extract draw_plot method for plotting measures using matplotlib

mesa/visualization/__init__.py

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 """Solara based visualization for Mesa models."""
 
-from mesa.visualization.mpl_space_drawing import (
+from mesa.visualization.mpl_drawing import (
+    draw_plot,
     draw_space,
 )
 
@@ -15,6 +16,7 @@
     "Slider",
     "make_space_altair",
     "draw_space",
+    "draw_plot",
     "make_plot_component",
     "make_space_component",
 ]

mesa/visualization/components/matplotlib_components.py

@@ -5,11 +5,10 @@
 import warnings
 from collections.abc import Callable
 
-import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
 import solara
 from matplotlib.figure import Figure
 
-from mesa.visualization.mpl_space_drawing import draw_space
+from mesa.visualization.mpl_drawing import draw_plot, draw_space
 from mesa.visualization.utils import update_counter
 
 
@@ -151,26 +150,10 @@ def PlotMatplotlib(
     """
     update_counter.get()
     fig = Figure()
-    ax = fig.subplots()
-    df = model.datacollector.get_model_vars_dataframe()
-    if isinstance(measure, str):
-        ax.plot(df.loc[:, measure])
-        ax.set_ylabel(measure)
-    elif isinstance(measure, dict):
-        for m, color in measure.items():
-            ax.plot(df.loc[:, m], label=m, color=color)
-        ax.legend(loc="best")
-    elif isinstance(measure, list | tuple):
-        for m in measure:
-            ax.plot(df.loc[:, m], label=m)
-        ax.legend(loc="best")
-
+    ax = fig.add_subplot()
+    draw_plot(model, measure, ax)
     if post_process is not None:
         post_process(ax)
-
-    ax.set_xlabel("Step")
-    # Set integer x axis
-    ax.xaxis.set_major_locator(plt.MaxNLocator(integer=True))
     solara.FigureMatplotlib(
         fig, format=save_format, bbox_inches="tight", dependencies=dependencies
     )

mesa/visualization/mpl_space_drawing.py → mesa/visualization/mpl_drawing.py

@@ -556,3 +556,41 @@ def _scatter(ax: Axes, arguments, **kwargs):
                 **{k: v[logical] for k, v in arguments.items()},
                 **kwargs,
             )
+
+
+def draw_plot(
+    model,
+    measure,
+    ax: Axes | None = None,
+):
+    """Create a Matplotlib-based plot for a measure or measures.
+
+    Args:
+        model (mesa.Model): The model instance.
+        measure (str | dict[str, str] | list[str] | tuple[str]): Measure(s) to plot.
+        ax: the axes upon which to draw the plot
+        post_process: a user-specified callable to do post-processing called with the Axes instance.
+
+    Returns:
+        plt.Axes: The Axes object with the plot drawn onto it.
+    """
+    if ax is None:
+        _, ax = plt.subplots()
+    df = model.datacollector.get_model_vars_dataframe()
+    if isinstance(measure, str):
+        ax.plot(df.loc[:, measure])
+        ax.set_ylabel(measure)
+    elif isinstance(measure, dict):
+        for m, color in measure.items():
+            ax.plot(df.loc[:, m], label=m, color=color)
+        ax.legend(loc="best")
+    elif isinstance(measure, list | tuple):
+        for m in measure:
+            ax.plot(df.loc[:, m], label=m)
+        ax.legend(loc="best")
+
+    ax.set_xlabel("Step")
+    # Set integer x axis
+    ax.xaxis.set_major_locator(plt.MaxNLocator(integer=True))
+
+    return ax

tests/test_components_matplotlib.py

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
     PropertyLayer,
     SingleGrid,
 )
-from mesa.visualization.mpl_space_drawing import (
+from mesa.visualization.mpl_drawing import (
     draw_continuous_space,
     draw_hex_grid,
     draw_network,