[BUG] bar() doesn't work with plotly backend anymore

[shorca]

Details

bar(1:10) does not work with plotly() backend.

Backends

This bug occurs on ( insert x below )

Backend	yes	no	untested
gr (default)	x
pyplot			x
plotly	x
plotlyjs			x
pgfplotsx			x
inspectdr			x

Versions

Plots.jl version: v1.11.0
Backend version (]st -m): PlotlyBase v0.4.3
Output of versioninfo():

Julia Version 1.5.4
Commit 69fcb5745b (2021-03-11 19:13 UTC)
Platform Info:
  OS: Linux (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)
  CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6850K CPU @ 3.60GHz
  WORD_SIZE: 64
  LIBM: libopenlibm
  LLVM: libLLVM-9.0.1 (ORCJIT, broadwell)

MWE:

using Plots
plotly()
bar(1:10)

Result:

Error showing value of type Plots.Plot{Plots.PlotlyBackend}:
ERROR: UndefRefError: access to undefined reference
Stacktrace:
 [1] getindex at ./array.jl:809 [inlined]
 [2] iterate at ./array.jl:785 [inlined]
 [3] show_json(::JSON.Writer.PrettyContext{Base.GenericIOBuffer{Array{UInt8,1}}}, ::JSON.Serializations.StandardSerialization, ::Array{Any,1}) at /home/chunji/.julia/packages/JSON/3rsiS/src/Writer.jl:293
 [4] #show_json#3 at /home/chunji/.julia/packages/JSON/3rsiS/src/Writer.jl:325 [inlined]
 [5] print(::Base.GenericIOBuffer{Array{UInt8,1}}, ::Array{Any,1}, ::Int64) at /home/chunji/.julia/packages/JSON/3rsiS/src/Writer.jl:347
 [6] sprint(::Function, ::Array{Any,1}, ::Vararg{Any,N} where N; context::Nothing, sizehint::Int64) at ./strings/io.jl:105
 [7] sprint at ./strings/io.jl:101 [inlined]
 [8] json at /home/chunji/.julia/packages/JSON/3rsiS/src/Writer.jl:366 [inlined]
 [9] plotly_series_json at /home/chunji/.julia/packages/Plots/z5Msu/src/backends/plotly.jl:901 [inlined]
 [10] plotly_html_body(::Plots.Plot{Plots.PlotlyBackend}, ::Nothing) at /home/chunji/.julia/packages/Plots/z5Msu/src/backends/plotly.jl:949
 [11] plotly_html_body at /home/chunji/.julia/packages/Plots/z5Msu/src/backends/plotly.jl:924 [inlined]
 [12] html_body at /home/chunji/.julia/packages/Plots/z5Msu/src/backends/plotly.jl:906 [inlined]
 [13] #standalone_html#359 at /home/chunji/.julia/packages/Plots/z5Msu/src/backends/web.jl:7 [inlined]
 [14] write_temp_html(::Plots.Plot{Plots.PlotlyBackend}) at /home/chunji/.julia/packages/Plots/z5Msu/src/backends/web.jl:36
 [15] standalone_html_window(::Plots.Plot{Plots.PlotlyBackend}) at /home/chunji/.julia/packages/Plots/z5Msu/src/backends/web.jl:49
 [16] _display at /home/chunji/.julia/packages/Plots/z5Msu/src/backends/plotly.jl:992 [inlined]
 [17] display(::Plots.PlotsDisplay, ::Plots.Plot{Plots.PlotlyBackend}) at /home/chunji/.julia/packages/Plots/z5Msu/src/output.jl:150
 [18] display(::Any) at ./multimedia.jl:328
 [19] #invokelatest#1 at ./essentials.jl:710 [inlined]
 [20] invokelatest at ./essentials.jl:709 [inlined]
 [21] print_response(::IO, ::Any, ::Bool, ::Bool, ::Any) at /buildworker/worker/package_linux64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.5/REPL/src/REPL.jl:238
 [22] print_response(::REPL.AbstractREPL, ::Any, ::Bool, ::Bool) at /buildworker/worker/package_linux64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.5/REPL/src/REPL.jl:223
 [23] (::REPL.var"#do_respond#54"{Bool,Bool,REPL.var"#64#73"{REPL.LineEditREPL,REPL.REPLHistoryProvider},REPL.LineEditREPL,REPL.LineEdit.Prompt})(::Any, ::Any, ::Any) at /buildworker/worker/package_linux64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.5/REPL/src/REPL.jl:822
 [24] #invokelatest#1 at ./essentials.jl:710 [inlined]
 [25] invokelatest at ./essentials.jl:709 [inlined]
 [26] run_interface(::REPL.Terminals.TextTerminal, ::REPL.LineEdit.ModalInterface, ::REPL.LineEdit.MIState) at /buildworker/worker/package_linux64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.5/REPL/src/LineEdit.jl:2355
 [27] run_frontend(::REPL.LineEditREPL, ::REPL.REPLBackendRef) at /buildworker/worker/package_linux64/build/usr/share/julia/stdlib/v1.5/REPL/src/REPL.jl:1144
 [28] (::REPL.var"#38#42"{REPL.LineEditREPL,REPL.REPLBackendRef})() at ./task.jl:356

[niclasmattsson]

+1 for this and some more info: the problem seems to have been introduced in v1.11.0. Version v1.10.6 works for me, but not v1.11.0, v1.11.1 or master. Same behavior in Julia 1.5.4 and 1.6.0.

[niclasmattsson]

#3443 seems to fix this problem too, so thank you @yha.

At the risk of sounding entitled when I don't have time to help do the work myself: could the Plots devs please prioritize adding tests for basic functionality? Bar plots have been completely broken on Plotly & PlotlyJS backends over two minor Plots releases. Plots is one of the most important packages in Julia's ecosystem and when basic stuff breaks it's very confusing for Julia beginners and reflects badly on the language itself.