Add axis label format 'automatic'

[alexander-veit]

Description

What was changed in this pull request?

The axis label format option 'automatic' was added which corresponds to the current option 'scientific'. 'automatic' is the new default. 'scientific' has been changed to be strictly exponential notation.

Why is it necessary?

Make axis format options more clear.

Note: This is a breaking change. Existing view configs have to be updated in order to use the same label format as before.

Checklist

• Set proper GitHub labels (e.g. v1.6+, ignore if you don't know)
• Unit tests added or updated
• Documentation added or updated
• Example(s) added or updated
• Update schema.json if there are changes to the viewconf JSON structure format
• Screenshot for visual changes (e.g. new tracks or UI changes)
• Updated CHANGELOG.md

[alexander-veit]

The fact that this is a breaking change is of course not great. Not so sure anymore if it is worth it.

[flekschas]

Is there a real need for this change besides making the axis format more explicit? I.e., have people complained about the current behavior?

If not I would not be in favor of not introducing yet another option.

On the other hand, if this is something people want, how about introducing a "strict" mode instead? This boolean option could be called axisLabelFormattingStrict and be set to false by default. That would allow us to introduce strict formatting without introducing a breaking change. It would also allow us to have multiple formats that can have strict and automatic behavior.

[alexander-veit]

Yeah, I don't think anybody complained. This just would be the cleanest way to do it in my opinion. axisLabelFormattingStrict would be a way to avoid the breaking change but it adds complexity.

The whole thing is probably not important enough to justify a breaking change for now. Maybe it could be incorporated at a time when there are some other major changes to the view config and users have to review them anyway?