geom_flat_violin.R

# somewhat hackish solution to:
# https://twitter.com/EamonCaddigan/status/646759751242620928
# based mostly on copy/pasting from ggplot2 geom_violin source:
# https://github.com/hadley/ggplot2/blob/master/R/geom-violin.r

library(ggplot2)
library(dplyr)


"%||%" <- function(a, b) {
  if (!is.null(a)) a else b
}

geom_flat_violin <- function(mapping = NULL, data = NULL, stat = "ydensity",
                        position = "dodge", trim = TRUE, scale = "area",
                        show.legend = NA, inherit.aes = TRUE, ...) {
  layer(
    data = data,
    mapping = mapping,
    stat = stat,
    geom = GeomFlatViolin,
    position = position,
    show.legend = show.legend,
    inherit.aes = inherit.aes,
    params = list(
      trim = trim,
      scale = scale,
      ...
    )
  )
}

#' @rdname ggplot2-ggproto
#' @format NULL
#' @usage NULL
#' @export
GeomFlatViolin <-
  ggproto("GeomFlatViolin", Geom,
          setup_data = function(data, params) {
            data$width <- data$width %||%
              params$width %||% (resolution(data$x, FALSE) * 0.9)
            
            # ymin, ymax, xmin, and xmax define the bounding rectangle for each group
            data %>%
              group_by(group) %>%
              mutate(ymin = min(y),
                     ymax = max(y),
                     xmin = x,
                     xmax = x + width / 2)
            )
          },
          
          draw_group = function(data, panel_scales, coord) {
            # Find the points for the line to go all the way around
            data <- transform(data, xminv = x,
                              xmaxv = x + violinwidth * (xmax - x))
            
            # Make sure it's sorted properly to draw the outline
            newdata <- rbind(plyr::arrange(transform(data, x = xminv), y),
                             plyr::arrange(transform(data, x = xmaxv), -y))
            
            # Close the polygon: set first and last point the same
            # Needed for coord_polar and such
            newdata <- rbind(newdata, newdata[1,])
            
            ggplot2:::ggname("geom_flat_violin", GeomPolygon$draw_panel(newdata, panel_scales, coord))
          },
          
          draw_key = draw_key_polygon,
          
          default_aes = aes(weight = 1, colour = "grey20", fill = "white", size = 0.5,
                            alpha = NA, linetype = "solid"),
          
          required_aes = c("x", "y")
)


### Example:
ggplot(diamonds, aes(cut, carat)) +
    geom_flat_violin() +
    coord_flip()

One question, what does the vertical line inside the violin plot represents?

I am running your script to produce Raincloud plots and receieve the following error:

Error in layer(data = data, mapping = mapping, stat = stat, geom = GeomFlatViolin, :
unused arguments (data = data, mapping = mapping, stat = stat, geom = GeomFlatViolin, position = position, show.legend = show.legend, inherit.aes = inherit.aes, params = list(trim = trim, scale = scale, ...))

Any idea where this comes from?