Dynamically updating plot in matplotlib

Question

I am making an application in Python which collects data from a serial port and plots a graph of the collected data against arrival time. The time of arrival for the data is

Answer 1

In order to do this without FuncAnimation (eg you want to execute other parts of the code while the plot is being produced or you want to be updating several plots at the same time), calling draw alone does not produce the plot (at least with the qt backend).

The following works for me:

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
plt.ion()
class DynamicUpdate():
    #Suppose we know the x range
    min_x = 0
    max_x = 10

    def on_launch(self):
        #Set up plot
        self.figure, self.ax = plt.subplots()
        self.lines, = self.ax.plot([],[], 'o')
        #Autoscale on unknown axis and known lims on the other
        self.ax.set_autoscaley_on(True)
        self.ax.set_xlim(self.min_x, self.max_x)
        #Other stuff
        self.ax.grid()
        ...

    def on_running(self, xdata, ydata):
        #Update data (with the new _and_ the old points)
        self.lines.set_xdata(xdata)
        self.lines.set_ydata(ydata)
        #Need both of these in order to rescale
        self.ax.relim()
        self.ax.autoscale_view()
        #We need to draw *and* flush
        self.figure.canvas.draw()
        self.figure.canvas.flush_events()

    #Example
    def __call__(self):
        import numpy as np
        import time
        self.on_launch()
        xdata = []
        ydata = []
        for x in np.arange(0,10,0.5):
            xdata.append(x)
            ydata.append(np.exp(-x**2)+10*np.exp(-(x-7)**2))
            self.on_running(xdata, ydata)
            time.sleep(1)
        return xdata, ydata

d = DynamicUpdate()
d()