able to scale violin in different ways

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # Changelog
 
 ## [Unreleased]
+- Added `scale` attribute to `violin` [#3352](https://github.com/MakieOrg/Makie.jl/pull/3352).
 
 ## [0.20.8] - 2024-02-22
 

ReferenceTests/src/tests/examples2d.jl

@@ -1392,3 +1392,16 @@ end
     ylims!(ax, 0, 1)
     fig
 end
+
+@reference_test "Violin plots differently scaled" begin
+    fig = Figure() 
+    xs = vcat([fill(i, i * 1000) for i in 1:4]...)
+    ys = vcat(randn(6000), randn(4000) * 2)
+    for (i, scale) in enumerate([:area, :count, :width])
+        ax = Axis(fig[i, 1])
+        violin!(ax, xs, ys; scale, show_median=true)
+        Makie.xlims!(0.2, 4.8)
+        ax.title = "scale=:$(scale)"
+    end
+    fig
+end

docs/reference/plots/violin.md

@@ -17,6 +17,25 @@ violin(categories, values)
 ```
 \end{examplefigure}
 
+\begin{examplefigure}{}
+```julia
+using Makie, CairoMakie
+CairoMakie.activate!() # hide
+
+
+fig = Figure()
+xs = vcat([fill(i, i * 1000) for i in 1:4]...)
+ys = vcat(randn(6000), randn(4000) * 2)
+for (i, scale) in enumerate([:area, :count, :width])
+    ax = Axis(fig[i, 1])
+    violin!(ax, xs, ys; scale, show_median=true)
+    Makie.xlims!(0.2, 4.8)
+    ax.title = "scale=:$(scale)"
+end
+fig
+```
+\end{examplefigure}
+
 \begin{examplefigure}{}
 ```julia
 using CairoMakie

src/stats/violin.jl

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 - `gap=0.2`: shrinking factor, `width -> width * (1 - gap)`
 - `show_median=false`: show median as midline
 - `side=:both`: specify `:left` or `:right` to only plot the violin on one side
+- `scale=:width`: scale density by area (`:area`), count (`:count`), or width (`:width`).
 - `datalimits`: specify values to trim the `violin`. Can be a `Tuple` or a `Function` (e.g. `datalimits=extrema`)
 """
 @recipe(Violin, x, y) do scene
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@
         bandwidth = automatic,
         weights = automatic,
         side = :both,
+        scale = :area,
         orientation = :vertical,
         width = automatic,
         dodge = automatic,
@@ -49,10 +51,10 @@
 
 function plot!(plot::Violin)
     x, y = plot[1], plot[2]
-    args = @extract plot (width, side, color, show_median, npoints, boundary, bandwidth, weights,
+    args = @extract plot (width, side, scale, color, show_median, npoints, boundary, bandwidth, weights,
         datalimits, max_density, dodge, n_dodge, gap, dodge_gap, orientation)
     signals = lift(plot, x, y,
-                   args...) do x, y, width, vside, color, show_median, n, bound, bw, w, limits, max_density,
+                   args...) do x, y, width, vside, scale_type, color, show_median, n, bound, bw, w, limits, max_density,
                                dodge, n_dodge, gap, dodge_gap, orientation
         x̂, violinwidth = compute_x_and_width(x, width, gap, dodge, n_dodge, dodge_gap)
 
@@ -81,13 +83,20 @@
             i1, i2 = searchsortedfirst(k.x, l1), searchsortedlast(k.x, l2)
             kde = (x = view(k.x, i1:i2), density = view(k.density, i1:i2))
             c = getuniquevalue(color, idxs)
-            return (x = key.x, side = key.side, color = to_color(c), kde = kde, median = median(v))
+            return (x = key.x, side = key.side, color = to_color(c), kde = kde, median = median(v), amount = length(idxs))
         end
 
+        (scale_type ∈ [:area, :count, :width]) || error("Invalid scale type: $(scale_type)")
+
         max = if max_density === automatic
             maximum(specs) do spec
-                _, max = extrema_nan(spec.kde.density)
-                return max
+                if scale_type === :area
+                    return extrema_nan(spec.kde.density) |> last
+                elseif scale_type === :count
+                    return extrema_nan(spec.kde.density .* spec.amount) |> last
+                elseif scale_type === :width
+                    return NaN
+                end
             end
         else
             max_density
@@ -98,7 +107,14 @@
         colors = RGBA{Float32}[]
 
         for spec in specs
-            scale = 0.5*violinwidth/max
+            scale = 0.5 * violinwidth
+            if scale_type === :area
+                scale = scale / max
+            elseif scale_type === :count
+                scale = scale / max * spec.amount
+            elseif scale_type === :width
+                scale = scale / (extrema_nan(spec.kde.density) |> last)
+            end
             xl = reverse(spec.x .- spec.kde.density .* scale)
             xr = spec.x .+ spec.kde.density .* scale
             yl = reverse(spec.kde.x)