Optimal way to auto-assign x-y plot markers and colors

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I'm trying to optimize some old code I had for data analysis so that it is more user-friendly for users who are not necessarily familiar with Igor.

One of the things I need to do is generate plots of multiple data runs, where each run has a unique marker and color assigned to its data.

I see two potential solutions:

1) Use a colortable to assign colors based on the run number. Markers can be assigned via a wave holding marker numbers
2) Use a 4D wave that contains colors that I manually choose, along with the same marker values as in 1).

Any advice on which is the best way forward? With 1), I essentially have a very large number of colors from which to choose, or could choose to create a colortable that addresses R-G color blindness (I can see these colors fine, but want to respect those that cannot). With 2), it's a bit more of what I would consider a brute force method.

Your advice would be greatly appreciated!
If you use the color table idea, and have Igor 7.01 or later, take a look at the Ametrine color table wave; it's designed for R-G color blindness:

M. Geissbuehler and T. Lasser, How to display data by color schemes compatible with red-green color perception deficiencies, Opt. Express 21, 9862-9874 (2013).

DisplayHelpTopic "Color Table Waves Index"

You can convert Igor's built-in color tables to wave using ColorTab2Wave:

DisplayHelpTopic "ColorTab2Wave"

--Jim Prouty
Software Engineer, WaveMetrics, Inc.

February 23, 2018 at 08:24 pm - Permalink