[REFACTOR] Report uniformity: emit_css authority, slot-threaded figures, and a figure-sizing/labeling sweep

oceanarray/config/parameters.py

@@ -558,7 +558,8 @@
 #: where each variable is drawn as one line (not the multi-instrument stack, which
 #: uses :data:`LINE_CMAPS_BY_VARIABLE`).  Physics use the Okabe-Ito palette (Wong,
 #: Nature Methods 8:441, 2011); biogeochemistry uses the Paul Tol palette.  Look up
-#: with ``VAR_COLORS.get(var, "#000000")``.  Mirrors ctdcast's ``VAR_COLORS``.
+#: with :func:`var_color` (single fallback, no scattered literals).  Mirrors
+#: ctdcast's ``VAR_COLORS``.
 VAR_COLORS: dict[str, str] = {
     # Physics — Okabe-Ito
     "temperature": "#56B4E9",  # sky blue
@@ -584,13 +585,40 @@
     "turbidity": "#661100",  # dark red
 }
 
+#: Colour for a variable with no :data:`VAR_COLORS` entry — one canonical fallback
+#: so callers don't scatter their own literal defaults (which drift).
+VAR_COLOR_DEFAULT: str = "#000000"
+
+
+def var_color(var: str) -> str:
+    """Return the line/marker colour for *var* from :data:`VAR_COLORS`.
+
+    Falls back to :data:`VAR_COLOR_DEFAULT` for an unregistered variable, so every
+    caller shares one default rather than hard-coding its own.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    var : str
+        Variable name (key in :data:`VARIABLES` / :data:`VAR_COLORS`).
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    str
+        A hex colour string.
+
+    """
+    return VAR_COLORS.get(var, VAR_COLOR_DEFAULT)
+
 
 def vlabel(var: str, prefix: str = "") -> str:
     """Return a matplotlib axis label for *var* from the :data:`VARIABLES` registry.
 
-    Format is ``"{prefix}Label (units)"`` when ``label_units`` is non-empty,
-    or ``"{prefix}Label"`` for dimensionless quantities.  The ``prefix`` is
-    prepended to the label component only, not the units, so
+    Format is ``"{prefix}Label (units)"`` when ``label_units`` is non-empty, or
+    ``"{prefix}Label (1)"`` for a dimensionless quantity — ``1`` is the CF /
+    UDUNITS unit string for dimensionless (e.g. practical salinity, whose NetCDF
+    ``units`` attribute is ``"1"``), so the label matches the stored metadata
+    rather than leaving the reader to wonder whether a unit was forgotten.  The
+    ``prefix`` is prepended to the label component only, not the units, so
     ``vlabel("temperature", prefix="Δ")`` produces ``"ΔTemperature (°C)"``.
 
     Parameters
@@ -609,8 +637,13 @@ def vlabel(var: str, prefix: str = "") -> str:
     """
     entry = VARIABLES.get(var, {})
     lbl = f"{prefix}{entry.get('label', var)}"
+    if var not in VARIABLES:
+        # Unknown variable: return the bare name.  Do NOT append "( )" — that
+        # would falsely assert the quantity is dimensionless when we simply have
+        # no registry entry for it.
+        return lbl
     lu = entry.get("label_units", "")
-    return f"{lbl} ({lu})" if lu else lbl
+    return f"{lbl} ({lu})" if lu else f"{lbl} (1)"
 
 
 def vunit(var: str) -> str: