How to Set a Fixed Axis Range in Plotly When Using Restyle

Discover how to maintain a `fixed y-axis range` in Plotly during interactive updates with this easy-to-follow guide.
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How to Set a Fixed Axis Range in Plotly When Using Restyle

Plotly is a powerful library for creating interactive plots in Python. However, many users face the challenge of maintaining a consistent y-axis range when their plots are updated dynamically. If you've been struggling with how to keep your y-axis from adjusting automatically while using interactive buttons to switch data sets in Plotly, you're not alone. In this guide, we’ll explore a solution that keeps the y-axis range fixed during updates. Let’s dive in!

The Problem

When you create an interactive line plot in Plotly with multiple buttons that let users select different datasets to visualize, you might encounter the issue where the y-axis range changes unexpectedly as you switch between data views. This happens when Plotly’s autorange feature automatically recalibrates the scale based on the data being displayed.

For many scenarios, particularly for comparative visualizations, it’s important to maintain a fixed axis range to ensure clarity. Users expect to see their data in a stable and consistent environment, so let's explore how we can achieve this.

The Solution

To keep the y-axis range fixed while using the restyle method with buttons, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Create Your Dataframes

First, set up your dataframes with random data. Here’s an example where we use NumPy and Pandas to create two sample dataframes containing cumulative sums of random integers.

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 2: Initialize the Plot

Create a Plotly figure and add traces for your datasets. Instead of specifying the type of the trace in your buttons, simply remove the line that sets the type to 'scatter' in the button definition.

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Step 3: Set Fixed Y-Axis Range

Now, here’s where the magic happens. Instead of allowing Plotly to automatically adjust the y-axis, expressly set the range using the min and max values from the dataframes involved. This ensures that no matter which dataset is being displayed, the y-axis remains stable.

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Complete Example

After defining the buttons and setting up your figure, your complete plotting code will resemble the following:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Summary

By removing the type: 'scatter' attribute in the button configuration and explicitly setting the y-axis range based on the data values, you can effectively maintain a fixed y-axis range in your Plotly plots when switching between datasets. This simple adjustment will elevate the clarity and professionalism of your interactive visualizations.

Now that you’re armed with this solution, give it a go and enhance your Plotly plots today!