Initial subplot tutorial example

Translated and adapted from https://github.com/gmt-china/GMT_Docs/blob/master/source/tutorial/subplot.rst. Covers basics of using pygmt subplot begin, set and end. Still need to handle gmt "set" using index instead of just row and col.

Author: weiji14

doc/index.rst

@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
     projections/index.rst
     tutorials/coastlines.rst
     tutorials/plot.rst
+    tutorials/subplots.rst
 
 .. toctree::
     :maxdepth: 2

examples/tutorials/subplots.py

@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+"""
+Subplots
+========
+
+When you're preparing a figure for a paper, there will often be times when
+you'll need to put many individual plots into one large figure, and label them
+'abcd'. These individual plots are called subplots.
+
+There are two main ways to handle subplots in GMT:
+
+- Use :meth:`pygmt.Figure.shift_origin` to manually move each individual plot
+  to the right position.
+- Use :meth:`pygmt.Figure.subplot` to define the layout of the subplots.
+
+The first method is easier to use and should handle simple cases involving a
+couple of subplots. For more advanced subplot layouts however, we recommend the
+use of :meth:`pygmt.Figure.subplot` which offers finer grained control, and
+this is what the tutorial below will cover.
+"""
+
+###############################################################################
+# Let's start by importing the PyGMT library and initiating a figure.
+
+import pygmt
+
+fig = pygmt.Figure()
+
+###############################################################################
+# Define subplot layout
+# ---------------------
+#
+# The ``fig.subplot(directive="begin")`` command is used to setup the layout,
+# size, and other attributes of the figure. It divides the whole canvas into
+# regular grid areas with n rows and m columns. Each grid area can contain an
+# individual subplot. For example:
+
+fig.subplot(directive="begin", row=2, col=3, dimensions="s5c/3c", frame="lrtb")
+
+###############################################################################
+# will define our figure to have a 2 row and 3 column grid layout.
+# ``dimensions="s5c/3c"`` specifies that each 's'ubplot will have a width of
+# 5cm and height of 3cm. Alternatively, you can set ``dimensions="f15c/6c"`` to
+# define the overall size of the 'f'igure to be 15cm wide by 6cm high. Using
+# ``frame="lrtb"`` allows us to customize the map frame for all subplots. The
+# figure layout will look like the following:
+
+for index in range(2 * 3):
+    i = index // 3  # row
+    j = index % 3  # column
+    fig.subplot(directive="set", row=i, col=j)
+    fig.text(
+        x=0.5, y=0.5, text=f"index: {index}, row: {i}, col: {j}", region=[0, 1, 0, 1],
+    )
+fig.subplot(directive="end")
+fig.show()
+
+###############################################################################
+# The ``fig.subplot(directive="set")`` command activates a specified subplot,
+# and all subsequent plotting commands will take place in that subplot. In
+# order to specify a subplot, you will need to know the identifier for each
+# subplot. This can be done by setting the ``row`` and ``col`` arguments.
+
+###############################################################################
+# .. note::
+#
+#     The row and column numbering starts from 0. So for a subplot layout with
+#     N rows and M columns, row numbers will go from 0 to N-1, and column
+#     numbers will go from 0 to M-1.
+
+###############################################################################
+# For example, to activate the subplot on the top right corner (index: 2) so
+# that all subsequent plotting commands happen there, you can use the following
+# command:
+
+###############################################################################
+# .. code-block:: default
+#
+#     fig.subplot(directive="set", row=0, col=2)
+
+###############################################################################
+# Finally, remember to use ``fig.subplot(directive="end")`` to exit the subplot
+# mode.
+
+###############################################################################
+# .. code-block:: default
+#
+#     fig.subplot(directive="end")

pygmt/base_plotting.py

@@ -911,6 +911,8 @@ def subplot(self, directive: str, row: int = None, col: int = None, **kwargs):
             The number of columns if using the 'begin' directive, or the column
             number if using the 'set' directive. First column is 0, not 1.
         dimensions : str
+            ``[f|s]width(s)/height(s)[+fwfracs/hfracs][+cdx/dy][+gfill][+ppen]
+            [+wpen]``
             Specify the dimensions of the figure when using the 'begin'
             directive. There are two different ways to do this: (f) Specify
             overall figure dimensions or (s) specify the dimensions of a single