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Add support for pgf.documentclass rcParam #30063

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@MiniX16 MiniX16 commented May 18, 2025

PR summary

This PR adds support for configuring the LaTeX \documentclass{...} used by the PGF backend via a new rcParam: pgf.documentclass.

Why is this change necessary?

Currently, the PGF backend uses a hardcoded LaTeX document class (article) when rendering PGF figures. This causes layout inconsistencies (such as in #29978) when the .pgf file is included in documents using other classes like IEEEtran, acmart, etc.

What problem does it solve?

It allows users to specify the LaTeX document class used during PGF rendering via:

matplotlib.rcParams["pgf.documentclass"] = "IEEEtran"

This provides a clean and documented alternative to the current workaround of modifying the internal _DOCUMENTCLASS variable in backend_pgf showed in #29978.

What is the reasoning for this implementation?

The new rcParam follows Matplotlib’s configuration pattern and is registered via rcsetup.py. It defaults to 'article', ensuring backward compatibility. The PGF backend retrieves the class using mpl.rcParams.get(...).


Doubts:

  • I have not added the new parameter to matplotlibrc because I'm unsure of its exact placement or formatting style (or even if Ia should add it). I'd appreciate feedback on whether it should be included there explicitly.
  • I'm also not sure whether this feature requires:
    • a documentation note (and where to place it), and/or
    • a dedicated test (beyond verifying it manually and observing that existing PGF tests pass).

Please advise on both.


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@oscargus
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Thanks! It would be nice with a bit of documentation and some test for this.

Docs: https://matplotlib.org/stable/users/explain/text/pgf.html#custom-preamble would be a place to mention it. And it can be worth having a release note that this is a new feature since more people can be interested in it.

Test: I quickly browsed the available tests for some inspiration, but I think the best way, if possible, is to add a test where the resulting PGF-file is checked to contain the correct documentclass.

@@ -958,6 +958,7 @@ def rc_params_from_file(fname, fail_on_error=False, use_default_template=True):
# Strip leading comment.
transform=lambda line: line[1:] if line.startswith("#") else line,
fail_on_error=True)
rcParamsDefault["pgf.documentclass"] = "article"
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_DOCUMENTCLASS = r"\documentclass{article}"
_DOCUMENTCLASS = (
rf"\documentclass{{{mpl.rcParams.get('pgf.documentclass', 'article')}}}"
)
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I think the reason that this is a variable is that it should be possible to override the document class. (Although in an undocumented way.)

Since it is now possible to do that in a more regular way, it would make sense to rewrite the code to not use the variable any more. It is used in three locations though, so maybe one should simply try to factor out the pre-amble code in some way. Which may lead to that your current solution can stay...

@MiniX16 MiniX16 force-pushed the pgf-documentclass-rcparam branch from baa646d to 33e34c3 Compare May 22, 2025 20:24
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[Bug]: PGF file produces incorrect whitespace in the legend when using certain documentclass.
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