Algebraic Guide Generation

Suitable reference marks are an important part of creating an understandable visualization. The reference marks create the frame in which the data is understood, thereby preserving the context of the data and allowing the transition from data to information to be made. However, reference marks (including legends, axial and point labels) are given insufficient attention in many visualization frameworks. When explicitly present, they often require completely separate specification from the visualization for which they are a reference. This paper presents a framework independent method for deriving reference marks from the data analysis pathway. We also describe how this approach has been implemented in the Stencil library, and how it may be implemented in other libraries.