Add docstring + example + docs + changelog for #4744

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+- `contourf` (contour filled) now supports _curvilinear_ grids, where `x` and `y` are matrices (`contour` lines were added in v.0.22.0) [#4670](https://github.com/MakieOrg/Makie.jl/pull/4670).
+
 ## [0.22.1] - 2025-01-17
 
 - Allow volume textures for mesh color, to e.g. implement a performant volume slice display [#2274](https://github.com/MakieOrg/Makie.jl/pull/2274).

ReferenceTests/src/tests/examples2d.jl

@@ -894,6 +894,28 @@ end
     fig
 end
 
+@reference_test "filled contour 2d with curvilinear grid" begin
+    x = -10:10
+    y = -10:10
+    # The curvilinear grid:
+    xs = [x + 0.01y^3 for x in x, y in y]
+    ys = [y + 10cos(x/40) for x in x, y in y]
+
+    # Now, for simplicity, we calculate the `Z` values to be
+    # the radius from the center of the grid (0, 10).
+    zs = sqrt.(xs .^ 2 .+ (ys .- 10) .^ 2)
+
+    # We can use Makie's tick finders to get some nice looking contour levels.
+    # This could also be Makie.get_tickvalues(Makie.LinearTicks(7), extrema(zs)...)
+    # but it's more stable as a test if we hardcode it.
+    levels = 0:4:20
+
+    # and now, we plot!
+    fig, ax, ctr = contourf(xs, ys, zs; levels = levels)
+
+    fig
+end
+
 @reference_test "contour labels 3D" begin
     fig = Figure()
     Axis3(fig[1, 1])

docs/src/reference/plots/contourf.md

@@ -84,6 +84,37 @@ contourf!(volcano, levels = 10)
 f
 ```
 
+
+
+### Curvilinear grids
+
+`contourf` also supports _curvilinear_ grids, where `x` and `y` are both matrices of the same size as `z`.
+This is similar to the input that [`surface`](@ref) accepts.
+
+Let's warp a regular grid of `x` and `y` by some nonlinear function, and plot its contours:
+
+```@figure
+x = -10:10
+y = -10:10
+# The curvilinear grid:
+xs = [x + 0.01y^3 for x in x, y in y]
+ys = [y + 10cos(x/40) for x in x, y in y]
+# Now, for simplicity, we calculate the `zs` values to be
+# the radius from the center of the grid (0, 10).
+zs = sqrt.(xs .^ 2 .+ (ys .- 10) .^ 2)
+# We can use Makie's tick finders to get some nice looking contour levels:
+levels = Makie.get_tickvalues(Makie.LinearTicks(7), extrema(zs)...)
+# and now, we plot!
+f = Figure()
+ax1 = Axis(f[1, 1])
+ctrf1 = contourf!(ax1, x, y, zs; levels = levels)
+ax2 = Axis(f[1, 2])
+ctrf2 = contourf!(ax2, xs, ys, zs; levels = levels)
+f
+```
+
+
+
 ## Attributes
 
 ```@attrdocs

src/basic_recipes/contourf.jl

@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@
 
 Plots a filled contour of the height information in `zs` at horizontal grid positions `xs`
 and vertical grid positions `ys`.
+
+`xs` and `ys` can be vectors for rectilinear grids
+or matrices for curvilinear grids,
+similar to how [`surface`](@ref) works.
 """
 @recipe Contourf begin
     """
@@ -20,7 +24,7 @@ and vertical grid positions `ys`.
     Determines how the `levels` attribute is interpreted, either `:normal` or `:relative`.
     In `:normal` mode, the levels correspond directly to the z values.
     In `:relative` mode, you specify edges by the fraction between minimum and maximum value of `zs`.
-    This can be used for example to draw bands for the upper 90% while excluding the lower 10% with `levels = 0.1:0.1:1.0, mode = :relative`.    
+    This can be used for example to draw bands for the upper 90% while excluding the lower 10% with `levels = 0.1:0.1:1.0, mode = :relative`.
     """
     mode = :normal
     colormap = @inherit colormap
@@ -79,8 +83,8 @@ This is an internal function, not public API and should not be treated as such.
 uses Isoband.jl internally.
 """
 function calculate_contourf_polys!(
-        polys::AbstractVector{<:GeometryBasics.Polygon}, colors::AbstractVector, 
-        xs::AbstractVector, ys::AbstractVector, zs::AbstractMatrix, 
+        polys::AbstractVector{<:GeometryBasics.Polygon}, colors::AbstractVector,
+        xs::AbstractVector, ys::AbstractVector, zs::AbstractMatrix,
         lows::AbstractVector, highs::AbstractVector
     )
     empty!(polys)
@@ -110,8 +114,8 @@ end
 # Here, we simply use a linear interpolation to transform the points before storing them.
 
 function calculate_contourf_polys!(
-        polys::AbstractVector{<:GeometryBasics.Polygon}, colors::AbstractVector, 
-        xs::AbstractMatrix, ys::AbstractMatrix, zs::AbstractMatrix, 
+        polys::AbstractVector{<:GeometryBasics.Polygon}, colors::AbstractVector,
+        xs::AbstractMatrix, ys::AbstractMatrix, zs::AbstractMatrix,
         lows::AbstractVector, highs::AbstractVector
     )
     empty!(polys)
@@ -141,7 +145,7 @@ function calculate_contourf_polys!(
         points = Point2f.(group.x, group.y)
         polygroups = _group_polys(points, group.id)
         for rectilinear_polygroup in polygroups
-            # NOTE: This is the only major change between the two versions 
+            # NOTE: This is the only major change between the two versions
             # of the function `calculate_contourf_polys!`.
             # we reproject the lines to curvilinear space
             polygroup = map(rectilinear_polygroup) do ring