ColorFunction in Histogram[]

Question

Let's say I have a Histogram:

Histogram[RandomVariate[NormalDistribution[10, 2], 500]]

and I want the bars positioned to the left of 8 on the horizontal axis to be a different colour.

The Mathematica documentation shows how to do this for the height of bars, but not for their position:

Histogram[RandomVariate[NormalDistribution[10, 2], 500], 
 ColorFunction -> (Which[# < 40, Yellow, 40 <= # < 90, Red, True, Blue] &),
  ColorFunctionScaling -> False]

How do I call the positions of the bars from Histogram and put them into my ColorFunction?

Answer 1

You can use a custom ChartElementDataFunction as follows:

cedF[{{xmin_, xmax_}, {ymin_, ymax_}}, ___] :={If[xmax <= 8, 
      RGBColor[1, 0, 0], Sequence[]],
   Dynamic@EdgeForm[Directive[Thickness[.015], Lighter@CurrentValue["Color"]]],
   Rectangle[{xmin, ymin}, {xmax, ymax}, RoundingRadius -> 5]};
Histogram[RandomVariate[NormalDistribution[10, 2], 500],ChartStyle -> "Pastel", 
  ChartElementFunction -> cedF]

EDIT: Adding arguments to cedf:

cedf2[from_,to_,color_: Red,thickness_:Small,rndngradius_: 0][{{xmin_, xmax_}, {ymin_, ymax_}}, ___] :=
 {If[from < xmax <= to, color, Sequence[]],
   Dynamic@EdgeForm[Directive[Thickness[thickness], Lighter@CurrentValue["Color"]]],
   Rectangle[{xmin, ymin}, {xmax, ymax}, RoundingRadius -> rndngradius]}

 Histogram[RandomVariate[NormalDistribution[10, 2], 500], ChartStyle -> "Pastel", 
   ChartElementFunction -> cedf2[6, 10, Purple, Small, 3]]

Alternatively, you can build a custom data function using the built-in ChartElementDataFunctions:

sgmntsclF = ChartElementDataFunction["SegmentScaleRectangle", 
    "Segments" -> 8, "ColorScheme" -> "TemperatureMap"];
grdntrctF = ChartElementDataFunction["GradientRectangle", 
    "ColorScheme" -> "Rainbow", "GradientOrigin" -> Top];

Histogram[RandomVariate[NormalDistribution[10, 2], 500], ChartStyle -> "Pastel",
 ChartElementFunction -> ((If[7 < {##}[[1]][[1, 2]] <= 10,
     sgmntsclF[##], grdntrctF[##]]) &)]

Answer 2

You will probably need to get the bin data with HistogramList and plot it with BarChart.

I don't have HistogramList in v7, but here is a basic proof of concept:

hist = Histogram[RandomReal[NormalDistribution[10, 2], 500]]

Cases[hist, RectangleBox[{a_, _}, {b_, x_}] :> {b, x}, -1];

If[# <= 8, Style[#2, Red], #2] & @@@ %;

BarChart @ %

---

I'm flying blind here as I can't test this, but maybe it works:

dat = HistogramList[RandomVariate[NormalDistribution[10, 2], 500]];

If[# <= 8, Style[#2, Red], #2] & @@@ Transpose @ dat;

BarChart @ %