Speaking Stata: Automating axis labels: Nice numbers and transformed scales

Two common problems with graph axis labels are to decide in advance on some “nice” numbers to use on one or both axes and to show particular labels on some transformed scale. In this column, I discuss the nicelabels and mylabels commands, which address these problems. The first command is new to Stata, and the second is a revision of a previously published command. I also survey the myticks command for tick placement. In all commands, the main output is a local macro in the calling program’s space, in the interest of promoting automation in do-files and programs.