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Note

This section is only a reference describing the function, please see the chapter on mlab: Python scripting for 3D plotting for an introduction to mlab and how to interact with and assemble the functions of mlab.

Please see the section on Running mlab scripts for instructions on running the examples.

# Other functions

## animate

`mayavi.mlab.``animate`(func=None, delay=500, ui=True)
  ::
    A convenient decorator to animate a generator that performs an

      animation. The delay parameter specifies the delay (in milliseconds) between calls to the decorated function. If ui is True, then a simple UI for the animator is also popped up. The decorated function will return the Animator instance used and a user may call its Stop method to stop the animation.

      If an ordinary function is decorated a TypeError will be raised.

      Parameters

      delay: | int specifying the time interval in milliseconds between calls to the function.
      ui: | bool specifying if a UI controlling the animation is to be provided.

      Returns

      The decorated function returns an Animator instance.

      Examples

      Here is the example provided in the Animator class documentation:

          >>> from mayavi import mlab
          >>> @mlab.animate
          ... def anim():
          ...     f = mlab.gcf()
          ...     while 1:
          ...         f.scene.camera.azimuth(10)
          ...         f.scene.render()
          ...         yield
          ...
          >>> a = anim() # Starts the animation.

      For more specialized use you can pass arguments to the decorator:

          >>> from mayavi import mlab
          >>> @mlab.animate(delay=500, ui=False)
          ... def anim():
          ...     f = mlab.gcf()
          ...     while 1:
          ...         f.scene.camera.azimuth(10)
          ...         f.scene.render()
          ...         yield
          ...
          >>> a = anim() # Starts the animation without a UI.

      Notes

      If you want to modify the data plotted by an mlab function call, please refer to the section on: Animating the data.

## axes

`mayavi.mlab.``axes`(*args, **kwargs)

  Creates axes for the current (or given) object.

  Keyword arguments:

  > color: | the color of the vtk object. Overides the colormap, if any, when specified. This is specified as a triplet of float ranging from 0 to 1, eg (1, 1, 1) for white.
  > extent: | [xmin, xmax, ymin, ymax, zmin, zmax] Default is the object’s extents.
  > figure: | Must be a Scene or None.
  > line_width: | The width of the lines, if any used. Must be a float. Default: 2.0
  > name: | the name of the vtk object created.
  > nb_labels: | The number of labels along each direction Must be a legal value. Default: 2
  > opacity: | The overall opacity of the vtk object. Must be a float. Default: 1.0
  > ranges: | [xmin, xmax, ymin, ymax, zmin, zmax] Ranges of the labels displayed on the axes. Default is the object’s extents.
  > x_axis_visibility:
  > | Whether or not the x axis is visible (boolean)
  > xlabel: | the label of the x axis
  > y_axis_visibility:
  > | Whether or not the y axis is visible (boolean)
  > ylabel: | the label of the y axis
  > z_axis_visibility:
  > | Whether or not the z axis is visible (boolean)
  > zlabel: | the label of the z axis

## get_engine

`mayavi.mlab.``get_engine`(self)

  Returns an engine in agreement with the options.

## orientation_axes

`mayavi.mlab.``orientation_axes`(*args, **kwargs)

  Applies the OrientationAxes mayavi module to the given VTK data object.

  Keyword arguments:

  > color: | the color of the vtk object. Overides the colormap, if any, when specified. This is specified as a triplet of float ranging from 0 to 1, eg (1, 1, 1) for white.
  > figure: | Must be a Scene or None.
  > line_width: | The width of the lines, if any used. Must be a float. Default: 2.0
  > name: | the name of the vtk object created.
  > opacity: | The overall opacity of the vtk object. Must be a float. Default: 1.0
  > xlabel: | the label of the x axis
  > ylabel: | the label of the y axis
  > zlabel: | the label of the z axis

## outline

`mayavi.mlab.``outline`(*args, **kwargs)

  Creates an outline for the current (or given) object.

  Keyword arguments:

  > color: | the color of the vtk object. Overides the colormap, if any, when specified. This is specified as a triplet of float ranging from 0 to 1, eg (1, 1, 1) for white.
  > extent: | [xmin, xmax, ymin, ymax, zmin, zmax] Default is the object’s extents.
  > figure: | Must be a Scene or None.
  > line_width: | The width of the lines, if any used. Must be a float. Default: 2.0
  > name: | the name of the vtk object created.
  > opacity: | The overall opacity of the vtk object. Must be a float. Default: 1.0

## set_engine

`mayavi.mlab.``set_engine`(self, engine)

  Sets the mlab engine.

## show

`mayavi.mlab.``show`(func=None, stop=False)

  Start interacting with the figure.

  By default, this function simply creates a GUI and starts its event loop if needed.

  If it is used as a decorator, then it may be used to decorate a function which requires a UI. If the GUI event loop is already running it simply runs the function. If not the event loop is started and function is run in the toolkit’s event loop. The choice of UI is via ETSConfig.toolkit.

  If the argument stop is set to True then it pops up a UI where the user can stop the event loop. Subsequent calls to show will restart the event loop.

  Parameters

  > stop: | A boolean which specifies if a UI dialog is displayed which allows the event loop to be stopped.

  Examples

  Here is a simple example demonstrating the use of show:

      >>> from mayavi import mlab
      >>> mlab.test_contour3d()
      >>> mlab.show()

  You can stop interaction via a simple pop up UI like so:

      >>> mlab.test_contour3d()
      >>> mlab.show(stop=True)

  The decorator can be used like so:

      >>> @mlab.show
      ... def do():
      ...    mlab.test_contour3d()
      ...
      >>> do()

  The decorator can also be passed the stop argument:

      >>> @mlab.show(stop=True)
      ... def do():
      ...    mlab.test_contour3d()
      ...
      >>> do()

## show_engine

`mayavi.mlab.``show_engine`()

  This function is deprecated, please use show_pipeline.

## show_pipeline

`mayavi.mlab.``show_pipeline`(self, engine=None, rich_view=True)

  Show a dialog with the mayavi pipeline. This dialog allows to edit graphicaly the properties of the different objects on the scenes.

## start_recording

`mayavi.mlab.``start_recording`(ui=True)

  Start automatic script recording. If the ui parameter is True, it creates a recorder with a user interface, if not it creates a vanilla recorder without a UI.

  Returns
    The Recorder instance created.

## stop_recording

`mayavi.mlab.``stop_recording`(file=None)

  Stop the automatic script recording.

  Parameters

  > file: | An open file or a filename or None. If this is None, nothing is saved.

## text

`mayavi.mlab.``text`(*args, **kwargs)

  Adds a text on the figure.

  Function signature:

      text(x, y, text, ...)

  x, and y are the position of the origin of the text. If no z keyword argument is given, x and y are the 2D projection of the figure, they belong to [0, 1]. If a z keyword argument is given, the text is positionned in 3D, in figure coordinnates.

  Keyword arguments:

  > color: | the color of the vtk object. Overides the colormap, if any, when specified. This is specified as a triplet of float ranging from 0 to 1, eg (1, 1, 1) for white.
  > figure: | Must be a Scene or None.
  > line_width: | The width of the lines, if any used. Must be a float. Default: 2.0
  > name: | the name of the vtk object created.
  > opacity: | The opacity of the text.
  > width: | width of the text.
  > z: | Optional z position. When specified, the text is positioned in 3D

## text3d

`mayavi.mlab.``text3d`(*args, **kwargs)

  Positions text at a 3D location in the scene.

  Function signature:

      text3d(x, y, z, text, ...)

  x, y, and z are the position of the origin of the text. The text is positionned in 3D, in figure coordinnates.

  Keyword arguments:

  > color: | the color of the vtk object. Overides the colormap, if any, when specified. This is specified as a triplet of float ranging from 0 to 1, eg (1, 1, 1) for white.
  > figure: | Must be a Scene or None.
  > line_width: | The width of the lines, if any used. Must be a float. Default: 2.0
  > name: | the name of the vtk object created.
  > opacity: | The overall opacity of the vtk object. Must be a float. Default: 1.0
  > orient_to_camera:
  > | if the text is kept oriented to the camera, or is pointing in a specific direction, regardless of the camera position. Must be a boolean. Default: True
  > orientation: | the angles giving the orientation of the text. If the text is oriented to the camera, these angles are referenced to the axis of the camera. If not, these angles are referenced to the z axis. Must be an array with shape (3,).
  > scale: | The scale of the text, in figure units. Either a float, or 3-tuple of floats.

## title

`mayavi.mlab.``title`(*args, **kwargs)

  Creates a title for the figure.

  Function signature:

      title(text, ...)

  Keyword arguments:

  > color: | the color of the vtk object. Overides the colormap, if any, when specified. This is specified as a triplet of float ranging from 0 to 1, eg (1, 1, 1) for white.
  > figure: | Must be a Scene or None.
  > height: | height of the title, in portion of the figure height
  > line_width: | The width of the lines, if any used. Must be a float. Default: 2.0
  > name: | the name of the vtk object created.
  > opacity: | The overall opacity of the vtk object. Must be a float. Default: 1.0
  > size: | the size of the title

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