Wrap horizontal legend across multiple rows

Question

Suppose I have data like the following:

    lab <- "A really really long string!"
    dat <- data.frame(grp = paste(1:6,lab),x=1:6,y=runif(6))

When plotting a legend with strings this long, sometimes it can be a challenge to get the legend to fit nicely. If I have to I can always abbreviate the strings to shorten them, but I was wondering if it's possible (most likely using some grid magic) to 'wrap' a legend across multiple rows or columns. For instance, say I position the legend on the bottom, horizontally:

    ggplot(dat,aes(x=x,y=y,colour=grp)) + geom_point() + 
        opts(legend.position="bottom",legend.direction="horizontal")

Is it possible to get this legend to display as two rows of three, rather than one row of six?

Answer 1

To wrap long strings, use strwrap.

lipsum <- "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Curabitur ullamcorper tellus vitae libero placerat aliquet egestas tortor semper. Maecenas pellentesque euismod tristique. Donec semper interdum magna, commodo vehicula ante hendrerit vitae. Maecenas at diam sollicitudin magna mollis lobortis. In nibh elit, tincidunt eu lobortis ac, molestie a felis. Proin turpis leo, iaculis non commodo quis, venenatis at justo. Duis in magna vel erat fringilla gravida quis non nisl. Nunc lacus magna, varius eu luctus vel, luctus tristique sapien. Suspendisse mi dolor, vestibulum at facilisis elementum, lacinia vitae metus. Etiam ut nisl urna, vel tempus mi. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Quisque pretium volutpat felis, nec tempor diam faucibus at. Praesent volutpat posuere sapien, eu vulputate risus molestie vitae. Proin iaculis quam non leo porttitor hendrerit."

strwrap(lipsum)
cat(strwrap(lipsum), sep = "\n")
# Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Curabitur ullamcorper tellus
# vitae libero placerat aliquet egestas tortor semper. Maecenas pellentesque euismod
# tristique. Donec semper interdum magna, commodo vehicula ante hendrerit vitae. Maecenas
# at diam sollicitudin magna mollis lobortis. In nibh elit, tincidunt eu lobortis ac,
# molestie a felis. Proin turpis leo, iaculis non commodo quis, venenatis at justo. Duis
# in magna vel erat fringilla gravida quis non nisl. Nunc lacus magna, varius eu luctus
# vel, luctus tristique sapien. Suspendisse mi dolor, vestibulum at facilisis elementum,
# lacinia vitae metus. Etiam ut nisl urna, vel tempus mi. In hac habitasse platea
# dictumst. Quisque pretium volutpat felis, nec tempor diam faucibus at. Praesent
# volutpat posuere sapien, eu vulputate risus molestie vitae. Proin iaculis quam non leo
# porttitor hendrerit.