PyX python scripts write files to disc but not to screen

Question

Hi: I have a win 7 64 bit machine and have tried using the examples for PyX (http://pyx.sourceforge.net/examples/drawing/index.html). I have tried them with python 2.7 and with 3.5 (In uninstalled 2.7 before installing 3.5). In all cases, PyX writes its files to my hard disc but nothing shows up on my computer screen?? Here is the first example, from: http://pyx.sourceforge.net/examples/drawing/path.html

from pyx import *

c = canvas.canvas()
c.stroke(path.line(0, 0, 3, 0))
c.stroke(path.rect(0, 1, 1, 1))
c.fill(path.circle(2.5, 1.5, 0.5))
c.writeEPSfile("path")
c.writePDFfile("path")
c.writeSVGfile("path")

Does anyone have an idea as to what is going wrong? Thanks, Steve

Answer 1

Did you read the documentation that you linked? It states that it is making a canvas object and writing it to several files. It doesn't state that it is also writing its object to the screen.

Description This first path example demonstrates how to create a canvas, how to draw some simple geometric objects onto it and how to write the result into a PostScript or PDF file. First we import all top-level symbols of the PyX package by the usual Python import statement. In the further examples we will always use this form of the import statement to make the PyX package available to our scripts. Now we can create a canvas instance c, onto which our basic paths are drawn. The later is done by passing some path instances (a line, a rectangle and a circle) to the strokes or fill methods of the canvas instance we just created and stored in the variable c. Finally, we call the writeEPSfile and writePDFfile methods of the canvas to create an EPS and a PDF file of our drawing. While typically you will only create either a PostScript or a PDF file, in our examples we always create both output formats to have them both available for download. This example, in addition, shows some basics of the PyX coordinate system. The first coordinate (often referred to as x) goes horizontally from left to right and the second coordinate (y) goes vertically from the bottom to the top. The default unit is 1 cm. The boundary of the resulting image is calculated automatically.

Reading the home page tell you that

PyX is a Python package for the creation of PostScript, PDF, and SVG files. It combines an abstraction of the PostScript drawing model with a TeX/LaTeX interface. Complex tasks like 2d and 3d plots in publication-ready quality are built out of these primitives.

It doesn't write to your screen. It does what it says it does.