eventplot and EventCollection docstrings overhaul (+ make the latter consistent with its behavior)

afvincent · tacaswell · commit 5214a62f52cf · 2017-07-10T22:59:52.000-05:00
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
@@ -1083,53 +1083,85 @@ def eventplot(self, positions, orientation='horizontal', lineoffsets=1,
                   linelengths=1, linewidths=None, colors=None,
                   linestyles='solid', **kwargs):
         """
-        Plot identical parallel lines at specific positions.
+        Plot identical parallel lines at the given positions.
 
-        Plot parallel lines at the given positions.  positions should be a 1D
-        or 2D array-like object, with each row corresponding to a row or column
-        of lines.
+        *positions* should be a 1D or 2D array-like object, with each row
+        corresponding to a row or column of lines.
 
         This type of plot is commonly used in neuroscience for representing
-        neural events, where it is commonly called a spike raster, dot raster,
+        neural events, where it is usually called a spike raster, dot raster,
         or raster plot.
 
         However, it is useful in any situation where you wish to show the
         timing or position of multiple sets of discrete events, such as the
         arrival times of people to a business on each day of the month or the
         date of hurricanes each year of the last century.
 
-        *orientation* : [ 'horizontal' | 'vertical' ]
-          'horizontal' : the lines will be vertical and arranged in rows
-          'vertical' : lines will be horizontal and arranged in columns
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        positions : 1D or 2D array-like object
+            Each value is an event. If *positions* is a 2D array-like, each
+            row corresponds to a row or a column of lines (depending on the
+            *orientation* parameter).
+
+        orientation : {'horizontal', 'vertical'}, optional
+            Controls the direction of the event collections:
 
-        *lineoffsets* :
-          A float or array-like containing floats.
+                - 'horizontal' : the lines are arranged horizontally in rows,
+                  and are vertical.
+                - 'vertical' : the lines are arranged vertically in columns,
+                  and are horizontal.
 
-        *linelengths* :
-          A float or array-like containing floats.
+        lineoffsets : scalar or sequence of scalars, optional, default: 1
+            The offset of the center of the lines from the origin, in the
+            direction orthogonal to *orientation*.
 
-        *linewidths* :
-          A float or array-like containing floats.
+        linelengths : scalar or sequence of scalars, optional, default: 1
+            The total height of the lines (i.e. the lines stretches from
+            ``lineoffset - linelength/2`` to ``lineoffset + linelength/2``).
 
-        *colors*
-          must be a sequence of RGBA tuples (e.g., arbitrary color
-          strings, etc, not allowed) or a list of such sequences
+        linewidths : scalar, scalar sequence or None, optional, default: None
+            The line width(s) of the event lines, in points. If it is None,
+            defaults to its rcParams setting.
 
-        *linestyles* :
-          [ 'solid' | 'dashed' | 'dashdot' | 'dotted' ] or an array of these
-          values
+        colors : color, sequence of colors or None, optional, default: None
+            The color(s) of the event lines. If it is None, defaults to its
+            rcParams setting.
 
-        For linelengths, linewidths, colors, and linestyles, if only a single
-        value is given, that value is applied to all lines.  If an array-like
-        is given, it must have the same length as positions, and each value
-        will be applied to the corresponding row or column in positions.
+        linestyles : str or tuple or a sequence of such values, optional
+            Default is 'solid'. Valid strings are ['solid', 'dashed',
+            'dashdot', 'dotted', '-', '--', '-.', ':']. Dash tuples
+            should be of the form::
 
-        Returns a list of :class:`matplotlib.collections.EventCollection`
-        objects that were added.
+                (offset, onoffseq),
 
-        kwargs are :class:`~matplotlib.collections.LineCollection` properties:
+            where *onoffseq* is an even length tuple of on and off ink
+            in points.
+
+        **kwargs : optional
+            Other keyword arguments are line collection properties.  See
+            :class:`~matplotlib.collections.LineCollection` for a list of
+            the valid properties.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+
+        A list of :class:`matplotlib.collections.EventCollection` objects that
+        were added.
+
+        Notes
+        -----
+
+        For *linelengths*, *linewidths*, *colors*, and *linestyles*, if only
+        a single value is given, that value is applied to all lines.  If an
+        array-like is given, it must have the same length as *positions*, and
+        each row of the array will be applied to the corresponding row or
+        column of events.
+
+        Example
+        -------
 
-        %(LineCollection)s
+        .. plot:: mpl_examples/pylab_examples/eventplot_demo.py
         """
         self._process_unit_info(xdata=positions,
                                 ydata=[lineoffsets, linelengths],
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/collections.py b/lib/matplotlib/collections.py
@@ -1240,15 +1240,15 @@ class EventCollection(LineCollection):
     '''
     A collection of discrete events.
 
-    An event is a 1-dimensional value, usually the position of something along
-    an axis, such as time or length.  Events do not have an amplitude.  They
-    are displayed as v
+    The events are given by a 1-dimensional array, usually the position of
+    something along an axis, such as time or length.  They do not have an
+    amplitude and are displayed as vertical or horizontal parallel bars.
     '''
 
     _edge_default = True
 
     def __init__(self,
-                 positions,     # Can be None.
+                 positions,     # Cannot be None.
                  orientation=None,
                  lineoffset=0,
                  linelength=1,
@@ -1259,58 +1259,60 @@ def __init__(self,
                  **kwargs
                  ):
         """
-        *positions*
-            a sequence of numerical values or a 1D numpy array.  Can be None
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        positions : 1D array-like object
+            Each value is an event.
 
-        *orientation* [ 'horizontal' | 'vertical' | None ]
-            defaults to 'horizontal' if not specified or None
+        orientation : {None, 'horizontal', 'vertical'}, optional
+            The orientation of the **collection** (the event bars are along
+            the orthogonal direction). Defaults to 'horizontal' if not
+            specified or None.
 
-        *lineoffset*
-            a single numerical value, corresponding to the offset of the center
-            of the markers from the origin
+        lineoffset : scalar, optional, default: 0
+            The offset of the center of the markers from the origin, in the
+            direction orthogonal to *orientation*.
 
-        *linelength*
-            a single numerical value, corresponding to the total height of the
-            marker (i.e. the marker stretches from lineoffset+linelength/2 to
-            lineoffset-linelength/2).  Defaults to 1
+        linelength : scalar, optional, default: 1
+            The total height of the marker (i.e. the marker stretches from
+            ``lineoffset - linelength/2`` to ``lineoffset + linelength/2``).
 
-        *linewidth*
-            a single numerical value
+        linewidth : scalar or None, optional, default: None
+            If it is None, defaults to its rcParams setting, in sequence form.
 
-        *color*
-            must be a sequence of RGBA tuples (e.g., arbitrary color
-            strings, etc, not allowed).
+        color : color, sequence of colors or None, optional, default: None
+            If it is None, defaults to its rcParams setting, in sequence form.
 
-        *linestyle* [ 'solid' | 'dashed' | 'dashdot' | 'dotted' ]
+        linestyle : str or tuple, optional, default: 'solid'
+            Valid strings are ['solid', 'dashed', 'dashdot', 'dotted',
+            '-', '--', '-.', ':']. Dash tuples should be of the form::
 
-        *antialiased*
-            1 or 2
+                (offset, onoffseq),
 
-        If *linewidth*, *color*, or *antialiased* is None, they
-        default to their rcParams setting, in sequence form.
+            where *onoffseq* is an even length tuple of on and off ink
+            in points.
 
-        *norm*
-            None (optional for :class:`matplotlib.cm.ScalarMappable`)
-        *cmap*
-            None (optional for :class:`matplotlib.cm.ScalarMappable`)
+        antialiased : {None, 1, 2}, optional
+            If it is None, defaults to its rcParams setting, in sequence form.
 
-        *pickradius* is the tolerance for mouse clicks picking a line.
-        The default is 5 pt.
+        **kwargs : optional
+            Other keyword arguments are line collection properties.  See
+            :class:`~matplotlib.collections.LineCollection` for a list of
+            the valid properties.
 
-        The use of :class:`~matplotlib.cm.ScalarMappable` is optional.
-        If the :class:`~matplotlib.cm.ScalarMappable` array
-        :attr:`~matplotlib.cm.ScalarMappable._A` is not None (i.e., a call to
-        :meth:`~matplotlib.cm.ScalarMappable.set_array` has been made), at
-        draw time a call to scalar mappable will be made to set the colors.
+        Example
+        -------
+
+        .. plot:: mpl_examples/pylab_examples/eventcollection_demo.py
         """
 
         segment = (lineoffset + linelength / 2.,
                    lineoffset - linelength / 2.)
-        if len(positions) == 0:
+        if positions is None or len(positions) == 0:
             segments = []
         elif hasattr(positions, 'ndim') and positions.ndim > 1:
-            raise ValueError('if positions is an ndarry it cannot have '
-                             'dimensionality great than 1 ')
+            raise ValueError('positions cannot have a dimensionality greater '
+                             'than 1 (in the ndarray sense)')
         elif (orientation is None or orientation.lower() == 'none' or
               orientation.lower() == 'horizontal'):
             positions.sort()
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py
@@ -3013,6 +3013,7 @@ def test_eventplot_colors(colors):
     for coll, color in zip(collections, expected):
         assert_allclose(coll.get_color(), color)
 
+
 @image_comparison(baseline_images=['test_eventplot_problem_kwargs'],
                   extensions=['png'], remove_text=True)
 def test_eventplot_problem_kwargs():
