From b6bc7cca91013da40553ed579dda8e6e5cde1167 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Oleksandr Pavlyk <21087696+oleksandr-pavlyk@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2026 15:20:29 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] Decouple plot-along rendering from row filtering

---
 python/scripts/nvbench_compare.py   | 52 ++++++++++++++-----------
 python/test/test_nvbench_compare.py | 60 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 89 insertions(+), 23 deletions(-)

diff --git a/python/scripts/nvbench_compare.py b/python/scripts/nvbench_compare.py
index b64ffde..f0ad1e2 100644
--- a/python/scripts/nvbench_compare.py
+++ b/python/scripts/nvbench_compare.py
@@ -3264,12 +3264,12 @@ def compare_benches(
                             )
                         )
 
-            if len(rows) == 0:
+            has_rows = len(rows) > 0
+            has_plot_along_data = bool(plot_along) and any(
+                axis_times for axis_times in plot_data["cmp"].values()
+            )
+            if not has_rows and not has_plot_along_data:
                 continue
-            if display == "explain":
-                align_explain_interval_columns(rows, row_comparisons, len(axes))
-            elif display == "intervals":
-                align_timing_interval_columns(rows, row_comparisons, len(axes))
 
             cmp_device = find_device_by_id(cmp_device_id, run_data.cmp_devices)
             ref_device = find_device_by_id(ref_device_id, run_data.ref_devices)
@@ -3279,27 +3279,33 @@ def compare_benches(
                     f"ref={ref_device_id} cmp={cmp_device_id}, but device metadata is missing"
                 )
 
-            if cmp_device == ref_device:
-                print(f"## [{cmp_device['id']}] {cmp_device['name']}\n")
-            else:
-                print(
-                    f"## [{ref_device['id']}] {ref_device['name']} vs. "
-                    f"[{cmp_device['id']}] {cmp_device['name']}\n"
-                )
-            tabulate, tabulate_version = load_tabulate_for_table_output()
-            # colalign and github format require tabulate 0.8.3
-            if tabulate_version >= (0, 8, 3):
-                print(
-                    tabulate.tabulate(
-                        rows, headers=headers, colalign=colalign, tablefmt="github"
+            if has_rows:
+                if display == "explain":
+                    align_explain_interval_columns(rows, row_comparisons, len(axes))
+                elif display == "intervals":
+                    align_timing_interval_columns(rows, row_comparisons, len(axes))
+
+                if cmp_device == ref_device:
+                    print(f"## [{cmp_device['id']}] {cmp_device['name']}\n")
+                else:
+                    print(
+                        f"## [{ref_device['id']}] {ref_device['name']} vs. "
+                        f"[{cmp_device['id']}] {cmp_device['name']}\n"
                     )
-                )
-            else:
-                print(tabulate.tabulate(rows, headers=headers, tablefmt="markdown"))
+                tabulate, tabulate_version = load_tabulate_for_table_output()
+                # colalign and github format require tabulate 0.8.3
+                if tabulate_version >= (0, 8, 3):
+                    print(
+                        tabulate.tabulate(
+                            rows, headers=headers, colalign=colalign, tablefmt="github"
+                        )
+                    )
+                else:
+                    print(tabulate.tabulate(rows, headers=headers, tablefmt="markdown"))
 
-            print("")
+                print("")
 
-            if plot_along:
+            if has_plot_along_data:
                 fig = plt.figure()
                 try:
                     plt.xscale("log")
diff --git a/python/test/test_nvbench_compare.py b/python/test/test_nvbench_compare.py
index e2d5b56..4cd87fd 100644
--- a/python/test/test_nvbench_compare.py
+++ b/python/test/test_nvbench_compare.py
@@ -2193,6 +2193,66 @@ def test_plot_along_skips_states_without_selected_axis(monkeypatch, nvbench_comp
     assert [call["x"] for call in fill_between_calls] == [[1.0, 2.0], [1.0, 2.0]]
 
 
+def test_plot_along_ignores_threshold_diff_table_filter(monkeypatch, nvbench_compare):
+    run_data = make_comparison_run_data(nvbench_compare)
+    plot_calls = []
+    table_calls = []
+
+    def fake_plot(x, y, shape, *args, **kwargs):
+        plot_calls.append({"x": x, "y": y, "shape": shape})
+        return [types.SimpleNamespace(get_color=lambda: "black")]
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sys.modules["matplotlib.pyplot"], "plot", fake_plot)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        sys.modules["matplotlib.pyplot"], "fill_between", lambda *args, **kwargs: None
+    )
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        nvbench_compare,
+        "load_tabulate_for_table_output",
+        lambda: (
+            types.SimpleNamespace(
+                tabulate=lambda *args, **kwargs: table_calls.append(args)
+            ),
+            (0, 8, 10),
+        ),
+    )
+
+    ref_benches = [
+        make_benchmark(
+            [
+                make_state(nvbench_compare, "state", axis_value=1),
+                make_state(nvbench_compare, "state", axis_value=2),
+            ]
+        )
+    ]
+    cmp_benches = [
+        make_benchmark(
+            [
+                make_state(nvbench_compare, "state", axis_value=1),
+                make_state(nvbench_compare, "state", axis_value=2),
+            ]
+        )
+    ]
+
+    nvbench_compare.compare_benches(
+        run_data,
+        ref_benches,
+        cmp_benches,
+        threshold=1.0,
+        plot_along="A",
+        plot=False,
+        dark=False,
+        filter_plan=make_filter_plan(nvbench_compare),
+        no_color=True,
+    )
+
+    assert run_data.stats.config_count == 2
+    assert run_data.stats.pass_count == 2
+    assert table_calls == []
+    assert [call["x"] for call in plot_calls] == [[1.0, 2.0], [1.0, 2.0]]
+    assert [call["shape"] for call in plot_calls] == ["-", "--"]
+
+
 def test_plot_along_rejects_non_numeric_axis_values(monkeypatch, nvbench_compare):
     run_data = make_comparison_run_data(nvbench_compare)