SGL: A Structured Graphics Language

This paper introduces SGL, a graphics language that is aesthetically similar to SQL. As a graphical counterpart to SQL, SGL enables specification of statistical graphics within SQL query interfaces. SGL is based on a grammar of graphics that has been customized to support a SQL aesthetic. This paper presents the fundamental components of the SGL language alongside examples, and describes SGL’s underlying grammar of graphics via comparison to its closest predecessor, the layered grammar of graphics.