[matplotlib-devel] repeated calls to show() are now OK?

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

It seems that every couple of weeks, someone understandably asks why one 
can't call show() more than once in a script or session.  However, I 
think that at least on all non-Mac backends, it now works.  I have 
tested it (using ipython, with no threading) on:

qtagg, qt4agg, wx, wxagg, gtk, gtkagg, tkagg, and fltkagg

The only glitch is what appears to be an unrelated bug in fltkagg: 
clicking on the window-kill button of a sole open window doesn't have 
any effect.

(There is also the difference in behavior: tkagg and fltkagg calls to 
show are non-blocking, while all the other backends block.)

What is the situation with respect to the Mac backends?

Is it time for us to change our documentation, and officially support 
the use of multiple calls to show()?  If we can do it, I think it would 
remove one of the main stumbling blocks for newcomers.

Eric