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PolarAxes

Status: Stable

documented, exercised by the test suite and/or worked examples, with no known limitations recorded.

Description

PolarAxes

PolarPlot option: True requests a polar grid overlay (radial circles + angle labels). Currently accepted but not yet rendered; Cartesian axes are drawn instead.

Examples (7)

Every input below was run against the current Mathilda build and its output recorded.

Basic examples (1)

In[1]:= {Head[PolarAxes], MemberQ[Attributes[PolarAxes], Protected]}
Out[1]= {Symbol, True}

Options (2)

In[2]:= PolarPlot[1, {t, 0, 2 Pi}, PolarAxes -> True]
Out[2]= -Graphics-

In[3]:= Cases[PolarPlot[Sin[2 t], {t, 0, 2 Pi}, PolarAxes -> True], (PolarAxes -> v_) :> v, Infinity]
Out[3]= {True}

Applications (4)

In[4]:= PolarPlot[2, {t, 0, 2 Pi}, PolarAxes -> True]
Out[4]= -Graphics-

In[5]:= Cases[PolarPlot[Sin[2 t], {t, 0, 2 Pi}, PolarAxes -> True], (PolarAxes -> v_) :> v, Infinity]
Out[5]= {True}

In[6]:= MemberQ[Attributes[PolarAxes], Protected]
Out[6]= True

In[7]:= Head[PolarAxes]
Out[7]= Symbol

Implementation notes

Algorithm. PolarAxes is not a plotter — it is an inert, Protected option keyword for PolarPlot, registered in graphics_init.c with only an attribute bit and a docstring (there is no builtin function and no OwnValue). A grep of the whole tree finds PolarAxes referenced nowhere outside graphics_init.c: it is not one of the names split_options_param consumes, so when passed as PolarAxes -> True it falls into the generic option pass-through and rides verbatim as a trailing Rule onto the resulting Graphics[...] object. The renderer does not yet draw the requested polar grid (radial circles plus angular degree/radian labels), so Cartesian axes are drawn instead — PolarPlot injects the usual Axes -> True. The symbol therefore stays symbolic in every context and has no evaluation rules of its own.

Data structures. None — it is a bare interned symbol carrying ATTR_PROTECTED and a docstring; its value, when supplied, is stored as an ordinary Rule[PolarAxes, True] option on the graphics object.

Complexity / limits. None. The feature is deliberately a documented placeholder: the option is recognised and preserved so existing PolarPlot calls that set it keep working, but the polar grid overlay is unimplemented and the plot renders with Cartesian axes. This is recorded here rather than silently dropped.

Attributes: Protected.

References

See also: PolarPlot

Notes & additional examples

Notes

PolarAxes is not a plotter but an inert, Protected option keyword for PolarPlot. PolarAxes -> True asks for a polar grid overlay — radial circles at regular intervals plus angular degree/radian labels — but that overlay is not yet rendered, so the plot is drawn with ordinary Cartesian axes instead. This is a documented placeholder rather than a silent no-op: the option is recognised and preserved (it passes through as a Rule onto the returned Graphics[...]), so existing PolarPlot calls that set it keep working unchanged.

The symbol carries no builtin and no own-values; it has only the Protected attribute and a docstring, and stays symbolic in every context.