pyfig

Interactive figure and window management for Windows.

pyfig is a Windows-only Python package for interactively arranging and managing figure windows created by Matplotlib, Mayavi/TVTK, and Chaco.

It provides simple functions for:

• Tiling, stacking, piling, and cascading windows
• Minimizing, maximizing, restoring, and hiding figures
• Snapping windows to screen regions
• Cycling through figures
• Closing or keeping selected figures
• Querying figure positions and screen geometry

The package uses the Win32 API and works directly with figure windows after they have been created.

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Gallery

The examples below use Matplotlib figures, but pyfig can also manipulate Mayavi/TVTK and Chaco figure windows.

Tile all open figures

Arrange all open figures in a non-overlapping grid:

from pyfig import fig

fig.tile()

Stack all open figures with partial overlap

Arrange figures with a staircase-style overlap:

from pyfig import fig

fig.stack()

Snap a figure to the right side of the screen

Snap figure number four to the right half of the screen.

fig.snap_right(4)

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Features

The screenshots above demonstrate only a subset of the functionality available in pyfig.

Window management

fig.maximize()
fig.minimize()
fig.restore()
fig.hide()

Layout management

fig.tile()
fig.stack()
fig.pile()
fig.cascade()

Screen snapping

fig.snap_left()
fig.snap_right()
fig.snap_top()
fig.snap_bottom()

Figure selection

fig.close(1, 2)
fig.keep(3)

Interactive cycling

fig.cycle()
fig.cycle(pairs=2)
fig.cycle(interval=1.0)

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Requirements

• Windows
• Python 3.10+
• pywin32

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Installation

Matplotlib support

pip install pyfig[plot]

Core package

pip install pyfig

wxPython support

pip install pyfig[wx]

Everything

pip install pyfig[plot,wx]

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Quick Check

After installation, verify that pyfig is working:

import pyfig

pyfig.test()

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Quick Start

Create some figures:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

for i in range(1, 5):
    plt.figure(i)

Arrange them:

from pyfig import fig

fig.tile()

Stack them:

fig.stack()

Pile them:

fig.pile()

Maximize a figure:

fig.maximize(4)

Close all figures:

fig.close()

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Examples

Tile all open figures

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from pyfig import fig

for i in range(1, 5):
    plt.figure(i)

fig.tile()

Keep only selected figures

fig.keep(1, 3)

Snap a figure to the right side of the screen

fig.snap_right(4)

Center all figures

fig.center()

Cycle through open figures

fig.cycle(interval=1.0)

Cycle through figures in pairs

fig.cycle(pairs=2)

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Public API

All functionality is available through the pyfig.fig module:

Window operations

close()
hide()
restore()
minimize()
maximize()
keep()
cycle()

Layout operations

tile()
stack()
pile()
cascade()
center()
set_size()

Screen snapping

snap_left()
snap_right()
snap_top()
snap_bottom()

Information functions

find_all_figure_numbers()
find_figure_handles()

get_window_position_and_size()
get_screen_position_and_size()

Configuration

set_prefer_wx()

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wxPython Support

If wxPython is installed, pyfig can provide a GUI dialog for figure cycling.

Enable it by setting the environment variable:

set FIG_USE_WX=1

or programmatically:

from pyfig import fig

fig.set_prefer_wx(True)

Without wxPython, pyfig automatically falls back to a console-based interface.

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Testing

pyfig includes a convenience function for running its test suite.

Run all tests:

import pyfig

pyfig.test()

Run with additional pytest options:

import pyfig

pyfig.test("-v")

Show available pytest options:

import pyfig

pyfig.test("--help")

For development, tests may also be executed directly using PDM:

pdm run tests

or:

pdm all-tests

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License

BSD License.

See the LICENSE file for details.