Pen Usage and Default Settings

Pen number 0 is preset with no thickening, colour 0, solid line. Pen number 1,2,3 are preset with no thickening, colour 4,8,12 respectively (in order to match the three intensity levels available on most devices) and solid line. Pen number 15 is preset with no thickening, colour 0 dashed pattern number 2. All other pens have the same default attributes as Pen 0.

In general, a plot command uses the current pen with all its attributes. Exceptions are

• The dashed pattern is ignored by the character plotting routine (commands LABEL and DRAW TEXT)
• The dashed pattern is ignored by the marker plotting routine (commands POINTS, DRAW MARKER and DRAW ARROW)
• The dashed pattern is ignored by the axis plotting routine. (commands BOX and AXIS)
• Contour plots use Pen number 0 for positive contours and pen number 15 for negative ones (command RGMAP), unless specified in option. This is described in more detail later.