[Matplotlib-announce] ANN: matplotlib-0.91.3

[John H. <jd...@gm...>]

matplotlib 0.91.3 is released
=============================

This is the maintenance bug-fix and feature enhancement release of the
0.91 branch.  Because the 0.98 refactoring introduced more code
breakage than usual, we decided to branch the 0.91 series for users
unable to upgrade right away.  We have ported as many bug fixes and
features to the maintenance branch as possible, and these are now
available for release as 0.91.3.

Homepage: http://matplotlib.sf.net

Downloads are available at
http://sourceforge.net/project/platformdownload.php?group_id=80706
with binary installers for windows and OS X.  Thanks to Charlie Moad
for the builds and release.



What's new in matplotlib 0.91.3
===============================

ginput function
---------------

ginput (http://matplotlib.sf.net/matplotlib.pyplot.html#-ginput) is a
blocking function for interactive use to get input from the user.  A
long requested feature submitted by Gael Varoquaux.  See
http://matplotlib.sf.net/examples/pylab/ginput_demo.py.


better savefig
--------------

savefig (http://matplotlib.sf.net/matplotlib.pyplot.html#-savefig) now
supports save to file handles (great for web app servers) or unicode
filenames on all backends


record array functions
----------------------

some more helper functions to facilitate work with record arrays: rec_groupby,
rec2txt, and rec_summarize.  These are found in matplotlib.mlab
(http://matplotlib.sf.net/matplotlib.mlab.html)

accurate elliptical arcs
------------------------

In support of the Phoenix mission to Mars, which used matplotlib in
ground tracking of the spacecraft, Michael Droettboom built on work by
Charlie Moad to provide an extremely accurate 8-spline approximation
to elliptical arcs (see
http://matplotlib.sf.net/matplotlib.patches.html#Arc-draw)win the
viewport.  This provides a scale free, accurate graph of the arc
regardless of zoom level.  See the screenshot and example at
http://matplotlib.sf.net/screenshots.html#ellipse_demo


imread enhanced
---------------

imread (http://matplotlib.sf.net/matplotlib.image.html#-imread) now
will use PIL when available to load images and return numpy arrays

backend enhancements
--------------------

* postscript : the postscript backend has clipping to paths (useful
for polar plots)

* PDF : the PDF backend handles composite glyphs properly, usetex fixes

* SVG : clip to path (useful for polar plots), inkscape cut-and-paste fixes.

* QT : Fixed a duplicate draw bug that slowed performance.  Native qt
       toolbars and status bars used for the toolbar controls