Rename rcParam to figure.max_open_warning. Rewrite warning message.

Author: mdboom

lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py

@@ -394,16 +394,18 @@ def figure(num=None,  # autoincrement if None, else integer from 1-N
 
     figManager = _pylab_helpers.Gcf.get_fig_manager(num)
     if figManager is None:
-        max_num_figures = rcParams['figure.max_num_figures']
+        max_open_warning = rcParams['figure.max_open_warning']
 
-        if (max_num_figures >= 1 and
-            len(allnums) >= max_num_figures):
+        if (max_open_warning >= 1 and
+            len(allnums) >= max_open_warning):
             warnings.warn(
-                "More than %d figures have been opened.  Figures created "
-                "through the pyplot interface are retained until explicitly "
-                "closed.  (To control this warning, see the rcParam "
-                "'figure.max_num_figures'." %
-                max_num_figures, RuntimeWarning)
+                "More than %d figures have been opened. Figures "
+                "created through the pyplot interface "
+                "(`matplotlib.pyplot.figure`) are retained until "
+                "explicitly closed and may consume too much memory. "
+                "(To control this warning, see the rcParam "
+                "`figure.max_num_figures`)." %
+                max_open_warning, RuntimeWarning)
 
         if get_backend().lower() == 'ps':
             dpi = 72

lib/matplotlib/rcsetup.py

@@ -680,7 +680,7 @@ def __call__(self, s):
     'figure.edgecolor':  ['w', validate_color],  # edgecolor; white
     'figure.frameon':    [True, validate_bool],
     'figure.autolayout': [False, validate_bool],
-    'figure.max_num_figures': [20, validate_int],
+    'figure.max_open_warning': [20, validate_int],
 
     'figure.subplot.left': [0.125, ValidateInterval(0, 1, closedmin=True,
                                                        closedmax=True)],

matplotlibrc.template

@@ -318,9 +318,9 @@ text.hinting_factor : 8 # Specifies the amount of softness for hinting in the
 #figure.edgecolor : white   # figure edgecolor
 #figure.autolayout : False  # When True, automatically adjust subplot
                             # parameters to make the plot fit the figure
-#figure.max_num_figures : 20  # The maximum number of figures to open through
-                              # the pyplot interface.  If less than one,
-                              # there is no maximum.
+#figure.max_open_warning : 20  # The maximum number of figures to open through
+                               # the pyplot interface before emitting a warning.
+                               # If less than one this feature is disabled.
 
 # The figure subplot parameters.  All dimensions are a fraction of the
 # figure width or height