BUG: Made setp accept arbitrary iterables

lib/matplotlib/artist.py

@@ -1138,16 +1138,19 @@ class ArtistInspector(object):
     def __init__(self, o):
         """
         Initialize the artist inspector with an
-        :class:`~matplotlib.artist.Artist` or sequence of :class:`Artists`.
-        If a sequence is used, we assume it is a homogeneous sequence (all
+        :class:`~matplotlib.artist.Artist` or iterable of :class:`Artists`.
+        If an iterable is used, we assume it is a homogeneous sequence (all
         :class:`Artists` are of the same type) and it is your responsibility
         to make sure this is so.
         """
-        if cbook.iterable(o) and len(o):
-            o = o[0]
+        if cbook.iterable(o):
+            # Wrapped in list instead of doing try-except around next(iter(o))
+            o = list(o)
+            if len(o):
+                o = o[0]
 
         self.oorig = o
-        if not isinstance(o, type):
+        if not inspect.isclass(o):
             o = type(o)
         self.o = o
 
@@ -1514,8 +1517,8 @@ def setp(obj, *args, **kwargs):
       >>> line, = plot([1,2,3])
       >>> setp(line, linestyle='--')
 
-    If you want to know the valid types of arguments, you can provide the
-    name of the property you want to set without a value::
+    If you want to know the valid types of arguments, you can provide
+    the name of the property you want to set without a value::
 
       >>> setp(line, 'linestyle')
           linestyle: [ '-' | '--' | '-.' | ':' | 'steps' | 'None' ]
@@ -1526,12 +1529,12 @@ def setp(obj, *args, **kwargs):
       >>> setp(line)
           ... long output listing omitted
 
-    :func:`setp` operates on a single instance or a list of instances.
-    If you are in query mode introspecting the possible values, only
-    the first instance in the sequence is used.  When actually setting
-    values, all the instances will be set.  e.g., suppose you have a
-    list of two lines, the following will make both lines thicker and
-    red::
+    :func:`setp` operates on a single instance or a iterable of
+    instances. If you are in query mode introspecting the possible
+    values, only the first instance in the sequence is used. When
+    actually setting values, all the instances will be set.  e.g.,
+    suppose you have a list of two lines, the following will make both
+    lines thicker and red::
 
       >>> x = arange(0,1.0,0.01)
       >>> y1 = sin(2*pi*x)
@@ -1546,7 +1549,12 @@ def setp(obj, *args, **kwargs):
       >>> setp(lines, linewidth=2, color='r')        # python style
     """
 
-    insp = ArtistInspector(obj)
+    if not cbook.iterable(obj):
+        objs = [obj]
+    else:
+        objs = list(cbook.flatten(obj))
+
+    insp = ArtistInspector(objs[0])
 
     if len(kwargs) == 0 and len(args) == 0:
         print('\n'.join(insp.pprint_setters()))
@@ -1556,11 +1564,6 @@ def setp(obj, *args, **kwargs):
         print(insp.pprint_setters(prop=args[0]))
         return
 
-    if not cbook.iterable(obj):
-        objs = [obj]
-    else:
-        objs = list(cbook.flatten(obj))
-
     if len(args) % 2:
         raise ValueError('The set args must be string, value pairs')
 

lib/matplotlib/tests/test_artist.py

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 from matplotlib.externals import six
 
 import io
-
+from itertools import chain
 import numpy as np
 
 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 import matplotlib.path as mpath
 import matplotlib.transforms as mtrans
 import matplotlib.collections as mcollections
+import matplotlib.artist as martist
 import matplotlib as mpl
 from matplotlib.testing.decorators import image_comparison, cleanup
 
@@ -208,6 +209,15 @@ def test_properties():
         assert len(w) == 0
 
 
+@cleanup
+def test_setp():
+    fig, axes = plt.subplots()
+    lines1 = axes.plot(range(3))
+    lines2 = axes.plot(range(3))
+    martist.setp(chain(lines1, lines2), 'lw', 5)
+    plt.setp(axes.spines.values(), color='green')
+
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     import nose
     nose.runmodule(argv=['-s', '--with-doctest'], exit=False)