mathxlab.utils.plotting

Shared plotting utilities and LaTeX detection.

Stability

Status: Experimental.

This project treats the documented names as the public surface, but details may still evolve. If you need strict API guarantees, add __all__ = [...] to each module and version releases accordingly.

Design notes

  • Keep figure styling consistent across experiments.

  • Prefer small helpers over copy/pasted plotting code.

Examples

Configure Matplotlib and build math labels

from mathxlab.utils.plotting import configure_matplotlib, make_math_label
configure_matplotlib()
print(make_math_label(r"\pi(x) \sim x/\log x"))

Public API

Name

Kind

Summary

LatexToolchainStatus

class

Represents the availability of an external LaTeX toolchain.

detect_latex_toolchain

function

Detect whether an external LaTeX toolchain is available.

configure_matplotlib

function

Configure Matplotlib defaults for experiments.

make_math_label

function

Wrap an expression in $...$ for math rendering.

Reference

Classes

class mathxlab.utils.plotting.LatexToolchainStatus(latex, dvipng, dvisvgm)[source]

Bases: object

Represents the availability of an external LaTeX toolchain.

Parameters:

  • latex – True if latex (or an alternative TeX engine) is available.

  • dvipng – True if dvipng is available.

  • dvisvgm – True if dvisvgm is available.

Examples

>>> from mathxlab.utils.plotting import LatexToolchainStatus
>>> LatexToolchainStatus

Functions

mathxlab.utils.plotting.detect_latex_toolchain()[source]

Detect whether an external LaTeX toolchain is available.

Matplotlib’s text.usetex = True typically requires:

  • latex

  • and one of dvipng or dvisvgm

Returns:

A LatexToolchainStatus instance describing which tools were found.

Examples

>>> from mathxlab.utils.plotting import detect_latex_toolchain
>>> detect_latex_toolchain
mathxlab.utils.plotting.configure_matplotlib(*, use_tex=None, tex_preamble=None, font_family='serif', rcparams=None)[source]

Configure Matplotlib defaults for experiments.

This sets stable, portable defaults and optionally enables true LaTeX rendering for math labels.

Selection logic:

  • If use_tex is given, it is respected.

  • Otherwise, MATHXLAB_USETEX=1 triggers an attempt to enable usetex.

  • If LaTeX tools are missing, configuration falls back to mathtext.

Global LaTeX-like look without TeX:

  • mathtext.fontset = “cm” uses Computer Modern for $…$.

  • font.serif prefers CMU/Computer Modern/Latin Modern (falls back cleanly).

  • axes.formatter.use_mathtext = True makes tick formatting use mathtext.

Parameters:

  • use_tex – Whether to enable Matplotlib’s text.usetex. If None, uses MATHXLAB_USETEX env var.

  • tex_preamble – Optional LaTeX preamble lines (e.g. packages). Only used when LaTeX is enabled.

  • font_family – Matplotlib font family to prefer (defaults to serif).

  • rcparams – Extra rcParams to apply after base configuration.

Returns:

True if LaTeX rendering was enabled; False if mathtext is used.

Notes

Call this once near the start of an experiment to keep all figures consistent across HTML and PDF builds.

Examples

>>> from mathxlab.utils.plotting import configure_matplotlib
>>> configure_matplotlib()  # portable defaults for docs/CI
mathxlab.utils.plotting.make_math_label(expr)[source]

Wrap an expression in $…$ for math rendering.

Parameters:

expr – A LaTeX/mathtext expression (without surrounding $).

Returns:

A string like “$pi(x) sim x/log x$”.

Notes

Use raw strings in calling code where convenient:

ax.set_title(rf”Prime counting: {make_math_label(’pi(x)’)}”)

This helper keeps figure code consistent and avoids duplicated $.

Examples

>>> from mathxlab.utils.plotting import make_math_label
>>> make_math_label(r"\pi(x) \sim x/\log x")
'$\pi(x) \sim x/\log x$'