The sip plot display shows the results of comparison algorithms. Each match is represented as either a single dot ("find similar spans", "find best diagonals") or a line ("find matching words"). Sets of matches from a single invocation of a comparison command are termed "a result". Each result is plotted using a single colour which can be configured via the results manager ( see section Result manager). The maximum dimensions of the sip plot are indicated on the rulers at the bottom and left hand side. It is possible within SIP to compare many different sequences. This means that there may be more than one horizontal or vertical sequence shown in the sip plot. All the points are scaled to the largest sequence in each direction.
![[picture]](sip_dot_plot.gif)
The diagram above shows the results of a "find similar spans" search (olive) ( see section Find similar spans), and a "find matching words" (red) ( see section Find matching words), between human and mouse properdin (hsproperd and mmproper). For those viewing in black and white they are black.
The sip plot has 3 menus, "File", "View" and "Results".
The "File" menu contains the "Exit" command to quit the sip plot. This shuts down the sip plot display but does not remove the permanent results ( see section Permanent and temporary results), from memory.
The "View" menu contains the "Results manager" command, see section Result manager, and "Replot temporary matches" check box ( see section Redisplaying temporary results). The "Hide all" command removes all the plots in the sip plot and is equivalent to issuing the "Hide all" command from within a particular result.
The "Results" menu provides a quick method of interfacing with the menu obtainable via the "Results manager" ( see section Result manager).
It is possible to alter the sip plot and not lose the temporary matches ( see section Permanent and temporary results), by selecting the "Replot temporary matches" option in the View menu. This automatically re-executes the relevant functions and replots the results. This is different from the permanent results where the positions of each match are saved in memory.
Crosshairs can be turned on or off using the check button labelled "crosshairs". The x and y positions of the crosshairs are indicated in the two boxes to the right of the check box respectively. The position of the crosshairs can be "frozen" at a particular position by pressing the control button and moving the mouse cursor outside the sip plot window.
Plots can be enlarged either by resizing the window or zooming. Zooming is achieved by holding down the control key and right mouse button and dragging out a rectangle. Rectangles that are too small are ignored and a warning bell will sound. The Back button will restore the plot to the previous magnification. Zooming will increase the magnification of the plot so that the contents of the dragged out rectangle fill the display.
It is not possible to zoom on temporary results unless the option "Redisplay temporary matches" option in the "View" menu of the sip plot is selected ( see section Redisplaying temporary results).