Reset par to the default values at startup

Question

Normally when I make my own plot functions, I make a construct :

op <- par(\"mypar\"=myvalue)
on.exit(par(op))

which is the standard way

Answer 1

This is hacky, but:

resetPar <- function() {
    dev.new()
    op <- par(no.readonly = TRUE)
    dev.off()
    op
}

works after a fashion, but it does flash a new device on screen temporarily...

E.g.:

> par(mfrow = c(2,2)) ## some random par change
> par("mfrow")
[1] 2 2
> par(resetPar())     ## reset the pars to defaults
> par("mfrow")        ## back to default
[1] 1 1

Answer 2

From Quick-R

par()              # view current settings
opar <- par()      # make a copy of current settings
par(col.lab="red") # red x and y labels 
hist(mtcars$mpg)   # create a plot with these new settings 
par(opar)          # restore original settings

Answer 3

Use below script to get back to normal 1 plot:

par(mfrow = c(1,1))

Answer 4

Every time a new device is opened par() will reset, so another option is simply do dev.off() and continue.

Answer 5

An alternative solution for preventing functions to change the user par. You can set the default parameters early on the function, so that the graphical parameters and layout will not be changed during the function execution. See ?on.exit for further details.

on.exit(layout(1))
opar<-par(no.readonly=TRUE)
on.exit(par(opar),add=TRUE,after=FALSE)

Answer 6

dev.off() is the best function, but it clears also all plots. If you want to keep plots in your window, at the beginning save default par settings:

def.par = par()

Then when you use your par functions you still have a backup of default par settings. Later on, after generating plots, finish with:

par(def.par) #go back to default par settings

With this, you keep generated plots and reset par settings.