matplotlib-users Mailing List for matplotlib

John Hunter wrote:
> It's currently implemented in pylab but could be moved up to the OO
> layer by doing something like
> 
> class Axes:
>    def plot(self, *args, **kwargs):
>        ...plot something
>        if rcParams['interactive']:
>             self.figure.canvas.draw()
> 
> or by providing some autowrapper facility to automate this.

That could work -- and/or subclass the key classes, and wrap their plot, 
etc. methods. hmmm..

> Or OO users can just call fig.canvas.draw() themselves when they want
> to draw....

Well, yes, but the point I'm making is that it should be just as easy to 
use interactively -- that's a bit too much code to want to type at the 
command line.

-Chris


-- 
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Chr...@no...

Robert Kern wrote:

> Try running with pythonw.

That's probably not it -- as of MacPython 2.4, pythonw ands python are 
the same.

belinda thom wrote:
> And running w/pythonw does what it should :-).

OK, now I'm confused:

$ ls -l /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.4/bin/python2.4
-rwxrwxr-x   1 root  admin  39936 Apr  7  2006 
/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.4/bin/python2.4

$ ls -l /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.4/bin/pythonw2.4
-rwxrwxr-x   1 root  admin  39936 Apr  7  2006 
/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.4/bin/pythonw2.4

Those two look like the same binaries to me -- and diff tells me they are.

Are you sure you're running the same python with "python" and "pythonw"? 
Try running them on the command line alone and see what you get.

>    File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.4/lib/ 
> python2.4/site-packages/matplotlib/backends/backend_wxagg.py", line  
> 63, in draw
>      self.bitmap = _convert_agg_to_wx_bitmap(self.get_renderer(), None)
> MemoryError: _wxagg.convert_agg_to_wx_bitmap(): could not create the  
> wx.Bitmap

This looks like the error we usually get when you've built the wxAgg 
extension against a different version of wx than the one you're running. 
That's easy to do, as Apple has provided an old wx with it's Python, it 
is often found by default by the MPL build process.

Search this list for the way to fix that, or, if you really can't find 
it, I'll dig it up.

-Chris








-- 
Christopher Barker, Ph.D.
Oceanographer

Emergency Response Division
NOAA/NOS/OR&R            (206) 526-6959   voice
7600 Sand Point Way NE   (206) 526-6329   fax
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Chr...@no...

>>>>> "Christopher" == Christopher Barker <Chr...@no...> writes:

    Christopher> However, it is the case that there is a lot of stuff
    Christopher> in pylab that makes it easier to use MPL in
    Christopher> interactive mode. I kind of think that's a shame. I
    Christopher> don't think that there is any reason that an OO
    Christopher> interface is less suited to interactive mode.

It's currently implemented in pylab but could be moved up to the OO
layer by doing something like

class Axes:
   def plot(self, *args, **kwargs):
       ...plot something
       if rcParams['interactive']:
            self.figure.canvas.draw()

or by providing some autowrapper facility to automate this.  Probably
could be done elegantly with decorators, but we can't use decorators
yet...

Or OO users can just call fig.canvas.draw() themselves when they want
to draw....

JDH

Eric Firing wrote:
> This is the big difference between most pylab functions and the 
> corresponding axes or figure methods that they wrap: the pylab functions 
> automatically take care of redrawing the figure if you are in an 
> interactive mode.

Now I feel bad -- I think I encouraged Belinda to work with the OO 
interface, because I think it's the better way to go, and, in 
particular, translates better to putting MPL code in larger programs.

However, it is the case that there is a lot of stuff in pylab that makes 
it easier to use MPL in interactive mode. I kind of think that's a 
shame. I don't think that there is any reason that an OO interface is 
less suited to interactive mode.

I've thought for a while that I'd love to write a "OOlab" module -- that 
is, an object oriented interface to matplotlib that is well suited to 
interactive use.

However,

1) who know when I'll get around to it, and I haven't yet because I 
hardly ever do much interactively anyway (I didn't with Matlab, either).

2) this is an example of how it's hard to do -- a method like 
Figure.Clear() clearly belongs just where it is in an OO framework. 
Would it be possible for all those OO drawing methods to be able to 
query an "interactive" property somewhere? Does it live only in pylab now?

-Chris


-- 
Christopher Barker, Ph.D.
Oceanographer

Emergency Response Division
NOAA/NOS/OR&R            (206) 526-6959   voice
7600 Sand Point Way NE   (206) 526-6329   fax
Seattle, WA  98115       (206) 526-6317   main reception

Chr...@no...

belinda thom wrote:
> Robert,
> 
>> Try running with pythonw.
> 
> Do you know how to fix this in IDLE (it must be using python as  
> opposed to pythonw somehow).

I'm afraid that I don't know enough about IDLE to help you.

-- 
Robert Kern

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
 that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
 an underlying truth."
  -- Umberto Eco

John Hunter wrote:
>>>>>> "Robert" == Robert Kern <rob...@gm...> writes:
> 
>     Robert> Personally, I think the warnings are a bit overzealous and
>     Robert> should be silenced.  It's not as if the user is explicitly
>     Robert> telling the font manager to load those specific
>     Robert> fonts. They are automatically and unavoidably attempted.
> 
> I just modified the font manager to move this reporting into the
> verbose handler, so now they will only show up with verbose "helpful"
> or greater.

And there was much rejoicing!

-- 
Robert Kern

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
 that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
 an underlying truth."
  -- Umberto Eco

Robert,

> Try running with pythonw.

Do you know how to fix this in IDLE (it must be using python as  
opposed to pythonw somehow).

Thanks again for all your help,

--b

Thanks.

And running w/pythonw does what it should :-).


On Jan 10, 2007, at 12:16 PM, John Hunter wrote:

>>>>>> "Robert" == Robert Kern <rob...@gm...> writes:
>
>     Robert> Personally, I think the warnings are a bit overzealous and
>     Robert> should be silenced.  It's not as if the user is explicitly
>     Robert> telling the font manager to load those specific
>     Robert> fonts. They are automatically and unavoidably attempted.
>
> I just modified the font manager to move this reporting into the
> verbose handler, so now they will only show up with verbose "helpful"
> or greater.
>
> JDH
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
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>>>>> "Robert" == Robert Kern <rob...@gm...> writes:

    Robert> Personally, I think the warnings are a bit overzealous and
    Robert> should be silenced.  It's not as if the user is explicitly
    Robert> telling the font manager to load those specific
    Robert> fonts. They are automatically and unavoidably attempted.

I just modified the font manager to move this reporting into the
verbose handler, so now they will only show up with verbose "helpful"
or greater.

JDH

belinda thom wrote:
> I am posting this message to both numpy and matplotlib mailing lists  
> because the thread relates to both.

Actually, it's really only relevant to matplotlib.

> However, after installing wx and matplotlib, various problems result:
> 
> 1) warnings about fonts
> 2) wx fails to work
> 
> I've appended the warnings below. These only occur the first time  
> pylab is imported (does this make sense?).

Yes. After the first time, a cache is built and the font manager doesn't go
trawling through your fonts again. matplotlib's font library cannot parse some
of the Mac fonts (damned resource forks), so it warns you.

Personally, I think the warnings are a bit overzealous and should be silenced.
It's not as if the user is explicitly telling the font manager to load those
specific fonts. They are automatically and unavoidably attempted.

> WX / MATPLOTLIB FAILURE
> --------------------------
> 
> 4 % python

Try running with pythonw.

-- 
Robert Kern

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
 that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
 an underlying truth."
  -- Umberto Eco

I am posting this message to both numpy and matplotlib mailing lists  
because the thread relates to both.

First, Robert Kern kindly provided step-by-step instructions for Macs  
(PPCs and Intels) regarding how to install FROM SOURCE the packages  
needed to allow Python to become a viable alternative for Matlab.  
Details regarding the installation of matplotlib (along with wx,  
which is supposed to allow the WxAgg backend to work), numpy, and  
scipy were provided.

The reason for installing FROM SOURCE on a Mac is because various  
packages need to be compiled in such a way that they rely on the same  
underling shared libraries, etc. for things to work (I've described  
some problems w/installing from numpy, scipy, and matplotlib dmgs at  
http://www.mail-archive.com/ numpy-discussion at scipy.org/ 
msg00481.html).

 From these instructions, I've been able to acheive numpy.test() anad  
scipy.test() that run w/no failures -- hooray!

However, after installing wx and matplotlib, various problems result:

1) warnings about fonts
2) wx fails to work

I've appended the warnings below. These only occur the first time  
pylab is imported (does this make sense?).

After that, I've appended the issues I've had when trying to use wx  
as a backend. One reason I'd like to be able to use wx is that it  
appears with TkAgg, running IDLE (w/the -n flag) can hang (see:  
http://www.mail-archive.com/mat...@li.../ 
msg02039.html).

Point that originally confused me: although wx is needed for the  
WxAgg backend, you don't need to install the analogous Tk package to  
use TkAgg PROVIDED you're using MacPython, for that comes bundled w/ 
an Aqua-based Tk interface.

I'm on a G4 PPC, w/OS X 10.4.8, and using MacPython 2.4. Any idea  
what wx doesn't work?

Thanks,

--b

ONE-TIME WARNINGS:
--------------------
Python 2.4.4 (#1, Oct 18 2006, 10:34:39)
[GCC 4.0.1 (Apple Computer, Inc. build 5341)] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
history mechanism set up
 >>> import pylab as P
/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.4/lib/python2.4/site- 
packages/matplotlib/font_manager.py:455: UserWarning: Could not open  
font file /Library/Fonts/NISC18030.ttf
   warnings.warn("Could not open font file %s"%fpath)
<snip>
/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.4/lib/python2.4/site- 
packages/matplotlib/font_manager.py:455: UserWarning: Could not open  
font file /System/Library/Fonts/TimesLTMM
   warnings.warn("Could not open font file %s"%fpath)
 >>>

WX / MATPLOTLIB FAILURE
--------------------------

4 % python
Python 2.4.4 (#1, Oct 18 2006, 10:34:39)
[GCC 4.0.1 (Apple Computer, Inc. build 5341)] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
history mechanism set up
 >>> import matplotlib as M
 >>> import pylab as P
 >>> M.rcParams['interactive']
True
 >>> M.rcParams['backend']
'WXAgg'
 >>> P.plot([1,2,3])
Traceback (most recent call last):
   File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.4/lib/ 
python2.4/site-packages/matplotlib/backends/backend_wx.py", line  
1048, in _onPaint
     self.draw(repaint=False)
<snip>
     figManager.canvas.draw()
   File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.4/lib/ 
python2.4/site-packages/matplotlib/backends/backend_wxagg.py", line  
63, in draw
     self.bitmap = _convert_agg_to_wx_bitmap(self.get_renderer(), None)
MemoryError: _wxagg.convert_agg_to_wx_bitmap(): could not create the  
wx.Bitmap
 >>>

>>>>> "belinda" == belinda thom <bt...@cs...> writes:

    belinda> I am not sure, but I think this difference in behavior is
    belinda> b/c IPython is a bit better about calling
    belinda> draw_if_interactive after "most pylab functions" (see
    belinda> Eric Firing's http://www.mail-archive.com/matplotlib-
    belinda> us...@li.../msg02037.html) than IDLE is.

No, this isn't it.  pylab does the draw_if_interactive call, and it is
called by pylab.axis:

def axis(*args, **kwargs):
    ax = gca()
    v = ax.axis(*v, **kwargs)
    draw_if_interactive()
    return v

I noticed in your subsequent post that interactive is set to True in
your rc file.  Make sure you are not running from the matplotlib
install directory or it will pick up your directory specific
matplotlib rc file.

You might want to do

  >>> from matplotlib import rcParams
  >>> print rcParams['interactive']

from within your IDLE session to verify.  Does interactive updating
work with other pylab commands.  I would be very surprised if just
'axis' were failing.

JDH

Mark,

> BTW, when you use pylab in interactive mode, the axis() command  
> should scale your figure interactively, also under IDLE. Have you  
> tried that?

Yes, I tried using axis in both IDLE and IPython. IPython's redrew  
the axis automatically whereas IDLE's did not.

I am not sure, but I think this difference in behavior is b/c IPython  
is a bit better about calling draw_if_interactive after "most pylab  
functions" (see Eric Firing's http://www.mail-archive.com/matplotlib- 
us...@li.../msg02037.html) than IDLE is.

> I have experienced the same problem with IDLE.
> It only works with -n, but then you lose the nice feature of  
> 'starting over'.
> Does anybody know a fix so we can do both?

I too would LOVE to have the ability to start over as IDLE w/o the -n  
allows. Unfortunately for me (on a Mac) I've not yet been unable to  
use WxAgg w/matplotlib using Mac-available packages. I might be able  
to use it after I'm done following http://projects.scipy.org/ 
pipermail/numpy-discussion/2007-January/025368.html, but I'm in  
crunch-mode at the moment, so that install is going slowly.

--b

>>>>> "belinda" == belinda thom <bt...@cs...> writes:

    belinda> Hi,

    belinda> I've been playing w/both IDLE and IPython, using TkAgg in
    belinda> both cases as the back end. Also, I've got the latest
    belinda> matplotlib and ipython versions and am using MacPython's
    belinda> 2.4.4 IDLE.

    belinda> It seems that if IDLE is not invoked w/the -n flag, the
    belinda> figures that are drawn can often get the "whirling swirl
    belinda> of death" (i.e. they hang). Has it been other users'
    belinda> experience that the "-n" removes that problem (it
    belinda> mentioned this flag in the manual, but I didn't catch he
    belinda> motivation)? And if so, is there no other way to use IDLE
    belinda> when using matplotlib interactively? (The nice thing
    belinda> about IDLE is its "fresh" state each time you run a file;
    belinda> this goes away when -n is used).

>From http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/backends.html#TkAgg

    Tkinter GUI backend
    
    Todd Miller has written a backend for Tkinter that uses the agg
    backend for rendering. To use Tkagg, you need to set the BUILD_TKAGG
    flag in setup.py. The windows installer comes with TkAgg prebuilt. See
    agg backend for more information on agg rendering and fonts. NOTE: on
    at least some versions of redhat linux, you must install a separate
    tkinter package, apparently tkinter-2.2.2-26.i386.rpm on Red Hat 9
    linux. Alternately, Python built from source code (Python.org tarball,
    not the redhat SRPM) includes Tkinter support by default on Red Hat
    Linux. In general, TkAgg is known to work with
    
        * python
        * idle -n (set tk.PYTHONINSPECT : True in matplotlibrc
        * IPython
    
    TkAgg is known not work with:
    
        * SciTE
        * pythonw
        * Pythonwin
        * idle
    
    Both of the latter shells fail with a RuntimeError "abnormal program
    termination". I checked on www.python.org about Tkinter and Pythonwin
    and they're known not to work together so that explains TkAgg on
    Pythonwin. tkinter trouble.
    
    I also looked into SciTE a little and discovered that it is related to
    Scintilla which in turn was derived from Pythonwin. scintilla This
    indicates to me that the same problem with Tkinter may be affecting
    both (SciTE and Pythonwin)... but I am out on a limb.
    
    
So yes, -n  is required.  There were lots of discussions of this on
the mailing list years ago when tkagg was being developed, so if you
are interested you might try searching the archives.

>>>>> "belinda" == belinda thom <bt...@cs...> writes:

    belinda> I can create plots to my hearts content in both, but when
    belinda> I ask to rescale the plots, e.g. axis([-.2,2.4,-2,2.4]),
    belinda> NOTHING happens to the figure drawn via IDLE, whereas the
    belinda> command works as expected in IPython.

Are you running matplotlib in idle in "interactive" mode, as described 

http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/interactive.html

ipython in pylab mode automatically turns on interactive mode...

JDH

I have experienced the same problem with IDLE.
It only works with -n, but then you lose the nice feature of 'starting
over'.
Does anybody know a fix so we can do both?
Thanks,
Mark

BTW, when you use pylab in interactive mode, the axis() command should scale
your figure interactively, also under IDLE. Have you tried that?

Hi,

How can I use zoom for polar plots ?
I mean a circular cutout would be better than a rectangular cutout.

Nils

I also had a problem matching matplotlib's mathfonts with my Beamer
(http://latex-beamer.sourceforge.net) presentation's Helvetica (or
sans-serif) mathfonts.

As LaTeX does not support Helvetica Math unless you buy it from
Micropress, I was curious as to how Till Tantau managed to implement
sans-serif mathfonts in his beamer class.

After some hacking-and-slashing I've isolated the necessary LaTeX code
to generate "beamer compatible" sans-serif math fonts, see attached .tex
file:

The easiest way to "convert" your mpl installation to generate
sans-serif math fonts is to search for "\begin{document}" in your
backend_ps.py file and then to past the attached LaTeX code just above
it.

A more permanent solution to mpl, with Darren's approval, would be the
attached patches to backend_ps.py and texmanager.py

These patches also include the option to add to the default LaTeX
preamble used by texmanager.py & backend_ps.py, e.g.:

rcParams['latex.preamble']=3Dr"""\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb}
\usepackage[afrikaans]{babel}
\usepackage[iso,english]{isodate}
\usepackage{numprint}
"""

Kind regards,

Peter-Jan Randewijk


> -----Original Message-----
> From: mat...@li...=20
> [mailto:mat...@li...] On=20
> Behalf Of Lane Brooks
> Sent: 09 January 2007 19:56
> To: mat...@li...
> Subject: [Matplotlib-users] mathtext fonts
>=20
> Is there a way to get latex to use Ariel font and not italic?=20
>  If I use the \rm{} command I can get rid of italic, but it=20
> is using a serif font and I cannot find any documentation on=20
> how to change that font.
>=20
> Thanks,
>=20
> Lane Brooks
>=20
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> -----------
> Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT Join=20
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&CID=3DDEVDEV
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>=20

I had the same problem about figures that freeze using IDLE and 
matplotlib but finally I manage to solve it with the help of Eric and 
also a bit of luck.
Instead of using TkAgg I use WxAgg and it never hangs.
I use Idle -n and in the matplotlibrc  set Interactive
I use all latest version of Numpy, scipy, matplotlib and 
wxPython2.8-win32-unicode-2.8.0.1-py25

Hope this will help

Giorgio

Belinda -

The hold state is on by default when you use pylab. To clear a figure you
use clf().
Here's a brief example:
from pylab import *
figure() # Not really needed, you could have typed plot right away, but here
you can set some nice features like the size
plot([1,2,3])
plot([2,1,2])  # Will appear on same figure
clf() # Clears entire figure (back to what you had with figure() )

Mark

Message: 10
> Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2007 19:50:15 -0800
> From: belinda thom <bt...@cs...>
> Subject: [Matplotlib-users] clearing a figure
> To: matplotlib-users <mat...@li...>
> Message-ID: <3E7...@cs...>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
>
> Hello,
>
> I'm a new matplotlib user, coming from the Matlab end.
>
> Is there a standard way to create a figure (here I'd like the
> equivalent of matlab's hold on, so I can draw multiple things) and
> then clear the figure (so the drawing goes away) so I can repeat the
> process again? The commands to plot that I'll be using are fairly
> simple line commands.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 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
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> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
>
> End of Matplotlib-users Digest, Vol 8, Issue 13
> ***********************************************
>

belinda thom wrote:
> One of the reasons I'm confused is b/c when I poked around, I found a  
> clear method:
> 
>  >>> help(pylab.gcf().clear)
> Help on method clear in module matplotlib.figure:
> 
> clear(self) method of matplotlib.figure.Figure instance
>      Clear the figure
> 
> but when I execute this on my open figure:
> 
>  >>>pylab.gcf().clear()
> 
> nothing happens; the figure's still displaying whatever was already  
> on it.

The reason is that in interactive mode (as with ipython -pylab) the 
figure is not redrawn after you execute this method. What you want 
instead is

pylab.clf()

which will call the clear and then call draw_if_interactive().

This is the big difference between most pylab functions and the 
corresponding axes or figure methods that they wrap: the pylab functions 
automatically take care of redrawing the figure if you are in an 
interactive mode.

> 
> So far, the only thing I've found that works is to call plot  
> differently when its time to clear the figure (pass hold=False).  
> Subsequent calls to plot (w/o this option) keep adding to, which is  
> great.

pylab also has a hold() function similar to the Matlab command, as an 
alternative to passing the hold state in the plotting command call:

def hold(b=None):
     """
     Set the hold state.  If hold is None (default), toggle the
     hold state.  Else set the hold state to boolean value b.

     Eg
     hold()      # toggle hold
     hold(True)  # hold is on
     hold(False) # hold is off

     When hold is True, subsequent plot commands will be added to the
     current axes.  When hold is False, the current axes and figure
     will be cleared on the next plot command

Eric
> 
> Is passing a hold=False arg to a drawing command the preferred way to  
> clear a figure, or is clear() not working properly?
> 
> Many thanks,
> 
> --b
> 
> On Jan 9, 2007, at 7:50 PM, belinda thom wrote:
> 
>> Hello,
>>
>> I'm a new matplotlib user, coming from the Matlab end.
>>
>> Is there a standard way to create a figure (here I'd like the  
>> equivalent of matlab's hold on, so I can draw multiple things) and  
>> then clear the figure (so the drawing goes away) so I can repeat  
>> the process again? The commands to plot that I'll be using are  
>> fairly simple line commands.

Hi,

I've been playing w/both IDLE and IPython, using TkAgg in both cases  
as the back end. Also, I've got the latest matplotlib and ipython  
versions and am using MacPython's 2.4.4 IDLE.

It seems that if IDLE is not invoked w/the -n flag, the figures that  
are drawn can often get the "whirling swirl of death" (i.e. they  
hang). Has it been other users' experience that the "-n" removes that  
problem (it mentioned this flag in the manual, but I didn't catch he  
motivation)? And if so, is there no other way to use IDLE when using  
matplotlib interactively? (The nice thing about IDLE is its "fresh"  
state each time you run a file; this goes away when -n is used).

I'm pleased to report no whirling wheels when using matplotlib via  
IPython.

By being able to compare behavior on both I might have found a bug:

I can create plots to my hearts content in both, but when I ask to  
rescale the plots, e.g. axis([-.2,2.4,-2,2.4]), NOTHING happens to  
the figure drawn via IDLE, whereas the command works as expected in  
IPython.

I hope posting this is useful. Feedback welcome.

--b

One of the reasons I'm confused is b/c when I poked around, I found a  
clear method:

 >>> help(pylab.gcf().clear)
Help on method clear in module matplotlib.figure:

clear(self) method of matplotlib.figure.Figure instance
     Clear the figure

but when I execute this on my open figure:

 >>>pylab.gcf().clear()

nothing happens; the figure's still displaying whatever was already  
on it.

So far, the only thing I've found that works is to call plot  
differently when its time to clear the figure (pass hold=False).  
Subsequent calls to plot (w/o this option) keep adding to, which is  
great.

Is passing a hold=False arg to a drawing command the preferred way to  
clear a figure, or is clear() not working properly?

Many thanks,

--b

On Jan 9, 2007, at 7:50 PM, belinda thom wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I'm a new matplotlib user, coming from the Matlab end.
>
> Is there a standard way to create a figure (here I'd like the  
> equivalent of matlab's hold on, so I can draw multiple things) and  
> then clear the figure (so the drawing goes away) so I can repeat  
> the process again? The commands to plot that I'll be using are  
> fairly simple line commands.
>
>
>

Hello,

I'm a new matplotlib user, coming from the Matlab end.

Is there a standard way to create a figure (here I'd like the  
equivalent of matlab's hold on, so I can draw multiple things) and  
then clear the figure (so the drawing goes away) so I can repeat the  
process again? The commands to plot that I'll be using are fairly  
simple line commands.