# Is FullGraphics an abandoned function? Is there an alternative?

FullGraphics hasn't worked entirely for a long time and the situation appears to be getting worse instead of better. In Mathematica 10.0, 10.1 up to 11.3 a simple usage throws numerous errors and returns a graphic without ticks and with the wrong aspect ratio:

Plot[Sin[x], {x, 0, 10}] // FullGraphics


Axes::axes: {{False,False},{False,False}} is not a valid axis specification. >>

Ticks::ticks: {Automatic,Automatic} is not a valid tick specification. >>

(* etc. etc. *)

This may be caused by or related to More Ticks::ticks errors in AbsoluteOptions in v10.

It seems that I must go back to version 5 functionality if I want this function to work right:

<< Version5Graphics  (* load old graphics subsystem *)

Plot[Sin[x], {x, 0, 10}] // FullGraphics


I wonder at this point if there is any indication that FullGraphics and perhaps also AbsoluteOptions are still supported? Or has something to the contrary has been written (Wolfram blog, a developer's comment, etc.) that indicates these should be removed from the documentation now?

With FullGraphics broken is there a method that can take its place for producing proper Graphics directives that may be further manipulated and combined, not merely vectorized outlines?

• Good question. (IOU one upvote.) When I made the jump from version 5 to 8, it was one of the differences that struck me, since it broke some of my tricks, and thus had to resort to alternatives. So it has become even less useful now, it seems. – J. M. is away May 17 '15 at 10:33
• When you find an answer, you might want to add a post in the mathematica.stackexchange.com/questions/43631/… thread. – Peltio May 17 '15 at 13:45
• @Peltio I never saw that question until now. I started and maintain one that is fairly similar: (56728). I hope the emphasis of these questions is different enough that mine is not a duplicate. (I seek to extend missing documentation as it were.) – Mr.Wizard May 17 '15 at 13:49
• How related is this code: Plot[Sin[x], {x, 0, 10}] /. {HoldPattern[Frame -> _] -> Frame -> False} // FullGraphics – Junho Lee May 17 '15 at 14:32
• The problem persist in 11.3 and the function hasn't been removed from the documentation. The developers are aware of the issue and there is an ongoing support case. CASE:3897155. – rhermans May 29 '18 at 16:35

It seems that the problem appeared in the version 5-> 6 transition.

<< Version6Graphics
InputForm@ListPlot[{{0, 0}}]
(* Graphics[{...
Frame -> {{False, False}, {False, False}},...] *)


which has the same form in later version. This subtle difference is causing the trouble. c.f.

 << Version5Graphics
InputForm@ListPlot[{{0, 0}}]
(* Graphics[{...
Frame -> False,...] *)


This bug can thus be circumvented by manually changing this value.

FullGraphics @@ (InputForm[Plot[Sin[x], {x, 0, 4}]] /.
Rule[Frame, _ ] ->
Rule[Frame, False])