Wrap subplot using with statement

.pylintrc

@@ -441,6 +441,7 @@ function-naming-style=snake_case
 good-names=i,
            j,
            k,
+           ax,
            ex,
            Run,
            _,

doc/api/index.rst

@@ -34,7 +34,9 @@ Plotting data and laying out the map:
     Figure.legend
     Figure.logo
     Figure.image
+    Figure.sca
     Figure.shift_origin
+    Figure.subplot
     Figure.text
     Figure.meca
 

doc/index.rst

@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
     tutorials/coastlines.rst
     tutorials/regions.rst
     tutorials/plot.rst
+    tutorials/subplots.rst
     tutorials/lines.rst
     tutorials/text.rst
     tutorials/contour-map.rst

examples/tutorials/subplots.py

@@ -0,0 +1,239 @@
+"""
+Subplots
+========
+
+When you're preparing a figure for a paper, there will often be times when
+you'll need to put many individual plots into one large figure, and label them
+'abcd'. These individual plots are called subplots.
+
+There are two main ways to create subplots in GMT:
+
+- Use :meth:`pygmt.Figure.shift_origin` to manually move each individual plot
+  to the right position.
+- Use :meth:`pygmt.Figure.subplot` to define the layout of the subplots.
+
+The first method is easier to use and should handle simple cases involving a
+couple of subplots. For more advanced subplot layouts however, we recommend the
+use of :meth:`pygmt.Figure.subplot` which offers finer grained control, and
+this is what the tutorial below will cover.
+"""
+
+###############################################################################
+# Let's start by importing the PyGMT library and initializing a Figure
+
+import pygmt
+
+fig = pygmt.Figure()
+
+###############################################################################
+# Define subplot layout
+# ---------------------
+#
+# The :meth:`pygmt.Figure.subplot` command is used to setup the layout, size,
+# and other attributes of the figure. It divides the whole canvas into regular
+# grid areas with n rows and m columns. Each grid area can contain an
+# individual subplot. For example:
+
+###############################################################################
+# .. code-block:: default
+#
+#     with fig.subplot(
+#        nrows=2, ncols=3, figsize=("15c", "6c"), frame="lrtb"
+#     ) as axs:
+#         ...
+
+###############################################################################
+# will define our figure to have a 2 row and 3 column grid layout.
+# ``figsize=("15c", "6c")`` defines the overall size of the figure to be 15cm
+# wide by 6cm high. Using ``frame="lrtb"`` allows us to customize the map frame
+# for all subplots instead of setting them individually. The figure layout will
+# look like the following:
+
+with fig.subplot(nrows=2, ncols=3, figsize=("15c", "6c"), frame="lrtb") as axs:
+    for index in axs.flatten():
+        i = index // axs.shape[1]  # row
+        j = index % axs.shape[1]  # column
+        with fig.sca(ax=axs[i, j]):  # sets the current Axes
+            fig.text(
+                position="MC",
+                text=f"index: {index}, row: {i}, col: {j}",
+                region=[0, 1, 0, 1],
+            )
+fig.show()
+
+###############################################################################
+# The :meth:`pygmt.Figure.sca` command activates a specified subplot, and all
+# subsequent plotting commands will take place in that subplot. This is similar
+# to matplotlib's ``plt.sca`` method. In order to specify a subplot, you will
+# need to provide the identifier for that subplot via the ``ax`` argument. This
+# can be found in the ``axs`` variable referenced by the ``row`` and ``col``
+# number.
+
+###############################################################################
+# .. note::
+#
+#     The row and column numbering starts from 0. So for a subplot layout with
+#     N rows and M columns, row numbers will go from 0 to N-1, and column
+#     numbers will go from 0 to M-1.
+
+###############################################################################
+# For example, to activate the subplot on the top right corner (index: 2) at
+# ``row=0`` and ``col=2``, so that all subsequent plotting commands happen
+# there, you can use the following command:
+
+###############################################################################
+# .. code-block:: default
+#
+#     with fig.sca(ax=axs[0, 2]):
+#         ...
+
+###############################################################################
+# Making your first subplot
+# -------------------------
+# Next, let's use what we learned above to make a 2 row by 2 column subplot
+# figure. We'll also pick up on some new parameters to configure our subplot.
+
+fig = pygmt.Figure()
+with fig.subplot(
+    nrows=2,
+    ncols=2,
+    figsize=("15c", "6c"),
+    autolabel=True,
+    margins=["0.1c", "0.2c"],
+    title='"My Subplot Heading"',
+) as axs:
+    fig.basemap(
+        region=[0, 10, 0, 10], projection="X?", frame=["af", "WSne"], ax=axs[0, 0]
+    )
+    fig.basemap(
+        region=[0, 20, 0, 10], projection="X?", frame=["af", "WSne"], ax=axs[0, 1]
+    )
+    fig.basemap(
+        region=[0, 10, 0, 20], projection="X?", frame=["af", "WSne"], ax=axs[1, 0]
+    )
+    fig.basemap(
+        region=[0, 20, 0, 20], projection="X?", frame=["af", "WSne"], ax=axs[1, 1]
+    )
+fig.show()
+
+###############################################################################
+# In this example, we define a 2-row, 2-column (2x2) subplot layout using
+# :meth:`pygmt.Figure.subplot`. The overall figure dimensions is set to be 15cm
+# wide and 6cm high (``figsize=["15c", "6c"]``). In addition, we used some
+# optional parameters to fine tune some details of the figure creation:
+#
+# - ``autolabel=True``: Each subplot is automatically labelled abcd
+# - ``margins=["0.1c", "0.2c"]``: adjusts the space between adjacent subplots.
+#   In this case, it is set as 0.1 cm in the X direction and 0.2 cm in the Y
+#   direction.
+# - ``title="My Subplot Heading"``: adds a title on top of the whole figure.
+#
+# Notice that each subplot was set to use a linear projection ``"X?"``.
+# Usually, we need to specify the width and height of the map frame, but it is
+# also possible to use a question mark ``"?"`` to let GMT decide automatically
+# on what is the most appropriate width/height for the each subplot's map
+# frame.
+
+###############################################################################
+# .. tip::
+#
+#     In the above example, we used the following commands to activate the
+#     four subplots explicitly one after another::
+#
+#         fig.basemap(..., ax=axs[0, 0])
+#         fig.basemap(..., ax=axs[0, 1])
+#         fig.basemap(..., ax=axs[1, 0])
+#         fig.basemap(..., ax=axs[1, 1])
+#
+#     In fact, we can just use ``fig.basemap(..., ax=True)`` without specifying
+#     any subplot index number, and GMT will automatically activate the next
+#     subplot.
+
+###############################################################################
+# Shared X and Y axis labels
+# --------------------------
+# In the example above with the four subplots, the two subplots for each row
+# have the same Y-axis range, and the two subplots for each column have the
+# same X-axis range. You can use the **layout** option to set a common X and/or
+# Y axis between subplots.
+
+fig = pygmt.Figure()
+with fig.subplot(
+    nrows=2,
+    ncols=2,
+    figsize=("15c", "6c"),
+    autolabel=True,
+    margins=["0.3c", "0.2c"],
+    title='"My Subplot Heading"',
+    layout=["Rl", "Cb"],
+    frame="WSrt",
+) as axs:
+    fig.basemap(region=[0, 10, 0, 10], projection="X?", ax=True)
+    fig.basemap(region=[0, 20, 0, 10], projection="X?", ax=True)
+    fig.basemap(region=[0, 10, 0, 20], projection="X?", ax=True)
+    fig.basemap(region=[0, 20, 0, 20], projection="X?", ax=True)
+fig.show()
+
+###############################################################################
+# **Rl** indicates that subplots within a **R**\ ow will share the y-axis, and
+# only the **l**\ eft axis is displayed. **Cb** indicates that subplots in
+# a column will share the x-axis, and only the **b**\ ottom axis is displayed.
+#
+# Of course, instead of using the **layout** option, you can also set a
+# different **frame** for each subplot to control the axis properties
+# individually for each subplot.
+
+###############################################################################
+# Advanced subplot layouts
+# ------------------------
+#
+# Nested subplot are currently not supported. If you want to create more
+# complex subplot layouts, some manual adjustments are needed.
+#
+# The following example draws three subplots in a 2-row, 2-column layout, with
+# the first subplot occupying the first row.
+
+fig = pygmt.Figure()
+with fig.subplot(nrows=2, ncols=2, figsize=("15c", "6c"), autolabel=True):
+    fig.basemap(
+        region=[0, 10, 0, 10], projection="X15c/3c", frame=["af", "WSne"], ax=axs[0, 0]
+    )
+    fig.text(text="TEXT", x=5, y=5, projection="X15c/3c")
+    fig.basemap(
+        region=[0, 5, 0, 5], projection="X?", frame=["af", "WSne"], ax=axs[1, 0]
+    )
+    fig.basemap(
+        region=[0, 5, 0, 5], projection="X?", frame=["af", "WSne"], ax=axs[1, 1]
+    )
+fig.show()
+
+###############################################################################
+#
+# When drawing the three basemaps, the last two basemaps use
+# ``projection="X?"``, so GMT will automatically determine the size of the
+# subplot according to the size of the subplot area. In order for the first
+# subplot to fill up the entire top row space, we use manually adjusted the
+# subplot width to 15cm using ``projection="X15c/3c"``.
+
+###############################################################################
+# .. note::
+#
+#     There are bugs that have not been fixed in the above example.
+#
+#     In subplot mode, the size of each subgraph is controlled by the
+#     ``figsize`` option of :meth:`pygmt.Figure.subplot`. Users can override
+#     this and use``projection`` to specify the size of an individual subplot,
+#     but this size will not be remembered. If the next command does not
+#     specify``projection``, the default size of the subplot mode will be used,
+#     and the resulting plot will be inccorect.
+#
+#     The current workaround is to use the same ``projection`` option in all
+#     commands for the subplot. For example, we forced subplot (a) to have a
+#     different size using ``projection="15c/3c``. The next command within the
+#     subplot (e.g. ``text``) must also use ``projection="x15c/3c"``, otherwise
+#     the placement will be wrong.
+
+###############################################################################
+# Since we skipped the second subplot, the auto label function will name the
+# three subplots as a, c and d, which is not what we want, so we have to use
+# ``fig.sca(fixedlabel="(a)"`` to manually set the subplot label.

pygmt/base_plotting.py

@@ -1222,6 +1222,7 @@ def contour(self, x=None, y=None, z=None, data=None, **kwargs):
         V="verbose",
         X="xshift",
         Y="yshift",
+        c="ax",
         p="perspective",
         t="transparency",
     )
@@ -1265,9 +1266,9 @@ def basemap(self, **kwargs):
         {t}
         """
         kwargs = self._preprocess(**kwargs)
-        if not args_in_kwargs(args=["B", "L", "Td", "Tm"], kwargs=kwargs):
+        if not args_in_kwargs(args=["B", "L", "Td", "Tm", "c"], kwargs=kwargs):
             raise GMTInvalidInput(
-                "At least one of frame, map_scale, compass, or rose must be specified."
+                "At least one of frame, map_scale, compass, rose, or ax must be specified."
             )
         with Session() as lib:
             lib.call_module("basemap", build_arg_string(kwargs))
@@ -1642,5 +1643,5 @@ def text(
                 arg_str = " ".join([fname, build_arg_string(kwargs)])
                 lib.call_module("text", arg_str)
 
-    # GMT Supplementary modules
-    from pygmt.src import meca  # pylint: disable=import-outside-toplevel
+    # GMT plotting modules
+    from pygmt.src import meca, sca, subplot  # pylint: disable=import-outside-toplevel

pygmt/src/__init__.py

@@ -3,3 +3,4 @@
 """
 # pylint: disable=import-outside-toplevel
 from pygmt.src.meca import meca
+from pygmt.src.subplot import sca, subplot