Add x,y kwargs for plot.line().

Supports both 1D and 2D DataArrays as input.

Change variable names to make code clearer:
   1. set xplt, yplt to be values that are passed to ax.plot()
   2. xlabel, ylabel are axes labels
   3. xdim, ydim are dimension names

Author: dcherian

doc/plotting.rst

@@ -197,6 +197,16 @@ It is required to explicitly specify either
 Thus, we could have made the previous plot by specifying ``hue='lat'`` instead of ``x='time'``.
 If required, the automatic legend can be turned off using ``add_legend=False``.
 
+Data along x-axis
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+It is also possible to make line plots such that the data are on the x-axis and a co-ordinate is on the y-axis. This can be done by specifying the ``x`` and ``y`` keyword arguments.
+
+.. ipython:: python
+
+    @savefig plotting_example_xy_kwarg.png
+    air.isel(time=10, lon=[10, 11]).plot.line(y='lat', hue='lon')
+
 Two Dimensions
 --------------
 

doc/whats-new.rst

@@ -97,6 +97,8 @@ Enhancements
   encoding/decoding of datetimes with non-standard calendars without the
   netCDF4 dependency (:issue:`1084`).
   By `Joe Hamman <https://github.com/jhamman>`_.
+- :py:func:`~plot.line()` learned to make plots with data on x-axis if so specified.
+  By `Deepak Cherian <https://github.com/dcherian>`_.
 
 .. _Zarr: http://zarr.readthedocs.io/
 

xarray/plot/plot.py

@@ -175,9 +175,13 @@ def line(darray, *args, **kwargs):
         Axis on which to plot this figure. By default, use the current axis.
         Mutually exclusive with ``size`` and ``figsize``.
     hue : string, optional
-        Coordinate for which you want multiple lines plotted (2D inputs only).
+        Coordinate for which you want multiple lines plotted
+        (2D DataArrays only).
     x : string, optional
-        Coordinate for x axis.
+        1D and 2D DataArrays: Coordinate for x axis.
+    y : string, optional
+        1D DataArray: Can be coordinate name or DataArray.name
+        2D DataArray: Coordinate for y axis.
     add_legend : boolean, optional
         Add legend with y axis coordinates (2D inputs only).
     *args, **kwargs : optional
@@ -198,43 +202,78 @@ def line(darray, *args, **kwargs):
     ax = kwargs.pop('ax', None)
     hue = kwargs.pop('hue', None)
     x = kwargs.pop('x', None)
+    y = kwargs.pop('y', None)
     add_legend = kwargs.pop('add_legend', True)
 
     ax = get_axis(figsize, size, aspect, ax)
 
     if ndims == 1:
-        xlabel, = darray.dims
-        if x is not None and xlabel != x:
-            raise ValueError('Input does not have specified dimension'
-                             ' {!r}'.format(x))
+        dim, = darray.dims  # get the only dimension name
+
+        error_msg = 'must be either None or %r' % dim
+        if darray.name:
+            error_msg += ' or %r.' % darray.name
+
+        if x not in [None, dim, darray.name]:
+            raise ValueError('x ' + error_msg)
+
+        if y not in [None, dim, darray.name]:
+            raise ValueError('y ' + error_msg)
 
-        x = darray.coords[xlabel]
+        if x is not None and y is not None and x == y:
+            raise ValueError('Cannot make a plot with x=%r and y=%r' % (x, y))
+
+        if (x is None and y is None) or x == dim or y is darray.name:
+            xplt = darray.coords[dim]
+            yplt = darray
+            xlabel = dim
+            ylabel = darray.name
+
+        elif y == dim or x is darray.name:
+            yplt = darray.coords[dim]
+            xplt = darray
+            xlabel = darray.name
+            ylabel = dim
 
     else:
-        if x is None and hue is None:
+        if x is None and y is None and hue is None:
             raise ValueError('For 2D inputs, please specify either hue or x.')
 
-        xlabel, huelabel = _infer_xy_labels(darray=darray, x=x, y=hue)
-        x = darray.coords[xlabel]
-        darray = darray.transpose(xlabel, huelabel)
+        if y is None:
+            xlabel, huelabel = _infer_xy_labels(darray=darray, x=x, y=hue)
+            ylabel = darray.name
+            xplt = darray.coords[xlabel]
+            yplt = darray.transpose(xlabel, huelabel)
 
-    _ensure_plottable(x)
+        else:
+            if x is not None and x is not darray.name:
+                raise ValueError('Cannot make a plot with x=%r and y=%r '
+                                 % (x, y))
 
-    primitive = ax.plot(x, darray, *args, **kwargs)
+            ylabel, huelabel = _infer_xy_labels(darray=darray, x=y, y=hue)
+            xlabel = darray.name
+            xplt = darray.transpose(ylabel, huelabel)
+            yplt = darray.coords[ylabel]
 
-    ax.set_xlabel(xlabel)
-    ax.set_title(darray._title_for_slice())
+    _ensure_plottable(xplt)
 
-    if darray.name is not None:
-        ax.set_ylabel(darray.name)
+    primitive = ax.plot(xplt, yplt, *args, **kwargs)
+
+    if xlabel is not None:
+        ax.set_xlabel(xlabel)
+
+    if ylabel is not None:
+        ax.set_ylabel(ylabel)
+
+    ax.set_title(darray._title_for_slice())
 
     if darray.ndim == 2 and add_legend:
         ax.legend(handles=primitive,
                   labels=list(darray.coords[huelabel].values),
                   title=huelabel)
 
     # Rotate dates on xlabels
-    if np.issubdtype(x.dtype, np.datetime64):
+    if np.issubdtype(xplt.dtype, np.datetime64):
         ax.get_figure().autofmt_xdate()
 
     return primitive

xarray/tests/test_plot.py

@@ -92,14 +92,42 @@ def setUp(self):
     def test1d(self):
         self.darray[:, 0, 0].plot()
 
-        with raises_regex(ValueError, 'dimension'):
+        with raises_regex(ValueError, 'None'):
             self.darray[:, 0, 0].plot(x='dim_1')
 
+    def test_1d_x_y_kw(self):
+        z = np.arange(10)
+        da = DataArray(np.cos(z), dims=['z'], coords=[z], name='f')
+
+        xy = [[None, None],
+              [None, 'f'],
+              [None, 'z'],
+              ['f', None],
+              ['z', None],
+              ['z', 'f'],
+              ['f', 'z']]
+
+        f, ax = plt.subplots(2, 4)
+
+        for aa, (x, y) in enumerate(xy):
+            da.plot(x=x, y=y, ax=ax.flat[aa])
+            ax.flat[aa].set_title('x=' + str(x) + ' | '+'y='+str(y))
+
+        with raises_regex(ValueError, 'Cannot'):
+            da.plot(x='z', y='z')
+
     def test_2d_line(self):
         with raises_regex(ValueError, 'hue'):
             self.darray[:, :, 0].plot.line()
 
         self.darray[:, :, 0].plot.line(hue='dim_1')
+        self.darray[:, :, 0].plot.line(x='dim_1')
+        self.darray[:, :, 0].plot.line(y='dim_1')
+        self.darray[:, :, 0].plot.line(x='dim_0', hue='dim_1')
+        self.darray[:, :, 0].plot.line(y='dim_0', hue='dim_1')
+
+        with raises_regex(ValueError, 'Cannot'):
+            self.darray[:, :, 0].plot.line(x='dim_1', y='dim_0', hue='dim_1')
 
     def test_2d_line_accepts_legend_kw(self):
         self.darray[:, :, 0].plot.line(x='dim_0', add_legend=False)
@@ -280,6 +308,10 @@ def test_xlabel_is_index_name(self):
         self.darray.plot()
         assert 'period' == plt.gca().get_xlabel()
 
+    def test_no_label_name_on_x_axis(self):
+        self.darray.plot(y='period')
+        self.assertEqual('', plt.gca().get_xlabel())
+
     def test_no_label_name_on_y_axis(self):
         self.darray.plot()
         assert '' == plt.gca().get_ylabel()
@@ -289,6 +321,11 @@ def test_ylabel_is_data_name(self):
         self.darray.plot()
         assert self.darray.name == plt.gca().get_ylabel()
 
+    def test_xlabel_is_data_name(self):
+        self.darray.name = 'temperature'
+        self.darray.plot(x=self.darray.name)
+        self.assertEqual(self.darray.name, plt.gca().get_xlabel())
+
     def test_format_string(self):
         self.darray.plot.line('ro')