Re: [Matplotlib-users] Grid line over shadows actual plotted line

[Eric F. <ef...@ha...>]

Robert Hetland wrote:
> 
> On May 7, 2006, at 11:15 PM, Vineet Jain wrote:
> 
>>
>>> ax.set_axisbelow(True)
> 
> 
> Is there a way to set this in the rc file?  axisbelow(True) would be  my 
> default preference.
> 
> -Rob.

The rc file is already pretty big--we might instead consider making 
axisbelow(True) the hardwired default.  It seems logical to me.  It 
would be good to hear from others--are there people who like the present 
default and/or prefer adding this option to the rc collection?

Looking at the code a little more, I wonder whether the best way to 
handle this might not be by taking advantage of zorder more 
consistently.  I think we could spread out the default zorders, assign a 
suitable zorder to the axis artists, add those artists to the artists 
list in the axes.draw method, and then let the zorder take care of the 
rest automatically.  This way we could ensure a logical default order: 
image, all patch-like things, axis grids, all line-like things; and if 
anyone wanted to change the order, it could be done easily via setting 
selected zorder values.  If necessary, convenience functions could be 
used for setting zorder without the user having to know which numerical 
values were assigned for which types of object.

I think this could make the code and interface simpler, more 
self-consistent, and more flexible.  (My remarks are based on only a 
quick look, so I may be missing something important.)

Eric