FYI The unit system John is working on will be a huge improvement for the way we use MPL. Our users do a ton of plotting that involves unitized numbers vs time. We have our own unit class and time class and right now users have to convert the unitized numbers into floats in the correct units and convert the times to the correct MPL format in the correct reference frame. Being able to seamlessly pass these objects to MPL is going to make all of our plotting scripts much simpler to use, easier to understand, and much safer (by eliminating different unit/time frame problems).
It's not a big deal to convert values when the plot is first created - where it makes the biggest difference is when you want to manipulate the plot after it's created (xlim for example). Being able to pass unitized numbers to the various manipulation methods is what makes everything much easier to use (especially when dates are being plotted). Ted At 02:15 PM 3/20/2007, Norbert Nemec wrote: >Actually, I like the idea of unit support quite a bit and could well >imagine that it makes sense >to support it explicitely in matplotlib. > >I am using physical units very frequently in my computations. Lacking a >robust units package, >I simply define the units as numerical constants without checks but at >least with comfortable >conversion. If there were a good units package, support in matplotlib >would mean that the axis >labels could automatically be completed with appropriate units without >need for explicit conversion. > >I agree, though, that the units package itself should not be part of >matplotlib. But this is exactly >how I understand the idea by John Hunter: describe an interface to allow >the use of any third-party >unit package. > >Of course, the whole thing only makes sense is there is a units package >that is fit for production use. > > > >Darren Dale wrote: > > > > My first impression is similar to Eric's. I don't know if there > is a robust > > units package for python, but I imagine it should be a part of > scipy. I think > > it would be better to get an array and if you wanted to plot it > in different > > units, you call a method on the array at plot time. Maybe I dont > understand > > all the intended uses. > > > > Darren > > > > > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT >Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the chance to share your >opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys-and earn cash >http://www.techsay.com/default.php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV >_______________________________________________ >Matplotlib-devel mailing list >Matplotlib-devel@lists.sourceforge.net >https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/matplotlib-devel ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the chance to share your opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys-and earn cash http://www.techsay.com/default.php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV _______________________________________________ Matplotlib-devel mailing list Matplotlib-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/matplotlib-devel
