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How to write superscripts and subscripts in columns headers and graphs titles

samir

Hello,

I am looking for a way to use subscripts and superscripts in JMP in:

Column headers
Titles/axes of graphs

Example: I want to have a column header "tON" and another one "tOFF"

In some programming languages (Matlab,...) you can do that easily, but I cannot find a simple way to do it in JMP or JSL...

I found work arounds only for numbers like X2 or Y1...

What is the right and simple way ?

This is rather a conventional and widely used notation, and it should be available...

Many thanks.

Accepted answers

David_Burnham

I don't think that there is an acceptable way to achieve what you are asking - and the fact that 3 people from JMP gave you answers that ignored your requirements sort of suggests that there is a lack of understanding of the problem.

Unicode is not designed to support superscripts or subscripts - there is a degree of reluctant support which is usually sufficient to encode units correctly but it is generally expected that subscripts should be supported through the use of markup rather than the font itself. JMP columns names can't really support mark-up because the names have to reflect variables at the scripting level, so there seems to be a fundamental conflict in the rules that govern columns names and the usage that is subsequently made of these names.

Ultimately JMP has a rich metadata model and yet very limited support for labelling columns. The column name has to act as a variable name in JMP scripts, as labels on graphs and as terms within statistical models. I think there is a real opportunity for improvement if these different use-cases are acknowledged. I would like to have nicely formatted labels on my graphs, short snappy abbreviations in my models, and programming friendly names in my JSL. One-size doesn't fit all.

All comments

MikeD_Anderson

I just use underscores ( t_off, t_on, etc...) since that would be the convention you'd get from flat files (.csv, .dat, etc...) and relational databases. There are ways for fine tuning graphics for publications after the fact if needed.

samir

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. I understand that getting data from csv or txt files will not contain subscripts, but if I make my own column or axes label, why would I not be allowed to create subscripts ?

I really think JMP should propose a solution for this item...All programming laguages and data hadeling softeware I know have a way to do so (Matlab, Excel, mathcad, Origin,...).

I do believe that work arounds like the underscore or changing the fonts...are not an option. There should be simple way.

So is there an inherent limitation of JMP on that topic ?

Mark_Bailey

There is a simle way to include subscripts. You can embed any Unicode character in your character string using the "\!U" escape sequence. For example, if I want "alpha sub 5", I would enter the character string "\!U03B1\!U2085".

Dan_Obermiller

There is a bit more detail on this thread, which asked the same question.

https://community.jmp.com/t5/Discussions/Writing-subscripts-or-superscripts-in-graph-labels/td-p/5446

samir

Let me formulate my question differently:

If I want to write "alpha sub Omega" and not "alpha sub 5"...

There is no way to do it !!!!

So my question still holds...

samir

Hi,

Sorry to iterate my comments again: the unicode strategy does not really work.

it is ok when you subscript numbres but not letters !

Let's make it simple; I want to write "A" subscript "Bis"

How can I do it ?

David_Burnham

samir

Thanks David !!!!

You really expressed the same frustration I have seeing that JMP is up to now not able to handle column names and labeling...

I am sure there is a way to overcome it if some energy is put in it. Even myself (not at all being a programer) can think of ways to improve: Let's say you treat columns as "structures". A structure has a number of fields. One can think to attribute to columns some standardized fields like Name, Label, Header,...

Name would be the variable name in JSL that refers to the column.

Label would be the string that is depicted in the graphs when we refer to the column itself.

Header is the string that is depicted in the data table as header of this column.

There could even be an automatic selection of which of the fields to use depending on the context (being transparent for the user)...

So when does JMP improve on that ?

matthias_bruchh

If this is going to picked up by the JMP developers (I hope it will), it would be good to also include the possibility to include italics. In scientific publications it is customary to write variables in italic script (e.g. to distinguish between a variable and a function in an equation). In some cases italic and roman (i.e. non-italic) script can be combined in the same symbol.

For instance if F_i is a force, then F would be in italics in the subscript i could be either in italics or roman, depending on if it's a variable itself (like a placeholder for 1,2,3...) or if it's used to distinguish between several forces like F_i for ions and F_e for electrons.

It would be nice if JMP would allow for this. Even better would be to have the possibility to use Latex style names for column titles to allow for other symbols (such as a dot on top of a variable to indicate a derivative with regard to time).