Mpldock

A matplotlib backend that makes figures dockable.

Motivation

Work with something like this: instead of that:

Features

• Trivial integration - it is enough to change a matplotlib backend
• Arrange figures into a convenient layout with drag and drop
• Integrate mainloop with ipython, jupyter, pycharm console (or run as a standalone application)
• Preserve a layout and user-modifier state (scale, grid, etc.) through consecutive runs

Installation

pip install mpldock

Usage

Example

The simplest example with layout persistence:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from mpldock import persist_layout

plt.use('module://mpldock')  # may use also "backend" in matplotlibrc or MPLBACKEND env var
persist_layout('1e2682b5-4408-42a6-ae97-3c11332a96fa')

plt.figure("some plot")
plt.plot([1, 5, 3])
plt.figure("another plot")
plt.plot([5, 0, 1])

plt.show()

Set a backend

Set a matplotlib backend to module://mpldock.backend. See this for more.

E.g.:

import matplotlib
matplotlib.use('module://mpldock.backend')  # must be done before importing pyplot
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

Or (does not work with jupyter):

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
plt.switch_backend('module://mpldock.backend')

Also using a global configuration (like matplotlibrc file or MPLBACKEND environment variable) works but not in jupyter or pycharm console, since they hack around many things.

Integrate mainloop (if desired)

In a standalone application it is enough to use typical:

plt.show()

at the end of script, which starts a mainloop and blocks until the application is finished.

In an ipython or jupyter usually integration with qt is automatic, but in some versions or configurations you may need to activate it manually:

%gui qt5

Layout persistence

In order to preserve a layout between application runs, additional line must be added:

from mpldock import persist_layout
persist_layout('my_super_unique_identifier')

The layout is saved after closing a window or when done manually from a menu (Layout/Save). The string identifier should be different for each application (scripts with the same identifier share the layout).

More

See examples for more.

Major dependencies

• Python >= 3.6
• PyQt5 (PySide, PyQt4 coming soon)
• Matplotlib