setup.py updateplotlyjs does not support repos other than plotly.py

[zouhairm]

I have a PR in plotly.js to add a feature for scattermapbox. Unfortunately the PR is taking a while to merge, and I'm looking for a way to use my fork in the meantime.

I've tried following the instructions on how to update to a new plotly.js, but unfortunately the setup script does not allow specifying a version that is not an official plotly release. I've tried posting a question in the community forums, but @nicolaskruchten suggested I post here instead.

I've created a branch in my plotly.py fork that changes setup.py to support a non-plotly remote#branch. I've tried using this, but I'm not sure it's enough as it's not clear how I tell plotly.py to use that version instead of plotly.js from a CDN ?

I'd love some help on making this possible. Happy to turn my branch into a PR and update the contributing documentation for others in the future.

[nicolaskruchten]

So the closest thing we've got to what you're trying to do is the python setup.py updateplotlyjsdev command, which reruns code generation based not on a published version of Plotly.js, but one that is sitting in a CircleCI artifact (the one in the latest build of Plotly.js master). You may be able to run down how this works inside setup.py to create a variant script that will work given an arbitrary URL to a (built) Plotly.js bundle... Hopefully that's enough of a thread to start pulling on!

[zouhairm]

Thanks @nicolaskruchten
I think that's what I needed and from the looks of it I should be able to get things working this way for now. I'll create a PR to plotly.py to make updateplotlyjsdev accept a repo and branch name (other than master).

[nicolaskruchten]

Closed with a very neat #2349 :) Thanks again!