geom_rect failure: Error in eval(expr, envir, enclos) : object 'variable' not found

Question

I am trying to replicate Hadley Wickham's example on page 86 of the ggplot2 book, where he overlays geom_rects showing the party in power over the trend in unemployment. Here is my core code, with some sample data:

library("ggplot2")
library("reshape2")
library("lubridate")

con <- textConnection("Date,Var1,Var2
8-Jan-12,100.8,116
15-Jan-12,99.4,115.5
22-Jan-12,98.4,115
28-Jan-12,97.1,114
4-Feb-12,95.9,112
11-Feb-12,95.3,113
18-Feb-12,93.9,111.5
25-Feb-12,93.5,111.5
3-Mar-12,92.6,110
10-Mar-12,91.4,108
17-Mar-12,90.2,106.8
24-Mar-12,90,107.5
31-Mar-12,89.9,106
5-Apr-12,90.4,106.5
12-Apr-12,89.8,106") 

track <- read.csv(con, header=TRUE)
track$Date <- as.Date( dmy(track$Date) )

track <- melt(track, 
            id.vars = c("Date"))

con <- textConnection("City,From,To
Auckland,5-Apr-12,10-Apr-12
Brussels,1-Apr-12,3-Apr-12
Cleveland,24-Jan-12,26-Jan-12
Darjeeling,18-Jan-12,19-Jan-12
Erehwon,8-Feb-12,10-Feb-12
Florence,5-Mar-12,7-Mar-12
Gandalf,25-Mar-12,27-Mar-12")

trips <- read.csv(con, header=TRUE)
trips$From <- as.Date( dmy(trips$From) )
trips$To <- as.Date( dmy(trips$To) )

# draw the Time Series data
p <- ggplot(track, 
            aes(x = Date, 
                y = value, 
                colour=variable,
                group = variable))
p <- p + geom_smooth()
p <- p + geom_point(size=3)
p <- p + geom_vline(data=trips, 
                    aes(xintercept=From),
                    colour='steelblue') # departure dates
p <- p + geom_vline(data=trips, 
                    aes(xintercept=To),
                    colour='grey80') # return dates
yrng <- c(80,120)
p <- p + scale_y_continuous(limits=yrng)

p # this works up to here, using vlines (ugly, but makes the point)

# ----------- THIS geom_rect() STOPS THIS PLOT BEING RENDERED
p2 <- p + geom_rect(aes(NULL, NULL, xmin=From, xmax=To),
                   ymin=yrng[1], ymax=yrng[2],
                   data=trips)

p2 # this gives an error message
# Error in eval(expr, envir, enclos) : object 'variable' not found

# ----------- THIS NOW WORKS, THANKS TO @smu, SEE BELOW
p2 <- p + geom_rect(aes(NULL, NULL, xmin=From, xmax=To, 
                   colour=NULL, group=NULL),
                   ymin=yrng[1], ymax=yrng[2],
               fill='orange',
               alpha=0.4,
               data=trips)
p2 # and I have added fill and alpha to prettify it a bit

As suggested by @tyler-rinker, I have edited the code to include the original error and the solution pointed out by @smu. Thanks.

Answer 1

Just adding inherit.aes=FALSE in your geom_rect actually works better as it won't change any of the settings you had made to your previous graph (legend etc.)

Answer 2

In the first ggplot call you map the colour to 'variable'. This mapping is still present in the geom_rect call, but no variable named 'variable' exists in 'trips'. I would suggest to unmap colour using:

p2 <- p + geom_rect(aes(NULL, NULL, xmin=From, xmax=To, colour=NULL),
               ymin=yrng[1], ymax=yrng[2],
               data=trips)

(Haven't tried it, but I guess it should work).