R Graphics Cookbook

Chapter 11. Facets

One of the most useful techniques in data visualization is rendering groups of data alongside each other, making it easy to compare the groups. With ggplot2, one way to do this is by mapping a discrete variable to an aesthetic, like x position, color, or shape. Another way of doing this is to create a subplot for each group and draw the subplots side by side.

These kinds of plots are known as Trellis displays. They’re implemented in the lattice package as well as in the ggplot2 package. In ggplot2, they’re called facets. In this chapter I’ll explain how to use them.

Splitting Data into Subplots with Facets

Problem

You want to plot subsets of your data in separate panels.

Solution

Use facet_grid() or facet_wrap(), and specify the variables on which to split.

With facet_grid(), you can specify a variable to split the data into vertical subpanels, and another variable to split it into horizontal subpanels (Figure 11-1):

# The base plot
p <- ggplot(mpg, aes(x=displ, y=hwy)) + geom_point()

# Faceted by drv, in vertically arranged subpanels
p + facet_grid(drv ~ .)

# Faceted by cyl, in horizontally arranged subpanels
p + facet_grid(. ~ cyl)

# Split by drv (vertical) and cyl (horizontal)
p + facet_grid(drv ~ cyl)

Figure 11-1. Top: faceting horizontally by drv; bottom left: faceting vertically by cyl; bottom right: faceting in both directions, with both variables

With facet_wrap() ...