# Missing Plots.pyrcparams in Plots version 1.37.2

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-plots-pyrcparams-in-plots-version-1-37-2/91470>\
**Category:** Visualization\
**Created:** [December 9, 2022, 11:51am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-plots-pyrcparams-in-plots-version-1-37-2/91470 "2022-12-09T11:51:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ntausend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f07891/32.png) [@ntausend](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ntausend)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2022, 11:51am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-plots-pyrcparams-in-plots-version-1-37-2/91470/1 "2022-12-09T11:51:55Z")

</div>

Hey all,  
in previous version of the `Plots.jl` package it was possible to configure the `pyplot()` backend using  
the `Plots.pyrcparams`. With this, one could use LaTex for the axis labels etc and also had full control over the Font etc. Example:

```julia
Plots.pyrcparams["text.usetex"] = true
Plots.pyrcparams["font.family"] = "serif"
Plots.pyrcparams["text.latex.preamble"] = [s"\usepackage{dsfont}", s"\usepackge{lmodern}"];

```

With the newest version `v1.37.2` this is **not** possible anymore. It also seems to have the `pyplot()` backend deprecated. Sadly, I don’t know wich is the last version supporting the `pyrcparams`. I guess this was dropped after switching to usage of the `Reference` package for selecting the backend.

Is there any way to have the same flexibility in the newest version?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![t-bltg](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/t-bltg/32/25526_2.png) [@t-bltg](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/t-bltg)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2022, 12:39pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-plots-pyrcparams-in-plots-version-1-37-2/91470/2 "2022-12-09T12:39:57Z")

</div>

Hi,  
This was not part of the API before, however, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find an alternative:

```julia
julia> using Plots; pythonplot()
julia> mpl = Plots.PythonCall.pyimport("matplotlib")
julia> mpl.rcParams["text.usetex"] = true
julia> mpl.rc("lines", linewidth=4, linestyle="-.")
# etc ...

```

Again, this is not a promise that `Plots.PythonCall` will be exposed to users in future `Plots` versions (currently only a convenience for the backend code), so you might want to use `Plots.PythonPlot.PythonCall` instead.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ntausend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f07891/32.png) [@ntausend](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ntausend)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2022, 12:50pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-plots-pyrcparams-in-plots-version-1-37-2/91470/3 "2022-12-09T12:50:03Z")

</div>

Mhm ok. It seems to do the job, for the most parts. It actually fails for setting some custom preamble with some LaTeX error. Thanks!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![t-bltg](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/t-bltg/32/25526_2.png) [@t-bltg](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/t-bltg)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2022, 12:54pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-plots-pyrcparams-in-plots-version-1-37-2/91470/4 "2022-12-09T12:54:37Z")

</div>

Also, please note that the `pyplot` backend is still available.

Using `Plots.PyPlot.PyCall.pyimport("matplotlib")` should also work, but it is advised to use `pythonplot` instead, as no more bug fixes will occur for `pyplot`.

What preamble error ?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ntausend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f07891/32.png) [@ntausend](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/ntausend)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2022, 1:00pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-plots-pyrcparams-in-plots-version-1-37-2/91470/5 "2022-12-09T13:00:08Z")

</div>

Yes this is what I meant by `pyplot` is deprecated.

The error occurs after

```julia
Plots.pyrcparams["text.latex.preamble"] = [s"\usepackage{dsfont}", s"\usepackge{lmodern}"];

```

and reads:

```julia
Error showing value of type Plots.Plot{Plots.PythonPlotBackend}:
ERROR: Python: RuntimeError: latex was not able to process the following string:
b'lp'

Here is the full report generated by latex:
This is pdfTeX, Version 3.141592653-2.6-1.40.22 (TeX Live 2022/dev/Debian) (preloaded format=latex)
 restricted \write18 enabled.
entering extended mode
(../930e435536a8e60c1bb6f4789d98300e.tex
LaTeX2e <2021-11-15> patch level 1
L3 programming layer <2022-01-21>
(/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/article.cls
Document Class: article 2021/10/04 v1.4n Standard LaTeX document class
(/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/size10.clo))
(/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/latex/type1cm/type1cm.sty)
(/usr/share/texmf/tex/latex/cm-super/type1ec.sty
(/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/t1cmr.fd))
(/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/latex/base/inputenc.sty)
(/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/latex/geometry/geometry.sty
(/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/latex/graphics/keyval.sty)
(/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/generic/iftex/ifvtex.sty
(/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/tex/generic/iftex/iftex.sty)))

! LaTeX Error: Missing \begin{document}.

See the LaTeX manual or LaTeX Companion for explanation.
Type H <return> for immediate help.
 ...                                              
                                                  
l.9 A
     ny[]
No pages of output.
Transcript written on 930e435536a8e60c1bb6f4789d98300e.log.

```

which is only the LaTeX part. The part of the error related to Julia is given by:

```julia
Python stacktrace:
 [1] _run_checked_subprocess
   @ matplotlib.texmanager ~/.julia/environments/v1.8/.CondaPkg/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/matplotlib/texmanager.py:241
 [2] make_dvi
   @ matplotlib.texmanager ~/.julia/environments/v1.8/.CondaPkg/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/matplotlib/texmanager.py:271
 [3] get_text_width_height_descent
   @ matplotlib.texmanager ~/.julia/environments/v1.8/.CondaPkg/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/matplotlib/texmanager.py:335
 [4] get_text_width_height_descent
   @ matplotlib.backends.backend_agg ~/.julia/environments/v1.8/.CondaPkg/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/matplotlib/backends/backend_agg.py:259
 [5] _get_layout
   @ matplotlib.text ~/.julia/environments/v1.8/.CondaPkg/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/matplotlib/text.py:309
 [6] get_window_extent
   @ matplotlib.text ~/.julia/environments/v1.8/.CondaPkg/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/matplotlib/text.py:910
 [7] <listcomp>
   @ matplotlib.axis ~/.julia/environments/v1.8/.CondaPkg/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/matplotlib/axis.py:1085
 [8] _get_tick_bboxes
   @ matplotlib.axis ~/.julia/environments/v1.8/.CondaPkg/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/matplotlib/axis.py:1085
 [9] draw
   @ matplotlib.axis ~/.julia/environments/v1.8/.CondaPkg/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/matplotlib/axis.py:1159
 [10] draw_wrapper
   @ matplotlib.artist ~/.julia/environments/v1.8/.CondaPkg/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/matplotlib/artist.py:50
 [11] _draw_list_compositing_images
   @ matplotlib.image ~/.julia/environments/v1.8/.CondaPkg/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/matplotlib/image.py:132
 [12] draw
   @ matplotlib.axes._base ~/.julia/environments/v1.8/.CondaPkg/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/matplotlib/axes/_base.py:3091
 [13] draw_wrapper
   @ matplotlib.artist ~/.julia/environments/v1.8/.CondaPkg/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/matplotlib/artist.py:50
 [14] _draw_list_compositing_images
   @ matplotlib.image ~/.julia/environments/v1.8/.CondaPkg/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/matplotlib/image.py:132
 [15] draw
   @ matplotlib.figure ~/.julia/environments/v1.8/.CondaPkg/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/matplotlib/figure.py:2837
 [16] draw_wrapper
   @ matplotlib.artist ~/.julia/environments/v1.8/.CondaPkg/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/matplotlib/artist.py:50
 [17] draw_wrapper
   @ matplotlib.artist ~/.julia/environments/v1.8/.CondaPkg/env/lib/python3.10/site-packages/matplotlib/artist.py:73
Stacktrace:
  [1] pythrow()
    @ PythonCall ~/.julia/packages/PythonCall/3GRYN/src/err.jl:94
  [2] errcheck
    @ ~/.julia/packages/PythonCall/3GRYN/src/err.jl:10 [inlined]
  [3] pycallargs(f::PythonCall.Py, args::PythonCall.Py)
    @ PythonCall ~/.julia/packages/PythonCall/3GRYN/src/abstract/object.jl:210
  [4] pycall(f::PythonCall.Py, args::PythonCall.Py; kwargs::Base.Pairs{Symbol, Union{}, Tuple{}, NamedTuple{(), Tuple{}}})
    @ PythonCall ~/.julia/packages/PythonCall/3GRYN/src/abstract/object.jl:228
  [5] pycall
    @ ~/.julia/packages/PythonCall/3GRYN/src/abstract/object.jl:218 [inlined]
  [6] #_#11
    @ ~/.julia/packages/PythonCall/3GRYN/src/Py.jl:352 [inlined]
  [7] Py
    @ ~/.julia/packages/PythonCall/3GRYN/src/Py.jl:352 [inlined]
  [8] _py_drawfig(fig::PythonPlot.Figure)
    @ Plots ~/.julia/packages/Plots/Hxe7H/src/backends/pythonplot.jl:204
  [9] _before_layout_calcs(plt::Plots.Plot{Plots.PythonPlotBackend})
    @ Plots ~/.julia/packages/Plots/Hxe7H/src/backends/pythonplot.jl:1229
 [10] prepare_output(plt::Plots.Plot{Plots.PythonPlotBackend})
    @ Plots ~/.julia/packages/Plots/Hxe7H/src/plot.jl:232
 [11] display(#unused#::Plots.PlotsDisplay, plt::Plots.Plot{Plots.PythonPlotBackend})
    @ Plots ~/.julia/packages/Plots/Hxe7H/src/output.jl:173
 [12] display(x::Any)
    @ Base.Multimedia ./multimedia.jl:328
 [13] #invokelatest#2
    @ ./essentials.jl:729 [inlined]
 [14] invokelatest
    @ ./essentials.jl:726 [inlined]
 [15] print_response(errio::IO, response::Any, show_value::Bool, have_color::Bool, specialdisplay::Union{Nothing, AbstractDisplay})
    @ REPL ~/julia_versions/julia-1.8.2/share/julia/stdlib/v1.8/REPL/src/REPL.jl:296
 [16] (::REPL.var"#45#46"{REPL.LineEditREPL, Pair{Any, Bool}, Bool, Bool})(io::Any)
    @ REPL ~/julia_versions/julia-1.8.2/share/julia/stdlib/v1.8/REPL/src/REPL.jl:278
 [17] with_repl_linfo(f::Any, repl::REPL.LineEditREPL)
    @ REPL ~/julia_versions/julia-1.8.2/share/julia/stdlib/v1.8/REPL/src/REPL.jl:521
 [18] print_response(repl::REPL.AbstractREPL, response::Any, show_value::Bool, have_color::Bool)
    @ REPL ~/julia_versions/julia-1.8.2/share/julia/stdlib/v1.8/REPL/src/REPL.jl:276
 [19] (::REPL.var"#do_respond#66"{Bool, Bool, REPL.var"#77#87"{REPL.LineEditREPL, REPL.REPLHistoryProvider}, REPL.LineEditREPL, REPL.LineEdit.Prompt})(s::REPL.LineEdit.MIState, buf::Any, ok::Bool)
    @ REPL ~/julia_versions/julia-1.8.2/share/julia/stdlib/v1.8/REPL/src/REPL.jl:857
 [20] #invokelatest#2
    @ ./essentials.jl:729 [inlined]
 [21] invokelatest
    @ ./essentials.jl:726 [inlined]
 [22] run_interface(terminal::REPL.Terminals.TextTerminal, m::REPL.LineEdit.ModalInterface, s::REPL.LineEdit.MIState)
    @ REPL.LineEdit ~/julia_versions/julia-1.8.2/share/julia/stdlib/v1.8/REPL/src/LineEdit.jl:2510
 [23] run_frontend(repl::REPL.LineEditREPL, backend::REPL.REPLBackendRef)
    @ REPL ~/julia_versions/julia-1.8.2/share/julia/stdlib/v1.8/REPL/src/REPL.jl:1248
 [24] (::REPL.var"#49#54"{REPL.LineEditREPL, REPL.REPLBackendRef})()
    @ REPL ./task.jl:484

```

And the full code to reproduce:

```julia
using Plots, LaTeXStrings
pyplot()
mpl = Plots.PythonCall.pyimport("matplotlib")Plots.PythonPlotBackend()
mpl = Plots.PythonCall.pyimport("matplotlib")Plots.PythonPlotBackend()
mpl.rcParams["font.family"] = "serif"
Plots.pyrcparams["text.latex.preamble"] = [s"\usepackage{dsfont}", s"\usepackge{lmodern}"]

plot(x -> x^2, 0:0.1:1, L"x^2")

```

And remains even if one resets:

```julia
Plots.pyrcparams["text.latex.preamble"] = []

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mkitti](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/mkitti/32/12459_2.png) [@mkitti](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mkitti)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2022, 3:00pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/missing-plots-pyrcparams-in-plots-version-1-37-2/91470/6 "2022-12-09T15:00:14Z")

</div>

# Version before breakage: 1.36

The version before the recent changes is 1.36.6.

Here are the former definitions in Plots 1.36.6. The current version is 1.37.2. If something breaks, I would back to the prior minor version 1.36.x according to [semantic versioning](https://semver.org/).

> <https://github.com/JuliaPlots/Plots.jl/blob/ac6c9c77937feac883086ed814118f8e17590ba3/src/backends/pyplot.jl#L12-L25>

```julia
pycolors = PyPlot.pyimport("matplotlib.colors")
pypath = PyPlot.pyimport("matplotlib.path")
mplot3d = PyPlot.pyimport("mpl_toolkits.mplot3d")
axes_grid1 = PyPlot.pyimport("mpl_toolkits.axes_grid1")
pypatches = PyPlot.pyimport("matplotlib.patches")
pyfont = PyPlot.pyimport("matplotlib.font_manager")
pyticker = PyPlot.pyimport("matplotlib.ticker")
pycmap = PyPlot.pyimport("matplotlib.cm")
pynp = PyPlot.pyimport("numpy")
pynp."seterr"(invalid = "ignore")
pytransforms = PyPlot.pyimport("matplotlib.transforms")
pycollections = PyPlot.pyimport("matplotlib.collections")
pyart3d = PyPlot.art3D
pyrcparams = PyPlot.PyDict(PyPlot.matplotlib."rcParams")

```

# Using PyPlot with Plots v1.37.2

This uses the deprecated PyCall.jl / PyPlot.jl support in Plots.jl v1.37.2. To be honest, I think the deprecation may be premature. Note that we are using `pyplot()` and `PyCall` here.

```julia
using Plots, LaTeXStrings
pyplot() # not pythonplot() !!!
mpl = Plots.PyCall.pyimport("matplotlib") # not PythonCall !!!
mpl.rcParams["font.family"] = "serif"
mpl.rcParams["text.latex.preamble"] = s"\usepackage{dsfont}\n\usepackge{lmodern}" # note matplotlib deprecates setting this to a list. Use a single string it recommends.
plot(x -> x^2, 0:0.1:1; label = L"x^2")

```

# Using PythonPlot with Plots v1.37.2

This uses the new PythonCall.jl / PythonPlot.jl support. Try not to mix PythonCall.jl and PyCall.jl, but see this guide if you must:

> **[Redirecting to https://juliapy.github.io/PythonCall.jl/stable/pycall/](https://cjdoris.github.io/PythonCall.jl/stable/pycall/)**

```julia
using Plots, LaTeXStrings
pythonplot() # not pyplot() !!!
mpl = Plots.PythonCall.pyimport("matplotlib") # not PyCall !!!
mpl.rcParams["font.family"] = "serif"
mpl.rcParams["text.latex.preamble"] = s"\usepackage{dsfont}\n\usepackge{lmodern}" # note matplotlib deprecates setting this to a list. Use a single string it recommends.
plot(x -> x^2, 0:0.1:1; label = L"x^2")

```

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/original/3X/b/e/be917202b3d666952e2e0512256b1179fd2060c5.png)