Proc sgplot, collision of datalabels. Can the positions be edited?

[jessicasahut]

SAS version: 9.04.01M1P120413

Problem:

datalabels on scatter plot colliding.  Is there a way to move the labels, while keeping the dimensions of the graph as is?  For instance, can I make it so one label is above the point and the other label is below the point?  Or better yet, is there a way to click into the graph and manually move the labels?

Parameters:

1. cannot rely on legend to identify points.  Points must be identified on the graph itself

2. cannot change dimensions.  it has to stay 5 by 3.

Example data set and plot code:

data fake;

input ID served SRVs UL LL;

if ID=1000087 then do;

label="really long name that was replaced because confidential";

end;

else if ID=1004937 then do;

label="another really long name replaced because confidential";

end;

datalines;

1 6 0 . .

3 6 0 . .

4 6 0 . .

5 6 0 . .

1000027 12 0 . .

1000129 11 0 . .

1000132 8 0 . .

1000132 10 0 . .

1000335 8 0 . .

1005796 7 0 . .

1005855 12 0 . .

2 4 1 . .

1000022 9 1 . .

1005725 13 1 . .

50 5 2 . .

67 6 2 . .

1000087 7 4 . .

1004937 4 4 . .

0 0 . 2.95692 0

0 2 . 2.97338 0

0 4 . 2.99016 0

0 6 . 3.00729 0

0 8 . 3.02478 0

0 10 . 3.04265 0

0 12 . 3.0609 0

0 14 . 3.07957 0

;

ods graphics on /height=5in width=3in border=off;

proc sgplot data=fake;

title "Trends in SRVs for small providers";

band x=served upper=UL lower=LL / LEGENDLABEL= "typical range";

scatter x=served y=SRVs /  datalabel=Label LEGENDLABEL= "# SRVs for provider";

yaxis min=0 max=5 label='Number of SRVs' grid;

xaxis min=3 max=14 label='Number of consumers served' grid;

run;

quit;

[DanH_sas]

By default, data labels in scatter plots use a collision-avoidance algorithm. In this case, the labels were so long that they did not fit in the graph. Therefore, they chose a default labeling position. You cannot specify the position of each label yourself, but here are some options to consider:

1. Choose a smaller font size via DATALABELATTRS.

2. Sometime using a higher image DPI (> 100) can give you enough space. Specify IMAGE_DPI on ODS destination you have open.

2. Specify a user-defined format to map the long string into a shorter name for labeling (this mapping could also be done in a data step).

Hope this helps!

Dan