Interactively Display graphs in matplotlib in python

Question

For the life of me, I can not get matplotlib to display graphs in ipython inactively.

I've tried two approaches - each time, I get the same results:

In [10]: plot([1,2,3])
Out[10]: [<matplotlib.lines.Line2D at 0x104e9ca50>]

Here are the two approaches I have tried so far: Using the documentation as a guide, I tried two different approaches:

First:

ipython --pylab

plot([1,2,3])
xlabel('hi mom')

In [3]: plot([1,2,3])
Out[3]: [<matplotlib.lines.Line2D at 0x107e369d0>]

Second:

ipython
import numpy
import pylab

In [5]: pylab.plot([1,2,3])
Out[5]: [<matplotlib.lines.Line2D at 0x104ca7b90>]

How do I get the plot to display?

not clear what you mean by inactively in your text and iteratively in your title. — Phil Cooper
– Phil Cooper, Commented Jun 16, 2012 at 19:20
Call pylab.show(), or if you want them to pop up automatically, call pylab.ion() before creating a figure. — Joe Kington
– Joe Kington, Commented Jun 16, 2012 at 19:23
@JoeKington Just tried both of those. Nothing 'popped up'. In [6]: pylab.ion() In [7]: pylab.plot([1,2,3]) Out[7]: [<matplotlib.lines.Line2D at 0x101d59b90>] In [8]: pylab.show() — mikebmassey
– mikebmassey, Commented Jun 16, 2012 at 19:26
@mikebmassey - Hmm... Are you running a remote session, by chance? If not, try @BrenBarn's suggestion. If you are running things remotely (e.g. through ssh), be sure you've enabled X-forwarding. — Joe Kington
– Joe Kington, Commented Jun 16, 2012 at 19:28

BrenBarn · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-16 19:16:30Z

5

It's possible you have a non-GUI backend set. Try doing pylab.get_backend() to see what backend you have set. Look at the documentation here and here to see how to set your backend.

answered Jun 16, 2012 at 19:16

BrenBarn

253k39 gold badges421 silver badges392 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

mikebmassey Over a year ago

Just checked: 'MacOSX'. I see how to change it via the documentation, but any suggestion on which one to use? For now, I'm messing around with matplotlib and will want the graph to refresh on my screen when I plot something new.

BrenBarn Over a year ago

MacOSX should be a GUI backend according to the docs, so I don't know why it's not working. Assuming you're sure you've got it set to interactive mode (as suggested in comments above) you could try any of the other interactive backends listed on the doc page (e.g., TkAgg). You may also want to ask on the matplotlib mailing list.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Interactively Display graphs in matplotlib in python

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related