(y = ~Sepal.Width,
            type = 'scatter',
            mode = 'markers',
            showlegend = FALSE) |>
  add_trace(y = ~upr, # add_trace doesn't work
            type = 'scatter',
            mode = 'lines',
            color = I("#2ca02c"),
            name = 'CI upper') |> 
  add_trace(y = ~lwr, # add_trace doesn't work
            type = 'scatter',
            mode = 'lines',
            color = I("#2ca02c"),
            alpha = 0.2,
            fill = 'tonexty',
            name = 'CI lower') |> 
  add_trace(y = ~fit, # here add_trace works as it should
            type = 'scatter',
            mode = 'lines', 
            name = 'Predicted')
Output

Plot 1:
add_lines_works

Plot 2:
add_trace_doesnt_work

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First steps

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  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start at the add_trace and add_lines entry points in the R plotting API and reproduce the supplied iris regression example. Compare how the two functions handle scatter traces with mode = 'lines', then verify that replacing add_lines with add_trace produces the same sequential confidence-interval lines and fill.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
r
Domain
data-visualization
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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