Merge pull request #13610 from timhoffm/example-centered_ticklabels

dstansby · web-flow · commit 2c54229db897 · 2019-03-07T16:10:03.000Z
Update centered ticklabels example
diff --git a/examples/ticks_and_spines/centered_ticklabels.py b/examples/ticks_and_spines/centered_ticklabels.py
@@ -1,19 +1,20 @@
 """
-===================
-Centered Ticklabels
-===================
+==============================
+Centering labels between ticks
+==============================
 
-sometimes it is nice to have ticklabels centered.  Matplotlib currently
-associates a label with a tick, and the label can be aligned
-'center', 'left', or 'right' using the horizontal alignment property::
+Ticklabels are aligned relative to their associated tick. The alignment
+'center', 'left', or 'right' can be controlled using the horizontal alignment
+property::
 
     for label in ax.xaxis.get_xticklabels():
         label.set_horizontalalignment('right')
 
-but this doesn't help center the label between ticks.  One solution
-is to "fake it".  Use the minor ticks to place a tick centered
-between the major ticks.  Here is an example that labels the months,
-centered between the ticks
+However there is no direct way to center the labels between ticks. To fake
+this behavior, one can place a label on the minor ticks in between the major
+ticks, and hide the major tick labels and minor ticks.
+
+Here is an example that labels the months, centered between the ticks.
 """
 
 import numpy as np
@@ -34,7 +35,8 @@
 ax.plot(date, r.adj_close)
 
 ax.xaxis.set_major_locator(dates.MonthLocator())
-ax.xaxis.set_minor_locator(dates.MonthLocator(bymonthday=15))
+# 16 is a slight approximation since months differ in number of days.
+ax.xaxis.set_minor_locator(dates.MonthLocator(bymonthday=16))
 
 ax.xaxis.set_major_formatter(ticker.NullFormatter())
 ax.xaxis.set_minor_formatter(dates.DateFormatter('%b'))
