make ggplot panel-background like in gtable

Question

I'm trying to make a graphic like this :

Optimal/efficient plotting of survival/regression analysis results

hier is my example code :

library(gtable)
library(grid)
library(gridExtra)
library(ggplot2)

tg <- tableGrob(iris[1:5,1:3], rows = NULL, cols=NULL)
tg$heights <- unit(rep(1,nrow(tg)), "null")

p <- qplot(1:5,1:5) + ggtitle("Title", subtitle = "another line") + 
theme_grey(12) +
scale_y_continuous(expand=c(0,0.5))
g <- ggplotGrob(p)
g <- gtable::gtable_add_cols(g, widths = sum(tg$widths), pos = 0)
g <- gtable::gtable_add_cols(g, widths = sum(tg$widths), pos = -1)
g <- gtable::gtable_add_grob(g, list(tg, tg), t = 6, l=c(1,ncol(g)), r=c(1,ncol(g)))
grid.newpage()
grid.draw(g)

Is that possible with ggplot and gtable to change the background color of the ggplot Panel and set the Zebra-style to it like the other two gtables to be similar to the first example ?.

thanks,

With ggplot you'd probably want to turn off the background all together (or set it to white) and draw the grey rectangles yourself as a layer below your points. There is no built-in option for background banding. — MrFlick, Sep 20 '17 at 14:27
but how I can set the min-x max-x and min-y max-y to have the same hight of the other gtables rectangles ? — Tlopasha, Sep 20 '17 at 15:02

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 20 '17 at 15:24

As @MrFlick said you have to add some kind of geom layers in the background. This is my approach:
Create two data frames, one for points and one for segments and adjust segment size to match table rows.

tg <- tableGrob(iris[1:5,1:3], rows = NULL, cols=NULL)
tg$heights <- unit(rep(1,nrow(tg)), "null")
dSegment <- data.frame(X = 0, XE = 6, Y = 1:5, YE = 1:5)
dPoint <- data.frame(X = 1:5, Y = 1:5)

p <- ggplot() + 
    geom_segment(data = dSegment, 
                 aes(x = X, xend = XE, y = Y, yend = YE, color = factor(Y %% 2)),
                 size = 40) +
    geom_point(data = dPoint, aes(X, Y)) +
    ggtitle("Title", subtitle = "another line") + 
    scale_y_continuous(expand = c(0, 0.5)) +
    scale_x_continuous(breaks = c(1:5)) +
    scale_color_manual(values = c("#dbdbdb", "#e9e9e9")) +
    theme_grey(12) +
    theme(panel.grid.major = element_blank(), 
          panel.grid.minor = element_blank(),
          panel.background = element_blank(),
          legend.position = "none")
g <- ggplotGrob(p)
g <- gtable::gtable_add_cols(g, widths = sum(tg$widths), pos = 0)
g <- gtable::gtable_add_cols(g, widths = sum(tg$widths), pos = -1)
g <- gtable::gtable_add_grob(g, list(tg, tg), t = 6, l=c(1,ncol(g)), r=c(1,ncol(g)))
grid.newpage()
grid.draw(g)

make ggplot panel-background like in gtable

1 Answers1