René's URL Explorer Experiment

{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"DiscussionForumPosting","headline":"Unnecessarily large date range created when plotting a single point using a Datetime object","articleBody":"As explained in my original StackOverflow [question](http://stackoverflow.com/q/35163031/4739755), I've found some unexpected behavior when plotting single points in matplotlib.pyplot with Datetime objects. Plotting multiple points (\u003e1) gives the range of dates with some buffer on either side. Plotting a single point causes the range to span multiple years (2014 - 2018 using Feb 03, 2016).\n\nWhen using the AutoDateLocator(), the (assumed) issue isn't as noticeable since the generated ticks are fairly conservative, but using a WeekdayLocator() instead results in a dense mess of ticks. The application I'm using this for deals with time spans of _at most_ a few months, so suddenly getting a range of multiple _years_ is quite jarring.\n\nBelow is some code that generates 6 matplotlib.pyplot plot images to demonstrate a few example cases and the output from running the script with the --verbose-debug flag\n\n```\nimport matplotlib.pyplot as plt\nimport matplotlib.dates as md\nfrom datetime import datetime\n\n# Create figures\nfig0 = plt.figure(0)\nfig1 = plt.figure(1)\nfig2 = plt.figure(2)\nfig3 = plt.figure(3)\nfig4 = plt.figure(4)\nfig5 = plt.figure(5)\nfig6 = plt.figure(6)\n# Add some subplots\nsub3 = fig3.add_subplot(111)\nsub4 = fig4.add_subplot(111)\nsub5 = fig5.add_subplot(111)\nsub6 = fig6.add_subplot(111)\n\n# Creating a regular plot directly with a single point\nplt.figure(0)\nplt.plot((2,), (3,), marker='o')\nplt.title('Regular plot, single point')\n\n# Doing the same, but with a subplot\nsub3.plot((2,), (3,), marker='o')\nsub3.set_title('Subplot, single point')\n\n# Creating a regular plot using a Datetime object with multiple points\n# Using the AutoDateLocator()\ntest_date_one = datetime.strptime('2016-02-03', '%Y-%m-%d')\ntest_date_two = datetime.strptime('2016-03-03', '%Y-%m-%d')\n\nplt.figure(1)\nplt.plot((test_date_one, test_date_two), (2, 3), marker='o')\nfig1.autofmt_xdate()\nplt.title('Regular plot, multiple Datetime points')\n\n# Now with a single point\nplt.figure(2)\nplt.plot(test_date_one, 2, marker='o')\nfig2.autofmt_xdate()\nplt.title('Regular plot, single Datetime point')\n\n# Doing the same, but with a subplot\n# Multiple points\nsub4.plot((test_date_one, test_date_two), (2, 3), marker='o')\nfig4.autofmt_xdate()\nsub4.set_title('Subplot, multiple Datetime points')\n\n# Single point\nsub5.plot(test_date_one, 2, marker='o')\nfig5.autofmt_xdate()\nsub5.set_title('Subplot, single Datetime point')\n\n# Finally, single Datetime point with WeekdayLocator()\nsub6.plot(test_date_two, 3, marker='o')\nsub6.xaxis.set_major_locator(md.WeekdayLocator())\nfig6.autofmt_xdate()\nsub6.set_title('Subplot, single Datetime point, WeekdayLocator()')\n\nplt.show()\n```\n\n**Debug Output**\n$HOME=C:\\Users******\\\nmatplotlib data path C:\\Python27\\lib\\site-packages\\matplotlib\\mpl-data\n\n---\n\nYou have the following UNSUPPORTED LaTeX preamble customizations:\n\nPlease do not ask for support with these customizations active.\n\n---\n\nloaded rc file C:\\Python27\\lib\\site-packages\\matplotlib\\mpl-data\\matplotlibrc\nmatplotlib version 1.5.1\nverbose.level debug\ninteractive is False\nplatform is win32\nloaded modules: \u003cdictionary-keyiterator object at 0x04E08810\u003e\nCACHEDIR=C:\\Users\\******\\.matplotlib\nUsing fontManager instance from C:\\Users\\******\\.matplotlib\\fontList.cache\nbackend TkAgg version 8.5\nCould not load matplotlib icon: can't use \"pyimage10\" as iconphoto: not a photo image\nCould not load matplotlib icon: can't use \"pyimage19\" as iconphoto: not a photo image\nCould not load matplotlib icon: can't use \"pyimage28\" as iconphoto: not a photo image\nCould not load matplotlib icon: can't use \"pyimage37\" as iconphoto: not a photo image\nCould not load matplotlib icon: can't use \"pyimage46\" as iconphoto: not a photo image\nCould not load matplotlib icon: can't use \"pyimage55\" as iconphoto: not a photo image\nfindfont: Matching :family=sans-serif:style=normal:variant=normal:weight=400:stretch=normal:size=medium to Bitstream Vera Sans (u'c:\\python27\\lib\\site-packages\\matplotlib\\mpl-data\\fonts\\ttf\\Vera.ttf') with score of 0.000000\nfindfont: Matching :family=sans-serif:style=normal:variant=normal:weight=400:stretch=normal:size=large to Bitstream Vera Sans (u'c:\\python27\\lib\\site-packages\\matplotlib\\mpl-data\\fonts\\ttf\\Vera.ttf') with score of 0.000000\n","author":{"url":"https://github.com/bcoov","@type":"Person","name":"bcoov"},"datePublished":"2016-02-03T17:12:56.000Z","interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":"https://schema.org/CommentAction","userInteractionCount":15},"url":"https://github.com/5963/matplotlib/issues/5963"}