# PlotlyJS: how to change the default labels of variables
**URL:** https://discourse.julialang.org/t/plotlyjs-how-to-change-the-default-labels-of-variables/60798
**Category:** General Usage
**Tags:** plotting, plotlyjs
**Created:** [May 8, 2021, 11:31pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/plotlyjs-how-to-change-the-default-labels-of-variables/60798 "2021-05-08T23:31:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@VivMendes](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/VivMendes)
#### Post date: [May 8, 2021, 11:31pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/plotlyjs-how-to-change-the-default-labels-of-variables/60798/1 "2021-05-08T23:31:48Z")
I have a kind of stupid question: how can we change the automatic labels of variables under PlotlyJS.jl? In the figure below, the names given by default are `trace 0`, `trace 1` ,`...` , when instead I want `GDP`, `INV`, `CONS` and `EXP`. I know how to do it by creating individual scatter functions and then plotting everything together: `p2 = plot([s1, s2, s3, s4], layout)`. However, this is not very efficient, and as a regular user of Plots.jl I would just need to type: `labels = ["GDP" "INV" "CONS" "EXP"]`, to have the job done.
Is there any similar way in PlotlyJS.jl to do the trick? I tried `restyle!(p2, names =["GDP" ,"CONS", "INV", "EXP"])` but it did not work. I tried other alternatives, but they also failed. Help will be very much appreciated.
The MWE is as follows:
```julia
p2 = plot(Period1, [GDP INV CONS EXP],
Layout(title = "Some macroeconomic aggregates: US (1960-Q1--2019-Q2)",
xaxis_title = "Quarterly observations",
xaxis_range = [1960, 2020],
yaxis_title = "Billions US dollars",
#yaxis_range=[-2, 2],
))
```
which leads to:
---
### Author:  [@rafael.guerra](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/rafael.guerra)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2021, 8:01pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/plotlyjs-how-to-change-the-default-labels-of-variables/60798/2 "2021-05-09T20:01:05Z")
The following restyling syntax does work:
```julia
using PlotlyJS
Period1 = 1950:2050; u = (Period1 .- 1950)/100;
GDP = u/2; INV = u; CONS = u*2; EXP = 2*u.^0.5;
p2 = PlotlyJS.plot(Period1, [GDP INV CONS EXP],
Layout(title = "Some macroeconomic aggregates: US (1960-Q1--2019-Q2)",
xaxis_title = "Quarterly observations",
xaxis_range = [1960, 2020],
yaxis_title = "Billions US dollars",
yaxis_range=[0, 2])
)
restyle!(p2,1:4, name=["GDP", "INV", "CONS", "EXP"])
```
---
### Author:  [@VivMendes](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/VivMendes)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2021, 9:26pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/plotlyjs-how-to-change-the-default-labels-of-variables/60798/3 "2021-05-09T21:26:38Z")
@rafael.guerra Thanks for your help.
I tried your solution (which I can see clearly works in your case), but I may have something missing on my computer that you don’t have. In my case, if I add the API function `restyle!` with the attributes that you stated, the code runs without any error … but the plot just **vanishes** in Jupyter, while in VSCode it **does not change the plot** in any way at all. The two figs below display these two mysterious cases.
Besides this problem, I have had no troubles at all with PlotlyJS.jl. I am running on a Windows 10 machine, Julia 1.6.1, PlotlyJS v0.14.1, and PlotlyBase v0.4.3. There must be a minor bug leading to this outcome. I used your entire example, and the outcome was the same.
In Jupyter:
In VSCode:
---
### Author:  [@rafael.guerra](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/rafael.guerra)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2021, 9:50pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/plotlyjs-how-to-change-the-default-labels-of-variables/60798/4 "2021-05-09T21:50:44Z")
Using here Julia 1.6.1, PlotlyJS v0.14.1, PlotlyBase v0.4.3 and VS Code on Win10.
Are you plotting to an **external** window? Probably you should, in order for the window to listen to parameter changes.
If you aren’t, please uncheck VS Code setting:
**NB:**
_Tested running the code from the Julia 1.6.1 REPL and it worked fine too._
---
### Author:  [@VivMendes](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/VivMendes)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2021, 10:02pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/plotlyjs-how-to-change-the-default-labels-of-variables/60798/5 "2021-05-09T22:02:22Z")
Thanks a lot. In VSCode it RUNS perfectly well in the external window. I will see what happens in the Jupyter notebook. This is for teaching, so I need it to work in Jupyter (Pluto is not yet ready for PlotlyJS). Well, the Julia community is quite fascinating!
---
### Author:  [@rafael.guerra](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/rafael.guerra)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2021, 12:36pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/plotlyjs-how-to-change-the-default-labels-of-variables/60798/6 "2021-05-10T12:36:16Z")
If you will, why not using the `plotlyjs()` back-end, within the comfort of Plots.jl syntax?
---
### Author:  [@dpsanders](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/dpsanders)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2021, 1:01pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/plotlyjs-how-to-change-the-default-labels-of-variables/60798/7 "2021-05-10T13:01:12Z")
You can use the plotly() backend of Plots.jl inside Pluto.
---
### Author:  [@VivMendes](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/VivMendes)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2021, 2:57pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/plotlyjs-how-to-change-the-default-labels-of-variables/60798/8 "2021-05-10T14:57:25Z")
@rafael.guerra@dpsanders, that’s what I will have to do, either using the plotlyjs() or the plotly() backends. I can do it in PlotlyJS as well, but its syntax is not as user-friendly as that of Plots.
I was not well aware of the functionality of displaying plots in an external window, and the gains we may get by using it. I migrated from Matlab where that was a default construction, and never questioned how to get it in Atom or VSCode. Working with PlotlyJS in an external window is like magic.