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Creates a rule object

Source: R/define_rule.R
define_rule.Rd

Creates an object of class pixel_rule from a line in rgb space, defined by the user, and a relational operator.

Usage

define_rule(rule_name, x_axis, y_axis, rule_points, comp_op)

Arguments

rule_name

a character string containing the name of the rule.

x_axis

a character string selecting the colour variable used as x axis, one of "r", "g" or "b".

y_axis

a character string selecting the colour variable used as y axis, one of "r", "g" or "b".

rule_points

either an object of of class "rule_points" created with function place_rule(), or a list containing the coordinates of two points defining the line.

comp_op

a character string containing one of the comparison operators ">", ">=", "<", "<=".

Value

A list of class pixel_rule containing the following elements:

  • rule_name: a character string containing the rule name.

  • rule_text: a character string containing the mathematical expression of the rule.

  • comp_op: a character string containing the comparison operator used in the rule.

  • a: a numerical vector containing the parameter a (slope) of the line.

  • c: a numerical vector containing the parameter c (intercept) of the line.

  • x_axis: a character string containing the colour variable selected as x axis.

  • y_axis: a character string containing the colour variable selected as y axis.

  • first_point: a numerical vector containing the coordinates of the first point used to estimate the line equation.

  • second_point: a numerical vector containing the coordinates of the second point.

Details

This function estimates the slope (a) and intercept (c) of the line y = ax + c using the coordinates of two points on the line. x and y are two colour variables selected by the user (r, g, or b). The line divides the plane in two subsets and the comparison operator selects the subset that contains the points (pixels) of interest.

When a list of two points is passed in rule_points, it is internally converted into an an object of class rule_points.

The pair of points used to define the line are not constrained to belong to the area occupied by the pixels, but they are used by plot_rule() as the start and end of the plotted line. Therefore, the extremes of the line can be selected in the most convenient way, provided that the line divides correctly the categories. Convenience means that the line should seem nice in the plot, if this matters.

Because the variables were transformed into proportions, the pixel are always inside the triangle defined by the points (0, 0), (1, 0), (0, 1). So, the sides of this triangle can be considered as implicit rules which do not need to be created. In this way, a single line creates two polygons by cutting the triangle in two. The implicit rules can reduce the number of rules to create in most cases.

See also

define_subcat, define_cat, plot_rule, plot_rgb_plane

Examples

# Creating the line by passing the coordinates of two points on the line:
rule01 <- define_rule("rule01", "g", "b",
                      list(c(0.35, 0.30), c(0.45, 0.10)),">")

# A vertical line as a rule; note that the equation is simplified
rule02 <- define_rule("rule02", "g", "b",
                      list(c(0.35, 0.30), c(0.35, 0.00)), ">")
if (FALSE) {
# Creating the rule by passing an object of type rule_point:
rule_points01 <- place_rule("g", "b")
rule03 <- define_rule("rule03", "g", "b", rule_points01,">")

# Note that the creation of the intermediate object can be avoided:
rule04 <- define_rule("rule04", "g", "b", place_rule("g", "b"),">")
}