Changes for 0.50

.. code-block:: text

refactored Figure class so it is no longer backend dependent. FigureCanvasBackend takes over the backend specific duties of the Figure. matplotlib.backend_bases.FigureBase moved to matplotlib.figure.Figure.
backends must implement FigureCanvasBackend (the thing that controls the figure and handles the events if any) and FigureManagerBackend (wraps the canvas and the window for MATLAB interface). FigureCanvasBase implements a backend switching mechanism
Figure is now an Artist (like everything else in the figure) and is totally backend independent
GDFONTPATH renamed to TTFPATH
backend faceColor argument changed to rgbFace
colormap stuff moved to colors.py
arg_to_rgb in backend_bases moved to class ColorConverter in colors.py
GD users must upgrade to gd-2.0.22 and gdmodule-0.52 since new gd features (clipping, antialiased lines) are now used.
Renderer must implement points_to_pixels

Migrating code:

MATLAB interface:

The only API change for those using the MATLAB interface is in how
you call figure redraws for dynamically updating figures.  In the
old API, you did

  fig.draw()

In the new API, you do

  manager = get_current_fig_manager()
  manager.canvas.draw()

See the examples system_monitor.py, dynamic_demo.py, and anim.py

API

There is one important API change for application developers.
Figure instances used subclass GUI widgets that enabled them to be
placed directly into figures.  e.g., FigureGTK subclassed
gtk.DrawingArea.  Now the Figure class is independent of the
backend, and FigureCanvas takes over the functionality formerly
handled by Figure.  In order to include figures into your apps,
you now need to do, for example

  # gtk example
  fig = Figure(figsize=(5,4), dpi=100)
  canvas = FigureCanvasGTK(fig)  # a gtk.DrawingArea
  canvas.show()
  vbox.pack_start(canvas)

If you use the NavigationToolbar, this in now initialized with a
FigureCanvas, not a Figure.  The examples embedding_in_gtk.py,
embedding_in_gtk2.py, and mpl_with_glade.py all reflect the new
API so use these as a guide.

All prior calls to

 figure.draw()  and
 figure.print_figure(args)

should now be

 canvas.draw()  and
 canvas.print_figure(args)

Apologies for the inconvenience.  This refactorization brings
significant more freedom in developing matplotlib and should bring
better plotting capabilities, so I hope the inconvenience is worth
it.