# PyPlot not producing eps figure when used inside a module
**URL:** https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pyplot-not-producing-eps-figure-when-used-inside-a-module/18926
**Category:** New to Julia
**Created:** [December 22, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pyplot-not-producing-eps-figure-when-used-inside-a-module/18926 "2018-12-22T16:46:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@aortizb](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/aortizb)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pyplot-not-producing-eps-figure-when-used-inside-a-module/18926/1 "2018-12-22T16:46:05Z")
Hello,
Context: I am trying to save a figure to and .eps extension using PyPlot.
Since I am facing some troubles, I prepared two procedures to save the figure that explain the troubles. Procedure 1 works OK. Procedure 2 doesn’t work. I expect someone to help me out in understanding why Procedure 2 doesn’t work and how to fix it. I give the codes and the outputs I get from these codes below. I am running this in Atom + Juno + Win10.
Procedure 1: it consists in just one .jl file, which I called it “plot8.jl” and contains the following code
plot8.jl
```julia
using Plots
pyplot()
function plotme()
x = 1:10; y = rand(10,2)
plot(x, y, title = "Two Lines", label = ["Line 1" "Line 2"], lw = 3)
xlabel!("My x label")
ylabel!("My y label")
savefig("plot8.eps")
end
plotme()
```
After running this code, the file “plot8.eps” is created. So, right.
Procedure 2: it consists in a file called “plot9.jl” and a file called “Plotme.jl”. Both files are in the same directory. “Plotme.jl” contains a module called “Plotme”. The contents of the files are as follows:
plot9.jl
```julia
push!(LOAD_PATH, pwd()) # add working directory to the path to be able to find Plotme module
using Plotme: plotme
plotme()
```
Plotme.jl
```julia
module Plotme
using Plots
pyplot()
function plotme()
x = 1:10; y = rand(10,2)
plot(x, y, title = "Two Lines", label = ["Line 1" "Line 2"], lw = 3)
xlabel!("My x label")
ylabel!("My y label")
savefig("plot9.eps")
end
end
```
For the first time I run “plot9.jl”, I get right at the beginning the following warning:
```julia
[Info: Recompiling stale cache file C:\Users\aaort\.julia\compiled\v1.0\Plotme.ji for Plotme [top-level]
WARNING: eval from module Main to Plotme:
Expr(:block, #= Symbol("C:\Users\aaort\.julia\packages\Plots\y6yik\src\backends.jl"):529 =#, Expr(:import, Expr(:., :PyPlot)), #= Symbol("C:\Users\aaort\.julia\packages\Plots\y6yik\src\backends.jl"):531 =#, Expr(:export, :PyPlot), #= Symbol("C:\Users\aaort\.julia\packages\Plots\y6yik\src\backends.jl"):534 =#, Expr(:call, Expr(:., :PyPlot, :(:ioff))))
**incremental compilation may be broken for this module**
```
And after that, I get the following error, which I presume, is in regards that pyplot() is not doing the work and instead gr() is used as the backend (I know that GR can’t plot to .eps):
```julia
ERROR: LoadError: MethodError: no method matching _show(::IOStream, ::MIME{Symbol("image/eps")}, ::Plots.Plot{Plots.GRBackend})
Closest candidates are:
_show(::IO, ::MIME{Symbol("text/html")}, ::Plots.Plot) at C:\Users\aaort\.julia\packages\Plots\y6yik\src\output.jl:165
_show(::IO, ::MIME{Symbol("text/plain")}, ::Plots.Plot) at C:\Users\aaort\.julia\packages\Plots\y6yik\src\output.jl:206
_show(::IO, ::MIME{Symbol("application/postscript")}, ::Plots.Plot{Plots.GRBackend}) at C:\Users\aaort\.julia\packages\Plots\y6yik\src\backends\gr.jl:1357
...
Stacktrace:
[1] show(::IOStream, ::MIME{Symbol("image/eps")}, ::Plots.Plot{Plots.GRBackend}) at C:\Users\aaort\.julia\packages\Plots\y6yik\src\output.jl:200
[2] eps(::Plots.Plot{Plots.GRBackend}, ::String) at C:\Users\aaort\.julia\packages\Plots\y6yik\src\output.jl:42
[3] savefig(::Plots.Plot{Plots.GRBackend}, ::String) at C:\Users\aaort\.julia\packages\Plots\y6yik\src\output.jl:123
[4] savefig(::String) at C:\Users\aaort\.julia\packages\Plots\y6yik\src\output.jl:125
[5] plotme() at C:\Dropbox\Universidad\codes\Julia\plot_tests\Plotme.jl:11
[6] top-level scope at none:0
in expression starting at C:\Dropbox\Universidad\codes\Julia\plot_tests\plot9.jl:3
```
How can this issue be fixed if I must go with Procedure 2 rather than Procedure 1?
Thank you!
---
### Author:  [@chakravala](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/chakravala)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2018, 6:11pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pyplot-not-producing-eps-figure-when-used-inside-a-module/18926/2 "2018-12-22T18:11:14Z")
Why not use `PyPlot` directly instead of `Plots`?
---
### Author:  [@aortizb](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/aortizb)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2018, 10:45pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pyplot-not-producing-eps-figure-when-used-inside-a-module/18926/3 "2018-12-22T22:45:25Z")
Because replacing “using Plots; pyplot()” by “using PyPlot” in Procedure 2 above, this error shows up:
```julia
[Info: Recompiling stale cache file C:\Users\aaort\.julia\compiled\v1.0\Plotme.ji for Plotme [top-level]
ERROR: LoadError: PyCall.PyError("\$(Expr(:escape, :(ccall(#= C:\\Users\\aaort\\.julia\\packages\\PyCall\\0jMpb\\src\\pyfncall.jl:44 =# @pysym(:PyObject_Call), PyPtr, (PyPtr, PyPtr, PyPtr), o, pyargsptr, kw))))", PyCall.PyObject(Ptr{PyCall.PyObject_struct} @0x000000005a167100), PyCall.PyObject(Ptr{PyCall.PyObject_struct} @0x000000002d24a888), PyCall.PyObject(Ptr{PyCall.PyObject_struct} @0x000000002d71a708))
Stacktrace:
[1] pyerr_check at C:\Users\aaort\.julia\packages\PyCall\0jMpb\src\exception.jl:60 [inlined]
[2] pyerr_check at C:\Users\aaort\.julia\packages\PyCall\0jMpb\src\exception.jl:64 [inlined]
[3] macro expansion at C:\Users\aaort\.julia\packages\PyCall\0jMpb\src\exception.jl:84 [inlined]
[4] __pycall!(::PyCall.PyObject, ::Ptr{PyCall.PyObject_struct}, ::PyCall.PyObject, ::PyCall.PyObject) at C:\Users\aaort\.julia\packages\PyCall\0jMpb\src\pyfncall.jl:44
[5] _pycall!(::PyCall.PyObject, ::PyCall.PyObject, ::Tuple{UnitRange{Int64},Array{Float64,2}}, ::Int64, ::PyCall.PyObject) at C:\Users\aaort\.julia\packages\PyCall\0jMpb\src\pyfncall.jl:29
[6] _pycall!(::PyCall.PyObject, ::PyCall.PyObject, ::Tuple{UnitRange{Int64},Array{Float64,2}}, ::Base.Iterators.Pairs{Symbol,Any,Tuple{Symbol,Symbol,Symbol},NamedTuple{(:title, :label, :lw),Tuple{String,Array{String,2},Int64}}}) at C:\Users\aaort\.julia\packages\PyCall\0jMpb\src\pyfncall.jl:11
[7] #pycall#88(::Base.Iterators.Pairs{Symbol,Any,Tuple{Symbol,Symbol,Symbol},NamedTuple{(:title, :label, :lw),Tuple{String,Array{String,2},Int64}}}, ::Function, ::PyCall.PyObject, ::Type{PyCall.PyAny}, ::UnitRange{Int64}, ::Vararg{Any,N} where N) at C:\Users\aaort\.julia\packages\PyCall\0jMpb\src\pyfncall.jl:86
[8] (::getfield(PyCall, Symbol("#kw##pycall")))(::NamedTuple{(:title, :label, :lw),Tuple{String,Array{String,2},Int64}}, ::typeof(PyCall.pycall), ::PyCall.PyObject, ::Type{PyCall.PyAny}, ::UnitRange{Int64}, ::Vararg{Any,N} where N) at .\none:0
[9] #plot#85(::Base.Iterators.Pairs{Symbol,Any,Tuple{Symbol,Symbol,Symbol},NamedTuple{(:title, :label, :lw),Tuple{String,Array{String,2},Int64}}}, ::Function, ::UnitRange{Int64}, ::Vararg{Any,N} where N) at C:\Users\aaort\.julia\packages\PyPlot\fZuOQ\src\PyPlot.jl:179
[10] #plot at .\none:0 [inlined]
[11] plotme() at C:\Dropbox\Universidad\codes\Julia\plot_tests\Plotme.jl:8
[12] top-level scope at none:0
in expression starting at C:\Dropbox\Universidad\codes\Julia\plot_tests\plot9.jl:3
```
In fact, trying to figure out what this error meant, I arrived at the Plots help:
[https://docs.juliaplots.org/latest/](https://docs.juliaplots.org/latest/)
from where I saw that, at least in the examples, the help favors the use of “using Plots; name\_of\_the\_backend()”.
The same error also appears when using PyPlot directly in Procedure 1.
---
### Author:  [@tkf](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/tkf)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2018, 11:08pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pyplot-not-producing-eps-figure-when-used-inside-a-module/18926/4 "2018-12-22T23:08:39Z")
Calling a function for side-effect at module level is not right in most cases. I think you can make it work by removing the top level `pyplot()` from the `Plotme` module and invoke `plotme()` as following.
```julia
using Plots
pyplot()
using Plotme: plotme
plotme()
```
If you really want to enable `pyplot` backend automatically when importing `Plotme` module, use ` __init__ ` function:
```julia
module Plotme
using Plots
# pyplot()
function plotme()
...
end
function __init__ ()
pyplot()
end
end
```
See: [Modules · The Julia Language](https://docs.julialang.org/en/v1/manual/modules/index.html#Module-initialization-and-precompilation-1)
---
### Author:  [@aortizb](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/aortizb)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2018, 2:42am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pyplot-not-producing-eps-figure-when-used-inside-a-module/18926/5 "2018-12-23T02:42:37Z")
Thanks tkf for the advice. The first suggestion won’t work since the function plot() inside plotme() won’t see the Plots module. It says “plot not defined”.
The second one works as it effectively creates the .eps file. However, the warning is still there:
```julia
[Info: Recompiling stale cache file C:\Users\aaort\.julia\compiled\v1.0\Plotme.ji for Plotme [top-level]
WARNING: eval from module Main to Plotme:
Expr(:block, #= Symbol("C:\Users\aaort\.julia\packages\Plots\y6yik\src\backends.jl"):529 =#, Expr(:import, Expr(:., :PyPlot)), #= Symbol("C:\Users\aaort\.julia\packages\Plots\y6yik\src\backends.jl"):531 =#, Expr(:export, :PyPlot), #= Symbol("C:\Users\aaort\.julia\packages\Plots\y6yik\src\backends.jl"):534 =#, Expr(:call, Expr(:., :PyPlot, :(:ioff))))
**incremental compilation may be broken for this module**
```
It is just a warning so I think I will be able to cope with it.
---
### Author:  [@tkf](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/tkf)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2018, 3:08am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pyplot-not-producing-eps-figure-when-used-inside-a-module/18926/6 "2018-12-23T03:08:46Z")
> [@aortizb](#):
>
> The first suggestion won’t work since the function plot() inside plotme() won’t see the Plots module.
I wasn’t suggesting to remove `using Plots`. More precisely, I was suggesting this:
```julia
module Plotme
using Plots
# pyplot() # don't call it at top-level; call it in, e.g., plot9.jl
function plotme()
...
end
end
```
> [@aortizb](#):
>
> However, the warning is still there:
Oops, I forgot to remove the top-level `pyplot()` in my example code in the previous comment (now removed).
---
### Author:  [@aortizb](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/aortizb)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2018, 4:47am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/pyplot-not-producing-eps-figure-when-used-inside-a-module/18926/7 "2018-12-23T04:47:23Z")
Both of your suggestions work great now. Thank you, tkf !