# Makie.hist/hist! can't add a label for legend if bar\_labels is specified
**URL:** https://discourse.julialang.org/t/makie-hist-hist-cant-add-a-label-for-legend-if-bar-labels-is-specified/99352
**Category:** Visualization
**Tags:** makie-hist
**Created:** [May 24, 2023, 9:20pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/makie-hist-hist-cant-add-a-label-for-legend-if-bar-labels-is-specified/99352 "2023-05-24T21:20:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Allan\_Baker](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Allan_Baker)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2023, 9:20pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/makie-hist-hist-cant-add-a-label-for-legend-if-bar-labels-is-specified/99352/1 "2023-05-24T21:20:13Z")
It seems like the legend doesn’t work for all situations.
This works:
```julia
use GLMakie
h1=hist(rand(16,),bins = 10, label="a", strokewidth = 1, strokecolor = :black, normalization = :probability)
axislegend()
```
And this works:
```julia
use GLMakie
h1=hist(rand(16,),bins = 10, strokewidth = 1, strokecolor = :black, normalization = :probability, bar_labels = :values, label_size=12,label_formatter=x-> round(x, digits=2))
```
But this fails and I think it should work:
```julia
use GLMakie
h1=hist(rand(16,),bins = 10, strokewidth = 1, strokecolor = :black, normalization = :probability, bar_labels = :values, label_size=12,label_formatter=x-> round(x, digits=2);label="A")
axislegend()
ERROR: No child plot elements found in plot of type MakieCore.Text{Tuple{Vector{Makie.GlyphCollection}}} but also no `legendelements` method defined.
Stacktrace:
[1] error(s::String)
@ Base .\error.jl:35
[2] legendelements(plot::MakieCore.Text{Tuple{Vector{Makie.GlyphCollection}}}, legend::Legend)
@ Makie C:\Users\use\.julia\packages\Makie\Ggejq\src\makielayout\blocks\legend.jl:427
[3] (::Makie.var"#1705#1706"{Legend})(childplot::MakieCore.Text{Tuple{Vector{Makie.GlyphCollection}}})
@ Makie .\none:0
[4] iterate
@ .\generator.jl:47 [inlined]
[5] collect(itr::Base.Generator{Vector{AbstractPlot}, Makie.var"#1705#1706"{Legend}})
@ Base .\array.jl:782
[6] legendelements(plot::MakieCore.Text{Tuple{Vector{Point{3, Float32}}}}, legend::Legend)
@ Makie C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\Makie\Ggejq\src\makielayout\blocks\legend.jl:429
[7] (::Makie.var"#1705#1706"{Legend})(childplot::MakieCore.Text{Tuple{Vector{Point{3, Float32}}}})
@ Makie .\none:0
[8] iterate
@ .\generator.jl:47 [inlined]
[9] collect(itr::Base.Generator{Vector{AbstractPlot}, Makie.var"#1705#1706"{Legend}})
@ Base .\array.jl:782
[10] legendelements(plot::MakieCore.Text{Tuple{Vector{Tuple{String, Point{2, Float32}}}}}, legend::Legend)
@ Makie C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\Makie\Ggejq\src\makielayout\blocks\legend.jl:429
[11] (::Makie.var"#1705#1706"{Legend})(childplot::MakieCore.Text{Tuple{Vector{Tuple{String, Point{2, Float32}}}}})
@ Makie .\none:0
[12] iterate
@ .\generator.jl:47 [inlined]
[13] collect_to!(dest::Vector{Vector{LegendElement}}, itr::Base.Generator{Vector{AbstractPlot}, Makie.var"#1705#1706"{Legend}}, offs::Int64, st::Int64)
@ Base .\array.jl:840
[14] collect_to_with_first!(dest::Vector{Vector{LegendElement}}, v1::Vector{LegendElement}, itr::Base.Generator{Vector{AbstractPlot}, Makie.var"#1705#1706"{Legend}}, st::Int64)
@ Base .\array.jl:818
[15] collect(itr::Base.Generator{Vector{AbstractPlot}, Makie.var"#1705#1706"{Legend}})
@ Base .\array.jl:792
[16] legendelements(plot::Combined{Makie.barplot, Tuple{Vector{Point{2, Float32}}}}, legend::Legend)
@ Makie C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\Makie\Ggejq\src\makielayout\blocks\legend.jl:429
[17] (::Makie.var"#1705#1706"{Legend})(childplot::Combined{Makie.barplot, Tuple{Vector{Point{2, Float32}}}})
@ Makie .\none:0
[18] iterate
@ .\generator.jl:47 [inlined]
[19] collect(itr::Base.Generator{Vector{AbstractPlot}, Makie.var"#1705#1706"{Legend}})
@ Base .\array.jl:782
[20] legendelements(plot::Combined{Makie.hist, Tuple{Vector{Float64}}}, legend::Legend)
@ Makie C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\Makie\Ggejq\src\makielayout\blocks\legend.jl:429
[21] LegendEntry(label::String, contentelement::Combined{Makie.hist, Tuple{Vector{Float64}}}, legend::Legend; kwargs::Base.Pairs{Symbol, Union{}, Tuple{}, NamedTuple{(), Tuple{}}})
@ Makie C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\Makie\Ggejq\src\makielayout\blocks\legend.jl:330
[22] LegendEntry
@ C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\Makie\Ggejq\src\makielayout\blocks\legend.jl:324 [inlined]
[23] (::Makie.var"#1708#1709"{Legend})(::Tuple{Combined{Makie.hist, Tuple{Vector{Float64}}}, String})
@ Makie .\none:0
[24] iterate
@ .\generator.jl:47 [inlined]
[25] collect(itr::Base.Generator{Base.Iterators.Zip{Tuple{Vector{AbstractPlot}, Vector{String}}}, Makie.var"#1708#1709"{Legend}})
@ Base .\array.jl:782
[26] Legend(fig_or_scene::Figure, contents::Vector{AbstractPlot}, labels::Vector{String}, title::Nothing; kwargs::Base.Pairs{Symbol, Any, NTuple{4, Symbol}, NamedTuple{(:bbox, :margin, :halign, :valign), Tuple{Observable{GeometryBasics.HyperRectangle{2, Int64}}, NTuple{4, Int64}, Symbol, Symbol}}})
@ Makie C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\Makie\Ggejq\src\makielayout\blocks\legend.jl:479
[27] Legend(fig_or_scene::Figure, axis::Axis, title::Nothing; merge::Bool, unique::Bool, kwargs::Base.Pairs{Symbol, Any, NTuple{4, Symbol}, NamedTuple{(:bbox, :margin, :halign, :valign), Tuple{Observable{GeometryBasics.HyperRectangle{2, Int64}}, NTuple{4, Int64}, Symbol, Symbol}}})
@ Makie C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\Makie\Ggejq\src\makielayout\blocks\legend.jl:534
[28] Legend
@ C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\Makie\Ggejq\src\makielayout\blocks\legend.jl:531 [inlined]
[29] #axislegend#1733
@ C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\Makie\Ggejq\src\makielayout\blocks\legend.jl:599 [inlined]
[30] axislegend
@ C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\Makie\Ggejq\src\makielayout\blocks\legend.jl:598 [inlined]
[31] #axislegend#1731
@ C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\Makie\Ggejq\src\makielayout\blocks\legend.jl:575 [inlined]
[32] axislegend(ax::Axis)
@ Makie C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\Makie\Ggejq\src\makielayout\blocks\legend.jl:575
[33] axislegend()
@ Makie C:\Users\user\.julia\packages\Makie\Ggejq\src\makielayout\blocks\legend.jl:575
[34] top-level scope
@ REPL[130]:1
```
Thoughts?
---
### Author:  [@sijo](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/sijo)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2023, 7:11am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/makie-hist-hist-cant-add-a-label-for-legend-if-bar-labels-is-specified/99352/2 "2023-05-25T07:11:53Z")
This looks llike a bug to me…
---
### Author:  [@jules](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/jules)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2023, 9:06am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/makie-hist-hist-cant-add-a-label-for-legend-if-bar-labels-is-specified/99352/3 "2023-05-25T09:06:25Z")
Ah yes the bug is that the legend elements fallback logic traverses all children and tries to find legend elements for them. In this case it finds some for the barplot part, but not for the text part. I think it could just be satisfied with finding any legend element as a fallback, it doesn’t have to find one for every child.
---
### Author:  [@Allan\_Baker](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Allan_Baker)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2023, 2:01pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/makie-hist-hist-cant-add-a-label-for-legend-if-bar-labels-is-specified/99352/4 "2023-05-25T14:01:07Z")
perhaps there needs to be a way to indicate which elements should be included in a legend and which shouldn’t. I don’t think anyone would want annotations to be in the legend…
---
### Author:  [@jules](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/jules)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2023, 2:03pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/makie-hist-hist-cant-add-a-label-for-legend-if-bar-labels-is-specified/99352/5 "2023-05-25T14:03:22Z")
There is, what legend elements are used for a given plot type is overloadable. The generic version just used to work for hist with the fallback to barplot until the text was added for the labels.
---
### Author:  [@jules](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/jules)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2023, 1:33pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/makie-hist-hist-cant-add-a-label-for-legend-if-bar-labels-is-specified/99352/6 "2023-05-26T13:33:08Z")
Fix is up here [Fix legendelements when children have no elements by jkrumbiegel · Pull Request #2982 · MakieOrg/Makie.jl · GitHub](https://github.com/MakieOrg/Makie.jl/pull/2982)