matplotlib-users

[Matplotlib-users] How can I set the backgroundcolor of text with set_backgroundcolor ?

[Mark B. <ma...@gm...>]

Hello -

I want to set the backgroundcolor of text with the set_backgroundcolor
function.
Does that actually work?
I saw a more complicated way to do it by defining a bbox, but this would be
much easier (if I got it to work).
Here's my example that doesn't work.
Thanks for any suggestions,

Mark

from pylab import *
plot([1,2,3])
t = text(1,2,'Hello')
t.set_backgroundcolor('r')
draw()

Re: [Matplotlib-users] How can I set the backgroundcolor of text with set_backgroundcolor ?

[John H. <jdh...@ac...>]

>>>>> "Mark" == Mark Bakker <ma...@gm...> writes:

    Mark> Hello - I want to set the backgroundcolor of text with the
    Mark> set_backgroundcolor function.  Does that actually work?  I
    Mark> saw a more complicated way to do it by defining a bbox, but
    Mark> this would be much easier (if I got it to work).  Here's my
    Mark> example that doesn't work.  Thanks for any suggestions,

Strange.  When I saw your post my first thought was "hmmm, I didn't
know we had a text background color".  I looked through the text.py
code and it is there as a property, but is totally unused.  I don't
know who added it, but apparently someone got interrupted mid-code.
That someone could be me, but if anyone knows where this came from
speak up; otherwise it will be removed.

The bbox is the standard way to do this, and is a bit more general
since you can set the alpha, the linewidth, the edgecolor, etc...

  ax.text(1,2,'hi mom', bbox=dict(facecolor='red'))

JDH

Re: [Matplotlib-users] How can I set the backgroundcolor of text with set_backgroundcolor ?

[Mark B. <ma...@gm...>]

Thanks John. This works great.
I think, however, that set_backgroundcolor would be useful.
It should be easy to fix.
If nobody speaks up, I will take a crack at it,
Mark

On 1/3/07, John Hunter <jdh...@ac...> wrote:
>
> >>>>> "Mark" == Mark Bakker <ma...@gm...> writes:
>
>     Mark> Hello - I want to set the backgroundcolor of text with the
>     Mark> set_backgroundcolor function.  Does that actually work?  I
>     Mark> saw a more complicated way to do it by defining a bbox, but
>     Mark> this would be much easier (if I got it to work).  Here's my
>     Mark> example that doesn't work.  Thanks for any suggestions,
>
> Strange.  When I saw your post my first thought was "hmmm, I didn't
> know we had a text background color".  I looked through the text.py
> code and it is there as a property, but is totally unused.  I don't
> know who added it, but apparently someone got interrupted mid-code.
> That someone could be me, but if anyone knows where this came from
> speak up; otherwise it will be removed.
>
> The bbox is the standard way to do this, and is a bit more general
> since you can set the alpha, the linewidth, the edgecolor, etc...
>
>   ax.text(1,2,'hi mom', bbox=dict(facecolor='red'))
>
> JDH
>

Re: [Matplotlib-users] How can I set the backgroundcolor of text with set_backgroundcolor ?

[John H. <jdh...@ac...>]

>>>>> "Mark" == Mark Bakker <ma...@gm...> writes:

    Mark> Thanks John. This works great.  I think, however, that
    Mark> set_backgroundcolor would be useful.  It should be easy to
    Mark> fix.  If nobody speaks up, I will take a crack at it, Mark

What do you have in mind, a simple convenience function that does

    def set_backgroundcolor(self, color):
        """
        Set the background color of the text by updating the bbox facecolor

        ACCEPTS: any matplotlib color 
        """
        if self._bbox is None: 
            self._bbox = dict(facecolor=color, edgecolor=color)
        else:
            self._bbox.update(dict(facecolor=color))

I'm not too opposed to it, but it does violate the maxim "There should be one--
and preferably only one --obvious way to do it."  Of course, we
violate this throughout mpl offerings lots of convenience functions,
but it is something to bear in mind.

Re: [Matplotlib-users] How can I set the backgroundcolor of text with set_backgroundcolor ?

[Mark B. <ma...@gm...>]

Thanks for writing the convenience function John !
I think there is a large group (like the students in my class) who use
matplotlib as a simple tool to make beautiful graphs. To compete with matlab
we need to keep simple tasks simple. I personally think that this
convenience function is a good one to add. Probably under pylab.
Anybody else want to weigh in?
Mark

On 1/3/07, John Hunter <jdh...@ac...> wrote:
>
> >>>>> "Mark" == Mark Bakker <ma...@gm...> writes:
>
>     Mark> Thanks John. This works great.  I think, however, that
>     Mark> set_backgroundcolor would be useful.  It should be easy to
>     Mark> fix.  If nobody speaks up, I will take a crack at it, Mark
>
> What do you have in mind, a simple convenience function that does
>
>     def set_backgroundcolor(self, color):
>         """
>         Set the background color of the text by updating the bbox
> facecolor
>
>         ACCEPTS: any matplotlib color
>         """
>         if self._bbox is None:
>             self._bbox = dict(facecolor=color, edgecolor=color)
>         else:
>             self._bbox.update(dict(facecolor=color))
>
> I'm not too opposed to it, but it does violate the maxim "There should be
> one--
> and preferably only one --obvious way to do it."  Of course, we
> violate this throughout mpl offerings lots of convenience functions,
> but it is something to bear in mind.
>