README

itermplot
=========

An awesome `iTerm2 <https://www.iterm2.com/>`__ backend for Matplotlib,
so you can plot directly in your terminal.

The above is achieved with zero modifications to your Python script. For
example, the above plots are generated with the following code:

.. code:: {python}

   import numpy as np
   import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
   import networkx as nx

   plt.rcParams["font.size"] = 10

   plt.figure(figsize=(8,3))

   ax = plt.subplot(121)
   x = np.arange(0,10,0.001)
   ax.plot(x, np.sin(np.sinc(x)), 'r', lw=2)
   ax.set_title('Nice wiggle')

   ax = plt.subplot(122)
   plt.tick_params(axis='both', left='off', top='off', right='off', bottom='off', labelleft='off', labeltop='off', labelright='off', labelbottom='off')
   G = nx.random_geometric_graph(200, 0.125)
   pos=nx.spring_layout(G)
   nx.draw_networkx_edges(G, pos, alpha=0.2)
   nx.draw_networkx_nodes(G, pos, node_color='r', node_size=12)
   ax.set_title('Random graph')

   plt.show()

Note: you need to run ``plt.show()`` to display the figure.

Reverse video
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you use a dark background in your terminal, you can enable “reverse
video” mode by adding this to your ``.profile``:

::

   export ITERMPLOT=rv

TMUX support
~~~~~~~~~~~~

itermplot tries to auto-detect TMUX and behave in a sane way. Vertical
split panes do not work well due to a limitation with iTerm2. Luckily,
horizontals do though.

Animation support
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

itermplot supports animation created by matplotlib animation module.

You’ll need to install ImageMagick and have it on the path to use the
animation support. The simplest way to see if ImageMagick is installed
and valid is to run:

.. code:: {sh}

   $ convert -version
   Version: ImageMagick 7.0.4-4 Q16 x86_64 2017-01-14 http://www.imagemagick.org
   Copyright: © 1999-2017 ImageMagick Studio LLC
   License: http://www.imagemagick.org/script/license.php
   Features: Cipher DPC HDRI Modules
   Delegates (built-in): bzlib freetype jng jpeg ltdl lzma png tiff xml zlib

To enable animation support, you need to specifying the desired number
of frames in the output animation. For example, specify it before your
script with:

::

   $ ITERMPLOT_FRAMES=30 python script.py

You can also save the resulting gif file by using ``ITERMPLOT_OUTFILE``
environment variable:

::

   $ ITERMPLOT_FRAMES=30 ITERMPLOT_OUTFILE=out.gif python script.py

Currently animation does not support reverse video with ITERMPLOT=rv.

Configure lines
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can configure the number of lines used with the ``ITERMPLOT_LINES``
environment variable. For example:

.. code:: {sh}

   ITERMPLOT_LINES=5 python3 simple.py

Python 2 and Python 3 support
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now supports Python 2, even if this makes me want to cry 😭

Installation
------------

Using pip
~~~~~~~~~

Install using ``pip`` using the command:

.. code:: {sh}

   pip3 install itermplot

itermplot is enabled by setting ``MPLBACKEND`` in your environment. If
you use ``bash``, then this can be accomplished using the command:

.. code:: {sh}

   export MPLBACKEND="module://itermplot"

Note: you can add the ``export`` line above to your ``.profile`` file so
that itermplot is always enabled in your terminal.

Testing
~~~~~~~

To test your installation you can do the following in your iTerm2
console:

::

   $ echo $MPLBACKEND
   module://itermplot
   $ python3
   Python 3.5.2 (default, Oct 24 2016, 09:14:06)
   [GCC 4.2.1 Compatible Apple LLVM 8.0.0 (clang-800.0.38)] on darwin
   Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
   >>> import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
   >>> plt.plot([1,2,3])
   [<matplotlib.lines.Line2D object at 0x1041f2e48>]
   >>> plt.show()

You should see a plot!

Uninstall
---------

You can disable this backend by unsetting the ``MPLBACKEND`` environment
variable.

::

   $ unset MPLBACKEND
   $ echo $MPLBACKEND

   $ python3
   Python 3.5.2 (default, Oct 24 2016, 09:14:06)
   [GCC 4.2.1 Compatible Apple LLVM 8.0.0 (clang-800.0.38)] on darwin
   Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
   >>> import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
   >>> plt.plot([1,2,3])
   [<matplotlib.lines.Line2D object at 0x1106bdcc0>]
   >>> plt.show()

To remove the package completely, run:

::

   pip3 uninstall itermplot

Bugs
----

This backend is very alpha, so if you have a problem please raise an
Issue on GitHub and I will try to fix it.

I also accept (and appreciate!) good patches / pull request. Thanks to
`garrywu <https://github.com/garywu>`__,
`brenshanny <https://github.com/brenshanny>`__,
`hbredin <https://github.com/hbredin>`__,
`zevlg <https://github.com/zevlg>`__ for their patches so far.

Other cool things
-----------------

I encourage you to check-out some of my `other little
projects <https://github.com/daleroberts>`__. Lots more coming as I
slowly release them…