topic Re: SGPLOT how to specify line color/thickness for a bunch of lines?! in SAS Programming

SGPLOT how to specify line color/thickness for a bunch of lines?!

hellohere — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 13:37:36 GMT

I have a dataset[attached below], and get a plot of a bunch of lines[below]. The code used does

specify the line color/thinkness. How to do so?!

Say line color in seq [RED, BLUE, CYAN, BLACK, RED, BLUE, CYAN, BLACK]

Line thickness, [1,1,1, 3,3 , 2,2,2]

			proc sgplot data=_t_mm_temp_coll_n_t(where=(xahead in (-20,-10,0, 5, 10,20,30,40)));
							by tvar;
							series x=ncut y= cttot/ group =xahead ;  
							yaxis max=500 min=450;
							refline  490/axis=y lineattrs=(color=red thickness=2 pattern=solid); 
							refline  480/axis=y lineattrs=(color=cyan thickness=1 pattern=solid); 
						run;quit;

Re: SGPLOT how to specify line color/thickness for a bunch of lines?!

PaigeMiller — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 14:55:55 GMT

You can use the STYLEATTRS command.

Also, you can use discrete attribute maps

https://documentation.sas.com/doc/en/pgmsascdc/9.4_3.4/grstatproc/n03orofvtqwhhon1kkn76l1ovjkx.htm

If you are concerned about getting colors and lines the way you want, then also to improve the look of your plot I suggest you use proper ENGLISH words and descriptions (or whatever language you speak normally) in titles and labels and legends, instead of computerese gibberish such as tvar=volcsum_t

Re: SGPLOT how to specify line color/thickness for a bunch of lines?!

hellohere — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 08:05:04 GMT

styleattrs datacontrastcolors=(lime red purple skyblue) ; Works. But does not take linepatterns[or thinkness] anymore.

The title, I will leave alone. It is generated with macro. TVar stands for Target Variable. If spell out, need many lines since of invocations with variables.

85               proc sgplot data=_t_mm_temp_coll_n_t(where=(xahead in (0, 5, 10,20)));
86                               by tvar;
87                               styleattrs datacontrastcolors=(lime red purple skyblue) ;
88                               styleattrs DATALINEPATTERNS=(1 2 4 15);
89                               series x=ncut y= cttot/ group =xahead ;
90                               yaxis max=500 min=450;
91                               refline  490/axis=y lineattrs=(color=red thickness=2
91 ! pattern=solid);
92                               refline  480/axis=y lineattrs=(color=cyan thickness=1
92 ! pattern=solid);
93                           run;

93 !                             quit;
NOTE: PROCEDURE SGPLOT used (Total process time):
      real time           0.37 seconds
      cpu time            0.06 seconds

NOTE: This graph has ATTRPRIORITY=COLOR in effect. The cycling of your custom symbols and/or line
      patterns is based on color priority. Please see ODS Graphics documentation on ATTRPRIORITY=
      option.
NOTE: This graph has ATTRPRIORITY=COLOR in effect. The cycling of your custom symbols and/or line
      patterns is based on color priority. Please see ODS Graphics documentation on ATTRPRIORITY=
      option.
NOTE: There were 64 observations read from the data set WORK._T_MM_TEMP_COLL_N_T.
      WHERE xahead in (0, 5, 10, 20);

Re: SGPLOT how to specify line color/thickness for a bunch of lines?!

Ksharp — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 08:19:38 GMT

Here is an example:

data dattrmap;
input id $ value :$20. linecolor $ linethickness;
cards;
id IBM        red     2
id Intel      green   4
id Microsoft  blue    8
;

proc sgplot data=sashelp.stocks dattrmap=dattrmap;
series x=date y=close /group=stock attrid=id;
run;

Re: SGPLOT how to specify line color/thickness for a bunch of lines?!

hellohere — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 08:36:33 GMT

Thanks, this works out perfectly.

Also can add " DATALINEPATTERNS"?!

Re: SGPLOT how to specify line color/thickness for a bunch of lines?!

Ksharp — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 08:41:14 GMT

Yes. I think so. Check SAS Doc.

Re: SGPLOT how to specify line color/thickness for a bunch of lines?!

Ksharp — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 08:45:04 GMT

Here is an example:

data dattrmap;
input id $ value :$20. linecolor $ linethickness linepattern :$20.;
cards;
id IBM        red     2  dot
id Intel      green   4  dash
id Microsoft  blue    8  solid
;

proc sgplot data=sashelp.stocks dattrmap=dattrmap;
series x=date y=close /group=stock attrid=id;
run;

Re: SGPLOT how to specify line color/thickness for a bunch of lines?!

PaigeMiller — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 11:51:03 GMT

@hellohere wrote:

styleattrs datacontrastcolors=(lime red purple skyblue) ; Works. But does not take linepatterns[or thinkness] anymore.

That's why I also provided example of using a discrete attribute map.

@hellohere wrote:

The title, I will leave alone. It is generated with macro. TVar stands for Target Variable. If spell out, need many lines since of invocations with variables.

In my opinion, poor choice. No one wants to see or know what your computer code looks like. They want to understand the plot. And my suggestion applies to all text on the plot, not just the title.