Troubleshooting Date-Time Conversion Errors for X-Axis Plotting

Plotting Dates on the X-Axis: A Troubleshooting Guide

When plotting data against dates, it is essential to convert the dates into a format that matplotlib can interpret. However, if you encounter "year is out of range" errors, it indicates an issue with the date conversion process.

Let's address the situation you described:

Problem: Converting dates in "01/02/1991" format results in an error when using plot_date().

Solution:

Instead of using plot_date(), consider using the more straightforward plot() function. To prepare your dates for plotting:

1. Import Python's datetime library and convert your strings to datetime.date instances:

<code class="python">import datetime as dt

dates = ['01/02/1991','01/03/1991','01/04/1991']
x = [dt.datetime.strptime(d,'%m/%d/%Y').date() for d in dates]</code>

2. Plot the data using plot():

<code class="python">import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
plt.gca().xaxis.set_major_formatter(mdates.DateFormatter('%m/%d/%Y'))
plt.gca().xaxis.set_major_locator(mdates.DayLocator())
plt.plot(x, y)
plt.gcf().autofmt_xdate()</code>

This approach will correctly plot your data against the dates specified on the x-axis, resolving the error you encountered.

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