.. _pylab_examples-legend_demo:

pylab_examples example code: legend_demo.py
===========================================



.. plot:: /home/mdboom/Work/builds/matplotlib/doc/mpl_examples/pylab_examples/legend_demo.py

::

    #!/usr/bin/env python
    # Thanks to Charles Twardy for this example
    #
    #See http://matplotlib.sf.net/examples/legend_demo2.py for an example
    #controlling which lines the legend uses and the order
    
    import numpy as np
    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
    
    a = np.arange(0,3,.02)
    b = np.arange(0,3,.02)
    c = np.exp(a)
    d = c[::-1]
    
    ax = plt.subplot(111)
    plt.plot(a,c,'k--',a,d,'k:',a,c+d,'k')
    plt.legend(('Model length', 'Data length', 'Total message length'),
               'upper center', shadow=True, fancybox=True)
    plt.ylim([-1,20])
    plt.grid(False)
    plt.xlabel('Model complexity --->')
    plt.ylabel('Message length --->')
    plt.title('Minimum Message Length')
    
    plt.setp(plt.gca(), 'yticklabels', [])
    plt.setp(plt.gca(), 'xticklabels', [])
    
    # set some legend properties.  All the code below is optional.  The
    # defaults are usually sensible but if you need more control, this
    # shows you how
    leg = plt.gca().get_legend()
    ltext  = leg.get_texts()  # all the text.Text instance in the legend
    llines = leg.get_lines()  # all the lines.Line2D instance in the legend
    frame  = leg.get_frame()  # the patch.Rectangle instance surrounding the legend
    
    # see text.Text, lines.Line2D, and patches.Rectangle for more info on
    # the settable properties of lines, text, and rectangles
    frame.set_facecolor('0.80')      # set the frame face color to light gray
    plt.setp(ltext, fontsize='small')    # the legend text fontsize
    plt.setp(llines, linewidth=1.5)      # the legend linewidth
    #leg.draw_frame(False)           # don't draw the legend frame
    plt.show()
    
    
    
    

Keywords: python, matplotlib, pylab, example, codex (see :ref:`how-to-search-examples`)