SPGRAPH.RPF

SPGRAPH.RPF is an example of a graph with multiple panes on a single page, using the SPGRAPH instruction.

This graphs the exchange rate of the dollar versus four foreign currencies. These are first given a common reference by converting them to percentage appreciation of dollars per foreign unit since the start of the sample. As all but the UK series (GBRUSXSR) are originally stated in foreign currency per dollar, they have to be flipped. We then use TABLE to get the maximum and minimum values attained across all the countries, and use these as the MAX and MIN on each GRAPH. This ensures that the very modest movements relative to the Canadian dollar aren’t exaggerated relative to the much larger movement versus the yen.

A HASH[STRINGS] is used to give more readable labels to the series, naming them by their country instead of the database coding. The HASH key is the series name, so NiceLabels(%l(i)) inside the loop gets the string associated with the series to which the I index points.

Full Program

cal(m) 1996

open data oecdsample.rat

data(format=rats) 1996:1 1998:12 canusxsr frausxsr jpnusxsr gbrusxsr

* Flip to dollars per foreign unit and assign descriptive labels

set canusxsr = 1.0/canusxsr

set frausxsr = 1.0/frausxsr

set jpnusxsr = 1.0/jpnusxsr

dec hash[strings] NiceLabels

compute NiceLabels("canusxsr")="Canada"

compute NiceLabels("frausxsr")="France"

compute NiceLabels("jpnusxsr")="Japan"

compute NiceLabels("gbrusxsr")="UK"

* Convert to percent appreciation

dofor i = canusxsr frausxsr jpnusxsr gbrusxsr

compute base=([series]i)(1996:1)

set i = 100*(i{0}/base - 1.0)

end dofor i

* Use TABLE to get the maximum and minimum across all series

table(noprint) / canusxsr frausxsr jpnusxsr gbrusxsr

* Set up the SPGRAPH for a 2x2 matrix

spgraph(vfields=2,hfields=2,header="U.S. Dollar vs Major Currencies",$)

subheader="Percent appreciation over the sample")

dofor i = canusxsr frausxsr jpnusxsr gbrusxsr

graph(max=%maximum,min=%minimum,header=NiceLabels(%l(i)))

# i

end dofor

spgraph(done)

Graph