title: Matplotlib autoscale
body: <p>I need to get a plot that fits the data automatically using matplotlib. This is the code I was given:</p>
  
  <pre><code>import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
  from matplotlib.collections import LineCollection
  ....
  lines = LineCollection(mpl.line_holder, colors=mpl.colorholder , linestyle='solid')
  plt.axes().add_collection(lines)
  plt.axes().set_aspect('equal', 'datalim')
  plt.draw()
  plt.show()
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>This creates a plot, however the window is always the same (0-~.8) no matter what the data is, even if all of the data is outside that window. The resulting window has no ability to zoom out, only in, so this is a major problem. I can't find anywhere where any kind of sizing is set, nor can II find details on what defaults are. I need the window to automatically fit the data, but I can't find any function that does it (for some reason, autoscale_on(True) doesn't do it). The data is highly variable, so setting hard limits is not an option. How can i get this to display properly?</p>