matplotlib figure zoom: ticklabels don't get updated (Python)

Question

I design a software in Python to make live plots from microcontroller data. You can think of it as some kind of oscilloscope. I make use of the matplotlib library for drawing the plots, which I embed in a PyQt4 GUI. I implemented a zoombutton to zoom in on the figure (the zoom has only impact on the y limits):

Unfortunately, the yticklabels don't get updated. I have tried several things (like calling the repaint() function on the proper QWidget), but to no avail. So I decided to turn to StackOverflow for your help. Below you can find a code sample that singles out the problem. The data is simulated, so you don't need to connect a microcontroller. Normally you should be able to copy/paste this sample, and run it without issues. Click a few times on the zoom button, and you'll notice my problem.

import sys
import os
from PyQt4 import QtGui
from PyQt4 import QtCore
import functools

import numpy as np
import random as rd
import matplotlib
matplotlib.use("Qt4Agg")

from matplotlib.figure import Figure
from matplotlib.animation import TimedAnimation
from matplotlib.lines import Line2D
from matplotlib.backends.backend_qt4agg import FigureCanvasQTAgg as FigureCanvas

def setCustomSize(x, width, height):
    sizePolicy = QtGui.QSizePolicy(QtGui.QSizePolicy.Fixed, QtGui.QSizePolicy.Fixed)
    sizePolicy.setHorizontalStretch(0)
    sizePolicy.setVerticalStretch(0)
    sizePolicy.setHeightForWidth(x.sizePolicy().hasHeightForWidth())
    x.setSizePolicy(sizePolicy)
    x.setMinimumSize(QtCore.QSize(width, height))
    x.setMaximumSize(QtCore.QSize(width, height))

''''''

class CustomMainWindow(QtGui.QMainWindow):

    def __init__(self):

        super(CustomMainWindow, self).__init__()

        # Define the geometry of the main window
        self.setGeometry(300, 300, 800, 400)
        self.setWindowTitle("my first window")

        # Create FRAME_A
        self.FRAME_A = QtGui.QFrame(self)
        self.FRAME_A.setStyleSheet("QWidget { background-color: %s }" % QtGui.QColor(210,210,235,255).name())
        self.LAYOUT_A = QtGui.QGridLayout()
        self.FRAME_A.setLayout(self.LAYOUT_A)
        self.setCentralWidget(self.FRAME_A)

        # Place the zoom button
        self.zoomBtn = QtGui.QPushButton(text = 'zoom')
        setCustomSize(self.zoomBtn, 100, 50)
        self.zoomBtn.clicked.connect(self.zoomBtnAction)
        self.LAYOUT_A.addWidget(self.zoomBtn, *(0,0))

        # Place the matplotlib figure
        self.myFig = CustomFigCanvas()
        self.LAYOUT_A.addWidget(self.myFig, *(0,1))

        self.show()

    ''''''


    def zoomBtnAction(self):
        print("zoom in")
        self.myFig.zoomIn(5)

    ''''''



''' End Class '''


class CustomFigCanvas(FigureCanvas, TimedAnimation):

    def __init__(self):

        self.addedData = []
        print(matplotlib.__version__)

        # The data
        self.xlim = 200
        self.n = np.linspace(0, self.xlim - 1, self.xlim)
        a = []
        b = []
        a.append(2.0)
        a.append(4.0)
        a.append(2.0)
        b.append(4.0)
        b.append(3.0)
        b.append(4.0)
        self.y = 50 + ((rd.random()*a[0] + 0.2)*np.sin(self.n/(b[0]*rd.random() + 0.2))) + ((rd.random()*a[1] + 0.1)*np.sin(self.n/(b[1]*rd.random() + 0.2))) + ((rd.random()*a[2] + 0.1)*np.sin(self.n/(b[2]*rd.random() + 0.2)))

        # The window
        self.fig = Figure(figsize=(5,5), dpi=100)
        self.ax1 = self.fig.add_subplot(111)


        # self.ax1 settings
        self.ax1.set_xlabel('time')
        self.ax1.set_ylabel('raw data')
        self.line1 = Line2D([], [], color='blue')
        self.line1_tail = Line2D([], [], color='red', linewidth=2)
        self.line1_head = Line2D([], [], color='red', marker='o', markeredgecolor='r')
        self.ax1.add_line(self.line1)
        self.ax1.add_line(self.line1_tail)
        self.ax1.add_line(self.line1_head)
        self.ax1.set_xlim(0, self.xlim - 1)
        self.ax1.set_ylim(0, 100)


        FigureCanvas.__init__(self, self.fig)
        TimedAnimation.__init__(self, self.fig, interval = 50, blit = True)




    def _draw_frame(self, framedata):
        margin = 2
        while(len(self.addedData) > 0):
            self.y = np.roll(self.y, -1)
            self.y[-1] = self.addedData[0]
            del(self.addedData[0])


        self.line1.set_data(self.n[ 0 : self.n.size - margin ], self.y[ 0 : self.n.size - margin ])
        self.line1_tail.set_data(np.append(self.n[-10:-1 - margin], self.n[-1 - margin]), np.append(self.y[-10:-1 - margin], self.y[-1 - margin]))
        self.line1_head.set_data(self.n[-1 - margin], self.y[-1 - margin])
        self._drawn_artists = [self.line1, self.line1_tail, self.line1_head]

    def new_frame_seq(self):
        return iter(range(self.n.size))

    def _init_draw(self):
        lines = [self.line1, self.line1_tail, self.line1_head]
        for l in lines:
            l.set_data([], [])

    def addData(self, value):
        self.addedData.append(value)

    def zoomIn(self, value):
        bottom = self.ax1.get_ylim()[0]
        top = self.ax1.get_ylim()[1]
        bottom += value
        top -= value
        self.ax1.set_ylim(bottom,top)


''' End Class '''



if __name__== '__main__':
    app = QtGui.QApplication(sys.argv)
    QtGui.QApplication.setStyle(QtGui.QStyleFactory.create('Plastique'))
    myGUI = CustomMainWindow()


    sys.exit(app.exec_())

''''''

Note: My system configuration is as follows:

• Windows 10
• Anaconda python package installed
• PyQt4 library for the GUI
• matplotlib library for the plots

Thank you so much for your help.

Answer 1

I believe I found the answer. The zoomIn function in the CustomFigCanvas() class should contain the instruction:

self.draw()

So the zoomIn function is as follows:

class CustomFigCanvas(FigureCanvas, TimedAnimation):

    def __init__(self):
        # ...

    ''''''

    def zoomIn(self, value):
        bottom = self.ax1.get_ylim()[0]
        top = self.ax1.get_ylim()[1]
        bottom += value
        top -= value
        self.ax1.set_ylim(bottom,top)
        self.draw() # <- this is the solution

    ''''''

''' End Class '''

I'm sorry for the inconvenience.