Thanks - we'll make it happen at some point.
Perhaps I can give the seed for a discussion: the stuff I've been doing
with mpld3 is a lot of fun, but it's fundamentally limited by the fact that
I have to dig around the internals of the figure object to find the
relevant information to construct a plot representation. I may be able to
do the same thing by creating a backend, but the problem is that the draw()
methods of most objects call the renderer with no reference to whether the
points lie in the data space or figure space: that is, paths and points are
usually specified in figure/pixel coordinates or some transformed version
thereof, which makes it near impossible to construct interactive
representations absent Python kernel callbacks.
What I'd love to see is some enhancement of the backend framework where
there are some extra flags and information passed to the renderer: i.e. for
each draw command, we need to know whether the drawn object should be
linked to static figure coordinates or to dynamic axes/data coordinates.
I've been in touch with Cyrille Rossant from the vispy team, Chris Beaumont
from the Glue team, and Matt Sundwuist from the plotly team, all of whom
asked if there might be a way to use what I've done with mpld3 to enable
matplotlib to export into their own front-end format. I didn't start mpld3
with that sort of extensibility in mind, but I'm starting to invest some
time thinking about how to design that.
With the current matplotlib package, I think there are two ways to
accomplish it: one is to create a general backend-like interface based on
the figure introspection that mpld3 currently uses. The artist elements in
each figure contain enough information to be able to infer whether the
elements should move & zoom with the axes or not. The problem is, a lot of
elements (like legends, axes aspects, etc.) are not fully established until
the draw() command is called, so there are a few ugly hacks required to
make it happen.
The other option is to use an even uglier hack, and wrap the current
backend framework with an object that somehow links back into the figure
and infers from the draw_*() commands whether the path/point/marker/etc.
should be drawn in static figure coordinates or in dynamic axes
coordinates. I've started a simple prototype backend translator which has a
renderer class that uses ``inspect`` back-trace the stack and accomplish
this: It's really ugly, and I'm not particularly proud about it, but I
think it's the current best way to accomplish the desired behavior.
Ugly hacks aside, I think all of this points to a general desire for a new
type of backend-like hook that can export dynamic plot elements in data
coordinates, and static plot elements in figure coordinates. An
enhancement in that direction could pave the way for a lot of interesting
interactive front-ends to matplotlib figures.
Anyway - if any of you have suggestions or responses to this, I'd love to
hear them! Thanks,
Jake
On Tue, Jan 14, 2014 at 9:11 AM, Michael Droettboom <[email protected]> wrote:
> Jake: I'd definitely like to get you into one of these calls at some
> point. If you're able to pop in late, that would still be great -- or we
> can save that for another date. Trying to get Japan, three NA timezones
> and the UK all together is challenging ;)
>
> In any event, with Thomas, Ben, Michiel and myself confirmed, I think
> that's enough to go ahead, and hopefully others who have yet to respond can
> join as well.
>
> Mike
>
>
> On 01/14/2014 11:57 AM, Jacob Vanderplas wrote:
>
> I'll probably not be able to swing 6am on the west coast, but other folks
> are more important for this call, I think :)
> Jake
>
>
> On Tue, Jan 14, 2014 at 8:51 AM, Benjamin Root <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> That would actually work a little bit better for me... I just have to
>> remember to get into work a little bit earlier.
>>
>> Ben
>>
>> On Tue, Jan 14, 2014 at 11:36 AM, Michael Droettboom <[email protected]>wrote:
>>
>>> I'm fine with starting the meeting an hour early. How about others?
>>>
>>> Mike
>>>
>>> On 01/14/2014 04:57 AM, Michiel de Hoon wrote:
>>> > I can join this Thursday if we start with the discussion on timers.
>>> > If we can start 1 hour earlier (14:00 UTC, 9 am ET, 23:00 in Japan)
>>> that would be even better.
>>> > -Michiel.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > --------------------------------------------
>>> > On Mon, 1/13/14, Michael Droettboom <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> >
>>> > Subject: [matplotlib-devel] Meeting...?
>>> > To: "[email protected]" <
>>> [email protected]>
>>> > Date: Monday, January 13, 2014, 11:36 AM
>>> >
>>> > It's probably a good time to schedule
>>> > another matplotlib Google Hangout.
>>> >
>>> > Is this Thursday at 1500 UTC (10 am ET) too short notice for
>>> > the usual
>>> > candidates?
>>> >
>>> > I know there was discussion of getting Michiel de Hoon on
>>> > today (which I
>>> > just saw, unfortunately). Is there another time in the
>>> > future that
>>> > works for you, Michiel?
>>> >
>>> > Mike
>>> >
>>> > --
>>> >
>>> > _
>>> > |\/|o _|_ _. _ | | \.__ __|__|_|_ _
>>> > _ ._ _
>>> > | ||(_| |(_|(/_| |_/|(_)(/_|_ |_|_)(_)(_)| | |
>>> >
>>> > http://www.droettboom.com
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
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>>> http://www.droettboom.com
>>>
>>>
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>
>
> --
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> http://www.droettboom.com
>
>
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