CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonmatplotlib
3sm1r
3sm1r

Reputation: 530

How to apply an option to several figures at the same time

If I do this

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
a=[1,2,3]
b=[3,4,5]

plt.figure(1)
plt.xlim(0,3)
plt.plot(b)
plt.figure(2)
plt.plot(a)
plt.show()

the choice of the x axes will be applied only to figure 1. What can I use to discriminate between the options that I want to be valid for only figure 1 or 2 and the ones that I want to be applied to both figures?

Clarification: I know that it is possible to call plt.xlim several times. I was rather looking for some command of a form like 

plt.apply_options_to(1,2)

and from that moment on every time I call plt.xlim the option is applied to both figures and not only one of the two.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 52

Answers (1)

ImportanceOfBeingErnest
ImportanceOfBeingErnest

Reputation: 339705

With pyplot, each command applies to the currently active figure or axes. This means you can easily loop over the figures and apply each command like

for i in (1,2):
    plt.figure(i)
    plt.xlim(0,3)

Now those are three lines of code. If the requirement is to use a single line of code, the following would be a solution

[plt.setp(plt.figure(i).axes[0], xlim=(0,3)) for i in plt.get_fignums() if i in (1,2)]

This is neither elegant nor easy to type, so when using pyplot I would recommend the first solution.

In general however I would recommend using the object oriented approach, where creating two figures would look like:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
a=[1,2,3]
b=[3,4,5]

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.plot(b)
fig2, ax2 = plt.subplots()
ax2.plot(a)

plt.show()

Then the single line solution is also a bit more compact

plt.setp([ax,ax2], xlim=(0,3))

Upvotes: 1

Related Questions