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Archived discussions · Captured October 28, 2026

How to reverse x-axis direction

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HR_Gartenbauer
HR_GartenbauerOct 29, 2014   #1

I need a line to be plotted from high to low values on the x axis.

from bokeh.plotting import line

import numpy as np

x = np.arange(0,10)

y = np.range(0,10)

plot = line(x,y)

Produces a line plot as expected.

But I need the values to be plotted from 9 to 0, from left to right, on the X axis.

If I do this:

x = np.arange(9,-1,-1)

y = np.arange(9,-1,-1)

plot = line(x,y)

The data is still plotted in increasing order on the x axis.

The plot is identical to the first example.

How can I reverse the X axis direction?

Thanks…

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Bryan
BryanOct 29, 2014   #2

For the time being, you will need to supply an explicit range yourself that starts and ends where you want:

  plot = line(x,y, x_range=(10,0))

There is not currently any way to have an "auto range" that has the direction reversed from the normal sense.

To clarify why what you tried did not work, x and y are just data coordinates, they have no intrinsic relation to the plot range. In the general case, x and y would not be monotonic sequences, so in general there is no way to infer a range direction just from them. The range direction has to be stipulated by the user according to what they want.

Bryan

···

On Oct 29, 2014, at 10:03 AM, HR Gartenbauer <hrgartenbauer@gmail.com> wrote:

I need a line to be plotted from high to low values on the x axis.

from bokeh.plotting import line
import numpy as np

x = np.arange(0,10)
y = np.range(0,10)
plot = line(x,y)

Produces a line plot as expected.
But I need the values to be plotted from 9 to 0, from left to right, on the X axis.

If I do this:

x = np.arange(9,-1,-1)
y = np.arange(9,-1,-1)
plot = line(x,y)

The data is still plotted in increasing order on the x axis.
The plot is identical to the first example.

How can I reverse the X axis direction?

Thanks...

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HR_Gartenbauer
HR_GartenbauerOct 29, 2014   #3

Thanks Bryan, that works.
However specifying x_range to reverse the x axis has a side effect.

The y axis ticks are now placed on the right side of the plot, and are internal to the plot, that is the tick marks and labels are on the right side and are drawn inside the plot box.

So not only is the x axis reversed, the y axis tick marks are automatically placed at the low-value end of the x axis (the right side).

I’ve attached a screen shot.

···

On Wednesday, October 29, 2014 10:44:26 AM UTC-5, Bryan Van de ven wrote:

For the time being, you will need to supply an explicit range yourself that starts and ends where you want:

    plot = line(x,y, x_range=(10,0))

There is not currently any way to have an “auto range” that has the direction reversed from the normal sense.

To clarify why what you tried did not work, x and y are just data coordinates, they have no intrinsic relation to the plot range. In the general case, x and y would not be monotonic sequences, so in general there is no way to infer a range direction just from them. The range direction has to be stipulated by the user according to what they want.

Bryan

On Oct 29, 2014, at 10:03 AM, HR Gartenbauer hrgart...@gmail.com wrote:

I need a line to be plotted from high to low values on the x axis.

from bokeh.plotting import line

import numpy as np

x = np.arange(0,10)

y = np.range(0,10)

plot = line(x,y)

Produces a line plot as expected.

But I need the values to be plotted from 9 to 0, from left to right, on the X axis.

If I do this:

x = np.arange(9,-1,-1)

y = np.arange(9,-1,-1)

plot = line(x,y)

The data is still plotted in increasing order on the x axis.

The plot is identical to the first example.

How can I reverse the X axis direction?

Thanks…

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For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/a/continuum.io/d/optout.

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Bryan
BryanOct 29, 2014   #4

This was actually fixed in master the other day:

  range start is always left/bottom, end is always right/top by bryevdv · Pull Request #1346 · bokeh/bokeh · GitHub

For now you would have to build Bokeh from the source to pick up this fix, but we should have a dev build available for users towards the end of the week, and the 0.7 release will be in mid-November (with a release candidate before then).

Bryan

···

On Oct 29, 2014, at 11:44 AM, HR Gartenbauer <hrgartenbauer@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks Bryan, that works.
However specifying x_range to reverse the x axis has a side effect.
The y axis ticks are now placed on the right side of the plot, and are internal to the plot, that is the tick marks and labels are on the right side and are drawn inside the plot box.
So not only is the x axis reversed, the y axis tick marks are automatically placed at the low-value end of the x axis (the right side).
I've attached a screen shot.

On Wednesday, October 29, 2014 10:44:26 AM UTC-5, Bryan Van de ven wrote:
For the time being, you will need to supply an explicit range yourself that starts and ends where you want:

        plot = line(x,y, x_range=(10,0))

There is not currently any way to have an "auto range" that has the direction reversed from the normal sense.

To clarify why what you tried did not work, x and y are just data coordinates, they have no intrinsic relation to the plot range. In the general case, x and y would not be monotonic sequences, so in general there is no way to infer a range direction just from them. The range direction has to be stipulated by the user according to what they want.

Bryan

> On Oct 29, 2014, at 10:03 AM, HR Gartenbauer <hrgart...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> I need a line to be plotted from high to low values on the x axis.
>
> from bokeh.plotting import line
> import numpy as np
>
> x = np.arange(0,10)
> y = np.range(0,10)
> plot = line(x,y)
>
> Produces a line plot as expected.
> But I need the values to be plotted from 9 to 0, from left to right, on the X axis.
>
> If I do this:
>
> x = np.arange(9,-1,-1)
> y = np.arange(9,-1,-1)
> plot = line(x,y)
>
> The data is still plotted in increasing order on the x axis.
> The plot is identical to the first example.
>
> How can I reverse the X axis direction?
>
> Thanks...
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Bokeh Discussion - Public" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bokeh+un...@continuum.io.
> To post to this group, send email to bo...@continuum.io.
> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/a/continuum.io/d/msgid/bokeh/fc4c6b86-2196-4484-ae8e-940665c933c2%40continuum.io\.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/a/continuum.io/d/optout\.

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<bokeh_axes.png>

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HR_Gartenbauer
HR_GartenbauerOct 29, 2014   #5

Thanks again, Bryan.

···

On Wednesday, October 29, 2014 11:47:30 AM UTC-5, Bryan Van de ven wrote:

This was actually fixed in master the other day:

    [https://github.com/bokeh/bokeh/pull/1346](https://github.com/bokeh/bokeh/pull/1346)

For now you would have to build Bokeh from the source to pick up this fix, but we should have a dev build available for users towards the end of the week, and the 0.7 release will be in mid-November (with a release candidate before then).

Bryan

On Oct 29, 2014, at 11:44 AM, HR Gartenbauer hrgart...@gmail.com wrote:

Thanks Bryan, that works.

However specifying x_range to reverse the x axis has a side effect.

The y axis ticks are now placed on the right side of the plot, and are internal to the plot, that is the tick marks and labels are on the right side and are drawn inside the plot box.

So not only is the x axis reversed, the y axis tick marks are automatically placed at the low-value end of the x axis (the right side).

I’ve attached a screen shot.

On Wednesday, October 29, 2014 10:44:26 AM UTC-5, Bryan Van de ven wrote:

For the time being, you will need to supply an explicit range yourself that starts and ends where you want:

    plot = line(x,y, x_range=(10,0))

There is not currently any way to have an “auto range” that has the direction reversed from the normal sense.

To clarify why what you tried did not work, x and y are just data coordinates, they have no intrinsic relation to the plot range. In the general case, x and y would not be monotonic sequences, so in general there is no way to infer a range direction just from them. The range direction has to be stipulated by the user according to what they want.

Bryan

On Oct 29, 2014, at 10:03 AM, HR Gartenbauer hrgart...@gmail.com wrote:

I need a line to be plotted from high to low values on the x axis.

from bokeh.plotting import line
import numpy as np

x = np.arange(0,10)
y = np.range(0,10)
plot = line(x,y)

Produces a line plot as expected.
But I need the values to be plotted from 9 to 0, from left to right, on the X axis.

If I do this:

x = np.arange(9,-1,-1)
y = np.arange(9,-1,-1)
plot = line(x,y)

The data is still plotted in increasing order on the x axis.
The plot is identical to the first example.

How can I reverse the X axis direction?

Thanks…

–
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For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/a/continuum.io/d/optout.

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<bokeh_axes.png>

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Nicolas_Paris
Nicolas_ParisMar 12, 2015   #6

Hi,

for anyone who tries this solution, it doesn’t work anymore.

x_range & y_range need to be passed directly to the figure (i guess it’s more logical)

example :

import numpy as np

import bokeh.plotting as bk

from bokeh.models import Range1d

x = np.arange(0,10)

y = np.arange(0,10)

yr = Range1d(start=10,end=0)

xr = Range1d(start=0,end=10)

Will work :

p4 = bk.figure(y_range=yr, x_range=xr)

p4.line(x,y)

bk.show(p4)

Will fail :

p4 = bk.figure()

p4.line(x,y, y_range=yr, x_range=xr)

bk.show(p4)

···

On Thursday, 30 October 2014 01:00:11 UTC+8, HR Gartenbauer wrote:

Thanks again, Bryan.

On Wednesday, October 29, 2014 11:47:30 AM UTC-5, Bryan Van de ven wrote:

This was actually fixed in master the other day:

    [https://github.com/bokeh/bokeh/pull/1346](https://github.com/bokeh/bokeh/pull/1346)

For now you would have to build Bokeh from the source to pick up this fix, but we should have a dev build available for users towards the end of the week, and the 0.7 release will be in mid-November (with a release candidate before then).

Bryan

On Oct 29, 2014, at 11:44 AM, HR Gartenbauer hrgart...@gmail.com wrote:

Thanks Bryan, that works.

However specifying x_range to reverse the x axis has a side effect.

The y axis ticks are now placed on the right side of the plot, and are internal to the plot, that is the tick marks and labels are on the right side and are drawn inside the plot box.

So not only is the x axis reversed, the y axis tick marks are automatically placed at the low-value end of the x axis (the right side).

I’ve attached a screen shot.

On Wednesday, October 29, 2014 10:44:26 AM UTC-5, Bryan Van de ven wrote:

For the time being, you will need to supply an explicit range yourself that starts and ends where you want:

    plot = line(x,y, x_range=(10,0))

There is not currently any way to have an “auto range” that has the direction reversed from the normal sense.

To clarify why what you tried did not work, x and y are just data coordinates, they have no intrinsic relation to the plot range. In the general case, x and y would not be monotonic sequences, so in general there is no way to infer a range direction just from them. The range direction has to be stipulated by the user according to what they want.

Bryan

On Oct 29, 2014, at 10:03 AM, HR Gartenbauer hrgart...@gmail.com wrote:

I need a line to be plotted from high to low values on the x axis.

from bokeh.plotting import line
import numpy as np

x = np.arange(0,10)
y = np.range(0,10)
plot = line(x,y)

Produces a line plot as expected.
But I need the values to be plotted from 9 to 0, from left to right, on the X axis.

If I do this:

x = np.arange(9,-1,-1)
y = np.arange(9,-1,-1)
plot = line(x,y)

The data is still plotted in increasing order on the x axis.
The plot is identical to the first example.

How can I reverse the X axis direction?

Thanks…

–
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For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/a/continuum.io/d/optout.

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<bokeh_axes.png>

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