# IBM Visualization Data Explorer User's Reference

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### Options

Category

Structuring

Function

Associates one or more attributes with a specified object.

Syntax

    output = Options(input, attribute, value, ...);

Inputs

Name | Type | Default | Description
--- | --- | --- | ---
`input` | object | none | object whose attributes are to be set
`attribute` | string | no default | attribute to be added
`value` | value or string or object | no default | value of the attribute
`...` |  |  | additional attribute-value pair(s)

Outputs

Name | Type | Description
--- | --- | ---
`output` | object | the object with attributes added

Functional Details

This module associates attributes with an object. (Attributes can be extracted from an object with the Attribute module.) Attributes are used by some modules to determine the behavior of a particular input object. For example, you can add attributes to objects to tell the Plot module how to draw markers on particular lines (see Table 8 and Plot). While there is a set of attributes which Data Explorer modules understand, you can also add your own attributes to objects, to be interpreted by user-written modules.

You can remove an already present attribute by setting its value to null.

`input` | names the object to which one or more attributes are to be added.
`attribute` | names the attribute to be added.
`value` | specifies the value of the attribute
... | One or more additional pairs of parameters, each specifying an `attribute` and a `value` to be associated with `input`.

A single Options module can specify a maximum of 21 `attribute`-`object` pairs. In the user interface, the default number of enabled tab-pairs is two. (Tabs can be added to the module icon and removed with the appropriate `...Input Tab` options in the `Edit` pull-down menu of the VPE.)

Table 8. Attributes which have predefined meanings in Data Explorer

Attribute name | Attribute values | Relevant module
--- | --- | ---
label | any user-supplied label | Plot
scatter | 1 or 0 | Plot
mark | "circle", "diamond", "dot", "square", "star", "triangle", "x" | Plot
mark every | positive integer | Plot
mark scale | positive scalar | Plot
fuzz | integer | Display, Render, Image
ambient | positive scalar | Display, Render, Image
diffuse | positive scalar | Display, Render, Image
specular | positive scalar | Display, Render, Image
shininess | positive integer | Display, Render, Image
shade | 0 or 1 | Display, Render, Image
opacity multiplier | positive scalar | Display, Render, Image (for volume rendering)
color multiplier | positive scalar | Display, Render, Image (for volume rendering)
texture | a texture map | Display, Image
antialias | "lines" | Display, Image
line width | positive integer | Display, Image
direct color map | 0 or 1 | Display
cache | 0 or 1 | Display, Image
rendering mode | software or hardware | Display, Image
rendering approximation | "none", "box", "dots", or "wireframe" | Display, Image
render every | positive integer | Display, Image
pickable | 0 or 1 | Pick
marked component | string | Mark, Unmark

Attributes may also be added to arrays to add information which may be needed to interpret an array as a Data Explorer component. For example, you can add a "ref" attribute with a value of "positions" to an integer list which you intend to be used as a connections component in a field. This use of Options should be done only with a solid understanding of the Data Explorer data model. See "Standard Attributes" in IBM Visualization Data Explorer User's Guide.

Components

The output object is the same as the input object except for the added attributes. All input components are propagated to the output.

Example Visual Programs

    PlotTwoLines.net

    FatLines.net

See Also

Attribute, AutoAxes, Display, Plot, Render

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