[IPython-dev] Interactive Matplotlib in the browser

[Michael Droettboom]

On 10/11/2012 10:06 PM, Jason Grout wrote:
> On 10/11/12 5:50 PM, Jason Grout wrote:
>> On 10/11/12 4:49 PM, Michael Droettboom wrote:
>>> I have a proof-of-concept way to make interactive plots in the browser
>>> work using transparent PNGs described here:
>>>
>>> http://mdboom.github.com/blog/2012/10/11/matplotlib-in-the-browser-its-coming/
>>>
>>> No PRs yet, because this is miles from ready for that, but it would be
>>> helpful to get some feedback about how this works in different
>>> browsers/platforms/network environments etc.
>>>
>> A sample implementation using websockets instead of polling is here:
>>
>> https://gist.github.com/3875846
>>
>> It still requests the file, which causes a delay.  I think doing a png
>> diff sounds like a great idea.  What if we also transfer the png diff
>> over the websocket connection (maybe in a binary frame)?
> I just updated it to transfer the image over websocket too.  More timing
> tests need to be done to see which approach is better, especially tests
> across a network.

Thanks.  That is very helpful

>    The current version of
> https://gist.github.com/3875846 also transfers over a base64 version of
> the data; it seems like it would be better to transfer it as a binary
> message.

I see -- just so I'm clear: that's because we send it over a websocket, 
and it's not obvious how else to put the binary data into the Canvas 
Image object on the browser end?  I see that that's a bit suboptimal.  I 
wonder if it makes sense to use a socket for the event communication, 
but a regular request to get the image data. Then then "push" would come 
from the event websocket as in my original example.

>
> Also, the polling isn't very smart compared to your original example.
> Right now, I have a continuous 50ms refresh, but of course, it should be
> smarter about requesting a refresh only when we know there is a change.

I don't see where this is happening -- it looks like the images are 
pushed by the server when it knows there is a change.  I'm probably 
missing something...

Thanks again,
Mike

>
> Thanks,
>
> Jason
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> IPython-dev mailing list
> IPython-dev at scipy.org
> http://mail.scipy.org/mailman/listinfo/ipython-dev