[BUG] Plots don't render using Plotly in v1.37 ("_display is not defined for this backend")

[niclasmattsson]

Using Plotly in version 1.37 returns "_display is not defined for this backend" and no plot is rendered. The same error is reported in old issues like #2407 and #2698, but in those issues the problem was calling plotly() inside a function. That is not the case here. MWE below, which works just fine in Plots 1.36 but not in 1.37.

julia> using Plots

julia> plotly()
┌ Warning: For saving to png with the `Plotly` backend `PlotlyBase` and `PlotlyKaleido` need to be installed.
│   err =
│    ArgumentError: Package PlotlyBase not found in current path.
│    - Run `import Pkg; Pkg.add("PlotlyBase")` to install the PlotlyBase package.
└ @ Plots C:\Users\niclas\.julia\packages\Plots\m8l21\src\backends.jl:508
Plots.PlotlyBackend()

julia> plot(rand(10))  # No plot rendered.
┌ Warning: _display is not defined for this backend.
└ @ Plots C:\Users\niclas\.julia\packages\Plots\m8l21\src\output.jl:216

HOWEVER, there's a weird workaround...

Installing and using PlotlyJS but still running the plotly() backend works in 1.37.

julia> using Plots, PlotlyJS

julia> plotly()
┌ Warning: For saving to png with the `Plotly` backend `PlotlyBase` and `PlotlyKaleido` need to be installed.
│   err =
│    ArgumentError: Package PlotlyBase not found in current path, maybe you meant `import/using .PlotlyBase`.
│    - Otherwise, run `import Pkg; Pkg.add("PlotlyBase")` to install the PlotlyBase package.
└ @ Plots C:\Users\niclas\.julia\packages\Plots\m8l21\src\backends.jl:508
Plots.PlotlyBackend()

julia> Plots.plot(rand(10))   # Works, renders in default web browser.

Backends

This bug occurs on ( insert x below )

(FYI there's no plotly line in the default issue template.)

Backend	yes	no	untested
gr (default)		x
plotly	x
pyplot			x
plotlyjs		x
pgfplotsx			x
unicodeplots			x
inspectdr			x
gaston			x

Versions

Plots.jl version: 1.37
Backend version (]st -m <backend(s)>): not relevant, Plotly built-in
Output of versioninfo():

Julia Version 1.8.2
Commit 36034abf26 (2022-09-29 15:21 UTC)
Platform Info:
  OS: Windows (x86_64-w64-mingw32)
  CPU: 16 × AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX with Radeon Graphics
  WORD_SIZE: 64
  LIBM: libopenlibm
  LLVM: libLLVM-13.0.1 (ORCJIT, znver3)
  Threads: 14 on 16 virtual cores
Environment:
  JULIA_EDITOR = "C:\Users\niclas\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\Code.exe"
  JULIA_NUM_THREADS = 14
  JULIA_PKG_DEVDIR = C:\Stuff\Julia

[t-bltg]

I know nothing about plotly, but did you install PlotlyBase and PlotlyKaleido as advised ?

The issues you linked are unrelated, since they have been reported for the pyplot backend.

[niclasmattsson]

Yes. That went even worse. After installing PlotlyKaleido, running plotly() spawns three kaleiodo.exe processes and never terminates.

[BeastyBlacksmith]

Does it work in Plots v1.36 ?

That you get the warning shows, that it doesn't find those packages. However, display should work without these

[BeastyBlacksmith]

Can confirm this is an regression of 1.37.0:

(@plots1.0) pkg> st Plots
Status `~/.julia/environments/plots1.0/Project.toml`
⌃ [91a5bcdd] Plots v1.36.1
Info Packages marked with ⌃ have new versions available

julia> using Plots; plotly(); plot(rand(10))
┌ Warning: For saving to png with the `Plotly` backend `PlotlyBase` and `PlotlyKaleido` need to be installed.
│   err =
│    ArgumentError: Package PlotlyKaleido not found in current path.
│    - Run `import Pkg; Pkg.add("PlotlyKaleido")` to install the PlotlyKaleido package.
└ @ Plots ~/.julia/packages/Plots/gzYVM/src/backends.jl:420

julia> Wird in einer aktuellen Browsersitzung geöffnet.

(@plots1.0) pkg> st Plots
Status `~/.julia/environments/plots1.0/Project.toml`
  [91a5bcdd] Plots v1.37.0

julia> using Plots; plotly(); plot(rand(10))
[ Info: Precompiling PlotlyBase [a03496cd-edff-5a9b-9e67-9cda94a718b5]
┌ Warning: For saving to png with the `Plotly` backend `PlotlyBase` and `PlotlyKaleido` need to be installed.
│   err =
│    ArgumentError: Package PlotlyKaleido not found in current path.
│    - Run `import Pkg; Pkg.add("PlotlyKaleido")` to install the PlotlyKaleido package.
└ @ Plots ~/.julia/packages/Plots/m8l21/src/backends.jl:508
┌ Warning: _display is not defined for this backend.

[t-bltg]

That you get the warning shows, that it doesn't find those packages. However, display should work without these

I don't understand this: how do you expect the backend to work if the plotly dependencies are not installed ?

[BeastyBlacksmith]

The javascript part of plotly is installed at installation time via Artifacts

[t-bltg]

What ? Where ? Anyway, most certainly introduced by #4566.

[BeastyBlacksmith]

Ah I remembered it wrong. You can get a local version in a scratchspace, see #3067.
Either way you still need PlotlyBase, but PlotlyKaleido only for file output.

But its still broken anyways.