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DOC: Clarify backslash escaping for hatch patterns #32078

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DOC: Clarify backslash escaping for hatch patterns #32078

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2988c3d
DOC: Clarify backslash escaping for hatch patterns
andrzejnovak Jul 20, 2026
b9d9f73
fix: Apply suggestions from code review
andrzejnovak Jul 21, 2026
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10 changes: 8 additions & 2 deletions galleries/examples/shapes_and_collections/hatch_style_reference.py
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -35,10 +35,16 @@ def hatches_plot(ax, h):

# %%
# Hatching patterns can be repeated to increase the density.
#
# .. note::
# In regular (non-raw) Python strings, backslashes must be escaped:
# ``'\\\\'`` and ``r'\\'`` are both the two-character hatch ``\\``.
# Forgetting this silently halves the density — ``'\\\\\\'`` is only a
# triple hatch and thus sparser than ``'//////'``.

fig, axs = plt.subplots(2, 5, layout='constrained', figsize=(6.4, 3.2))

hatches = ['//', '\\\\', '||', '--', '++', 'xx', 'oo', 'OO', '..', '**']
hatches = ['//', r'\\', '||', '--', '++', 'xx', 'oo', 'OO', '..', '**']

for ax, h in zip(axs.flat, hatches):
hatches_plot(ax, h)
Expand All @@ -48,7 +54,7 @@ def hatches_plot(ax, h):

fig, axs = plt.subplots(2, 5, layout='constrained', figsize=(6.4, 3.2))

hatches = ['/o', '\\|', '|*', '-\\', '+o', 'x*', 'o-', 'O|', 'O.', '*-']
hatches = ['/o', r'\|', '|*', r'\-', '+o', 'x*', 'o-', 'O|', 'O.', '*-']

for ax, h in zip(axs.flat, hatches):
hatches_plot(ax, h)
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions lib/matplotlib/patches.py
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Expand Up @@ -637,6 +637,9 @@ def set_hatch(self, hatch):
hatchings are done. If same letter repeats, it increases the
density of hatching of that pattern.

In regular (non-raw) Python strings, backslashes must be doubled:
``'\\\\'`` and ``r'\\'`` are both a double back-diagonal hatch.

Parameters
----------
hatch : {'/', '\\', '|', '-', '+', 'x', 'o', 'O', '.', '*'}
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