Repository: plotly/plotly.py

Issue:
Allow users to control autoplay feature on Python animation frames
Hey all,

Loving the new animation functionality you've introduced!

It would be great if you could allow us to decide whether or not we want the animation to autoplay. 

For example, your GapMinder plot created with the Python API [here](https://plot.ly/python/animations/) autoplays, whilst the same plot with .js [here](https://plot.ly/javascript/animations/) doesn't.

Cheers!


Discussion:
Hi, just a quick comment for a workaround: If you have your plot in the `pl1` object, you can get rid of autoplaying by:
`pl1 = re.sub("\\.then\\(function\\(\\)\\{Plotly\\.animate\\(\\'[0-9a-zA-Z-]*\\'\\)\\;\\}\\)", "", pl1)`

Full example:
```python
pl1 = plot(fig, output_type='div')
pl1 = re.sub("\\.then\\(function\\(\\)\\{Plotly\\.animate\\(\\'[0-9a-zA-Z-]*\\'\\)\\;\\}\\)", "", pl1)
with open(fname, 'w') as fd:
    fd.write("""<html>
<head>
</head>
<body>
{}
</body>
</html>
""".format(pl1))
```

It is of course a hack, but does the job for me
(bump) this is indeed a bit odd... @jonmmease any insight into why things autoplay and what it might take for them not to? a flag in `iplot()`?


Resolving patch:
diff --git a/plotly/offline/offline.py b/plotly/offline/offline.py
--- a/plotly/offline/offline.py
+++ b/plotly/offline/offline.py
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ def init_notebook_mode(connected=False):
 
 
 def _plot_html(figure_or_data, config, validate, default_width,
-               default_height, global_requirejs):
+               default_height, global_requirejs, auto_play):
 
     figure = tools.return_figure_from_figure_or_data(figure_or_data, validate)
 
@@ -348,13 +348,20 @@ def _plot_html(figure_or_data, config, validate, default_width,
                                                          'https://plot.ly')
 
     if jframes:
+        if auto_play:
+            animate = (".then(function(){" +
+                       "Plotly.animate('{id}');".format(id=plotdivid) +
+                       "})")
+        else:
+            animate = ''
+
         script = '''
         Plotly.plot(
             '{id}',
             {data},
             {layout},
             {config}
-        ).then(function () {add_frames}).then(function(){animate})
+        ).then(function () {add_frames}){animate}
         '''.format(
             id=plotdivid,
             data=jdata,
@@ -363,7 +370,7 @@ def _plot_html(figure_or_data, config, validate, default_width,
             add_frames="{" + "return Plotly.addFrames('{id}',{frames}".format(
                 id=plotdivid, frames=jframes
             ) + ");}",
-            animate="{" + "Plotly.animate('{id}');".format(id=plotdivid) + "}"
+            animate=animate
         )
     else:
         script = 'Plotly.newPlot("{id}", {data}, {layout}, {config})'.format(
@@ -397,7 +404,7 @@ def _plot_html(figure_or_data, config, validate, default_width,
 
 def iplot(figure_or_data, show_link=False, link_text='Export to plot.ly',
           validate=True, image=None, filename='plot_image', image_width=800,
-          image_height=600, config=None):
+          image_height=600, config=None, auto_play=True):
     """
     Draw plotly graphs inside an IPython or Jupyter notebook without
     connecting to an external server.
@@ -433,6 +440,9 @@ def iplot(figure_or_data, show_link=False, link_text='Export to plot.ly',
     config (default=None) -- Plot view options dictionary. Keyword arguments
         `show_link` and `link_text` set the associated options in this
         dictionary if it doesn't contain them already.
+    auto_play (default=True) -- Whether to automatically start the animation
+        sequence if the figure contains frames. Has no effect if the figure
+        does not contain frames.
 
     Example:
     ```
@@ -473,8 +483,7 @@ def iplot(figure_or_data, show_link=False, link_text='Export to plot.ly',
 
     if __PLOTLY_OFFLINE_INITIALIZED:
         plot_html, plotdivid, width, height = _plot_html(
-            figure_or_data, config, validate, '100%', 525, True
-        )
+            figure_or_data, config, validate, '100%', 525, True, auto_play)
         resize_script = ''
         if width == '100%' or height == '100%':
             resize_script = _build_resize_script(
@@ -515,7 +524,7 @@ def plot(figure_or_data, show_link=False, link_text='Export to plot.ly',
          validate=True, output_type='file', include_plotlyjs=True,
          filename='temp-plot.html', auto_open=True, image=None,
          image_filename='plot_image', image_width=800, image_height=600,
-         config=None, include_mathjax=False):
+         config=None, include_mathjax=False, auto_play=True):
     """ Create a plotly graph locally as an HTML document or string.
 
     Example:
@@ -625,6 +634,9 @@ def plot(figure_or_data, show_link=False, link_text='Export to plot.ly',
         If a string that ends in '.js', a script tag is included that
         references the specified path. This approach can be used to point the
         resulting HTML file to an alternative CDN.
+    auto_play (default=True) -- Whether to automatically start the animation
+        sequence on page load if the figure contains frames. Has no effect if
+        the figure does not contain frames.
     """
     if output_type not in ['div', 'file']:
         raise ValueError(
@@ -642,7 +654,7 @@ def plot(figure_or_data, show_link=False, link_text='Export to plot.ly',
 
     plot_html, plotdivid, width, height = _plot_html(
         figure_or_data, config, validate,
-        '100%', '100%', global_requirejs=False)
+        '100%', '100%', global_requirejs=False, auto_play=auto_play)
 
     # Build resize_script
     resize_script = ''


Test patch:
diff --git a/plotly/tests/test_core/test_offline/test_offline.py b/plotly/tests/test_core/test_offline/test_offline.py
--- a/plotly/tests/test_core/test_offline/test_offline.py
+++ b/plotly/tests/test_core/test_offline/test_offline.py
@@ -23,6 +23,18 @@
     )
 }
 
+fig_frames = {
+    'data': [
+        plotly.graph_objs.Scatter(x=[1, 2, 3], y=[10, 20, 30])
+    ],
+    'layout': plotly.graph_objs.Layout(
+        title='offline plot'
+    ),
+    'frames': [
+        {'layout': {'title': 'frame 1'}}
+    ]
+}
+
 
 resize_code_strings = [
             'window.addEventListener("resize", ',
@@ -52,6 +64,9 @@
 
 mathjax_font = 'STIX-Web'
 
+add_frames = 'Plotly.addFrames'
+
+do_auto_play = 'Plotly.animate'
 
 class PlotlyOfflineBaseTestCase(TestCase):
     def tearDown(self):
@@ -396,3 +411,13 @@ def test_include_mathjax_path_div(self):
         self.assertNotIn(mathjax_cdn_script, html)
         self.assertIn(other_cdn+mathjax_config_str, html)
         self.assertIn(mathjax_font, html)
+
+    def test_auto_play(self):
+        html = plotly.offline.plot(fig_frames, output_type='div')
+        self.assertIn(add_frames, html)
+        self.assertIn(do_auto_play, html)
+
+    def test_no_auto_play(self):
+        html = plotly.offline.plot(fig_frames, output_type='div', auto_play=False)
+        self.assertIn(add_frames, html)
+        self.assertNotIn(do_auto_play, html)