Merge pull request #131 from plotly/andrew-better-empty-data-error

Andrew better empty data error

Author: theengineear

plotly/exceptions.py

@@ -23,6 +23,12 @@ class PlotlyError(Exception):
     pass
 
 
+## Would Cause Server Errors ##
+
+class PlotlyEmptyDataError(PlotlyError):
+    pass
+
+
 ## Graph Objects Errors ##
 
 class PlotlyGraphObjectError(PlotlyError):

plotly/plotly/plotly.py

@@ -164,6 +164,12 @@ def plot(figure_or_data, validate=True, **plot_options):
                                          "plot option.\nHere's why you're "
                                          "seeing this error:\n\n{0}"
                                          "".format(err))
+        if not figure['data']:
+            raise exceptions.PlotlyEmptyDataError(
+                "Empty data list found. Make sure that you populated the "
+                "list of data objects you're sending and try again.\n"
+                "Questions? support@plot.ly"
+            )
     for entry in figure['data']:
         for key, val in list(entry.items()):
             try:

plotly/tests/test_core/test_plotly/test_plot.py

@@ -7,10 +7,11 @@
 """
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 from nose.tools import raises
+from unittest import TestCase
 
 from plotly.graph_objs import graph_objs
 from plotly.plotly import plotly as py
-from plotly.exceptions import PlotlyError
+from plotly.exceptions import PlotlyError, PlotlyEmptyDataError
 
 
 # username for tests: 'PlotlyImageTest'
@@ -57,6 +58,14 @@ def test_plot_invalid_args_2():
                   filename='plot_invalid')
 
 
+class TestPlot(TestCase):
+
+    def test_plot_empty_data(self):
+        py.sign_in('PlotlyImageTest', '786r5mecv0')
+        with self.assertRaises(PlotlyEmptyDataError):
+            py.plot([], filename='plot_invalid')
+
+
 def test_bar():
     pass