Shared Axes - ScottPlot FAQ

This page describes how to have two user controls with shared axes so that when one pans, the other pans automatically. This example will showcase Windows Forms, but the technique is the same for all ScottPlot controls.

Windows Forms

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Store your plots in an array at the class level
Add your custom function to the AxesChanged event handler
When an event is triggered, update axis limits for all the plots and request a render
Temporarily disable axis changed events while changing the axes of the other plots to avoid an infinite loop

readonly FormsPlot[] FormsPlots;

public LinkedPlots()
{
    InitializeComponent();

    // plot sample data
    formsPlot1.Plot.AddSignal(DataGen.Sin(51));
    formsPlot2.Plot.AddSignal(DataGen.Cos(51));

    // populate array of plots for easy iteration later
    FormsPlots = new FormsPlot[] { formsPlot1, formsPlot2 };
    foreach (var fp in FormsPlots)
        fp.AxesChanged += OnAxesChanged;
}

private void OnAxesChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    FormsPlot changedPlot = (FormsPlot)sender;
    var newAxisLimits = changedPlot.Plot.GetAxisLimits();

    foreach (var fp in FormsPlots)
    {
        if (fp == changedPlot)
            continue;

        // disable events briefly to avoid an infinite loop
        fp.Configuration.AxesChangedEventEnabled = false;
        fp.Plot.SetAxisLimits(newAxisLimits);
        fp.Render();
        fp.Configuration.AxesChangedEventEnabled = true;
    }
}

Matching Layouts

Axes automatically determine their optimal size based on their font size and tick label content, but users who wish to make the layouts line-up across multiple controls will want to define axis size manually. By setting the min and max size to the same number, you force that axis to be a fixed size.

Automatic Axis Sizes	Fixed Axis Sizes

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// plot sample data with greatly different Y scales
Random rand = new Random(0);
double[] ysSmall = DataGen.RandomWalk(1000, 1);
double[] ysBig = DataGen.RandomWalk(1000, 1e6);

formsPlot1.Plot.AddSignal(ysSmall, color: Color.Red);
formsPlot2.Plot.AddSignal(ysBig, color: Color.Blue);

// configure the left axis to always be 70 pixels wide
formsPlot1.Plot.YAxis.SetSizeLimit(min: 70, max: 70);
formsPlot2.Plot.YAxis.SetSizeLimit(min: 70, max: 70);