Allow automatic use of tight_layout.

In common interactive usage, stretching a figure across the screen
leaves too much wasted space; Figure.tight_layout() can solve this
problem at least for simple plots.  This changeset uses a previously
existing but unused rcParam and a Figure kwarg to allow the user
to have tight_layout executed automatically with every Figure.draw().

Author: efiring

lib/matplotlib/figure.py

@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ class Figure(Artist):
        For multiple figure images, the figure will make composite
        images depending on the renderer option_image_nocomposite
        function.  If suppressComposite is True|False, this will
-       override the renderer
+       override the renderer.
     """
 
     def __str__(self):
@@ -254,6 +254,7 @@ def __init__(self,
                  linewidth = 0.0,   # the default linewidth of the frame
                  frameon = True,    # whether or not to draw the figure frame
                  subplotpars = None, # default to rc
+                 tight = None,     # whether to apply tight_layout
                  ):
         """
         *figsize*
@@ -276,6 +277,11 @@ def __init__(self,
 
         *subplotpars*
             A :class:`SubplotParams` instance, defaults to rc
+
+        *tight*
+            If *False* use *subplotpars*; if *True* adjust subplot
+            parameters using :meth:`tight_layout`.  Defaults to
+            rc ``figure.autolayout``.
         """
         Artist.__init__(self)
 
@@ -311,6 +317,7 @@ def __init__(self,
             subplotpars = SubplotParams()
 
         self.subplotpars = subplotpars
+        self._set_tight(tight)
 
         self._axstack = AxesStack()  # track all figure axes and current axes
         self.clf()
@@ -329,6 +336,16 @@ def _set_dpi(self, dpi):
         self.callbacks.process('dpi_changed', self)
     dpi = property(_get_dpi, _set_dpi)
 
+    def _get_tight(self):
+        return self._tight
+    def _set_tight(self, tight):
+        if tight is None:
+            tight = rcParams['figure.autolayout']
+        tight = bool(tight)
+        self._tight = tight
+    tight = property(_get_tight, _set_tight,
+                     doc="If *True*, use :meth:`tight_layout`")
+
     def autofmt_xdate(self, bottom=0.2, rotation=30, ha='right'):
         """
         Date ticklabels often overlap, so it is useful to rotate them
@@ -863,6 +880,13 @@ def draw(self, renderer):
         if not self.get_visible(): return
         renderer.open_group('figure')
 
+        if self.tight and self.axes:
+            try:
+                self.tight_layout(renderer)
+            except ValueError:
+                pass
+                # ValueError can occur when resizing a window.
+
         if self.frameon: self.patch.draw(renderer)
 
         # a list of (zorder, func_to_call, list_of_args)

lib/matplotlib/rcsetup.py

@@ -544,7 +544,7 @@ def __call__(self, s):
     'figure.dpi'        : [ 80, validate_float],   # DPI
     'figure.facecolor'  : [ '0.75', validate_color], # facecolor; scalar gray
     'figure.edgecolor'  : [ 'w', validate_color],  # edgecolor; white
-    'figure.autolayout' : [ False, validate_autolayout],
+    'figure.autolayout' : [ False, validate_bool],
 
     'figure.subplot.left'   : [0.125, ValidateInterval(0, 1, closedmin=True, closedmax=True)],
     'figure.subplot.right'  : [0.9, ValidateInterval(0, 1, closedmin=True, closedmax=True)],

matplotlibrc.template

@@ -301,6 +301,8 @@ text.hinting_factor : 8 # Specifies the amount of softness for hinting in the
 #figure.dpi       : 80      # figure dots per inch
 #figure.facecolor : 0.75    # figure facecolor; 0.75 is scalar gray
 #figure.edgecolor : white   # figure edgecolor
+#figure.autolayout : False  # When True, automatically adjust subplot
+                            # parameters to make the plot fit the figure
 
 # The figure subplot parameters.  All dimensions are a fraction of the
 # figure width or height