Update docstrings; add test case.

Author: stefmolin

lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py

@@ -3326,7 +3326,8 @@ def tick_params(self, axis='both', **kwargs):
         Change the appearance of ticks, tick labels, and gridlines.
 
         Tick properties that are not explicitly set using the keyword
-        arguments remain unchanged unless *reset* is True.
+        arguments remain unchanged unless *reset* is True. For the current
+        style defaults, see :meth:`matplotlib.axis.Axis.get_tick_params`.
 
         Parameters
         ----------
@@ -3400,23 +3401,6 @@ def tick_params(self, axis='both', **kwargs):
             ykw.pop('labelbottom', None)
             self.yaxis.set_tick_params(**ykw)
 
-    def get_tick_params(self, axis, which='major'):
-        """
-        Get the appearance of ticks, tick labels, and gridlines.
-
-        Parameters
-        ----------
-        axis : {'x', 'y'}
-            The axis to which the parameters are applied.
-        which : {'major', 'minor'}, default: 'major'
-            The group of ticks to which the parameters are applied.
-
-        """
-        _api.check_in_list(['x', 'y'], axis=axis)
-        if axis == 'x':
-            return self.xaxis.get_tick_params(which=which)
-        return self.yaxis.get_tick_params(which=which)
-
     def set_axis_off(self):
         """
         Turn the x- and y-axis off.

lib/matplotlib/axis.py

@@ -940,6 +940,12 @@ def set_tick_params(self, which='major', reset=False, **kwargs):
 
         For documentation of keyword arguments, see
         :meth:`matplotlib.axes.Axes.tick_params`.
+
+        See Also
+        --------
+        :meth:`.Axis.get_tick_params`
+            View the current style defaults for ticks, ticklabels, and
+            gridlines.
         """
         _api.check_in_list(['major', 'minor', 'both'], which=which)
         kwtrans = self._translate_tick_params(kwargs)
@@ -977,8 +983,18 @@ def get_tick_params(self, which='major'):
         """
         Get appearance parameters for ticks, ticklabels, and gridlines.
 
-        For documentation of keyword arguments, see
-        :meth:`matplotlib.axes.Axes.get_tick_params`.
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        which : {'major', 'minor'}, default: 'major'
+            The group of ticks to which the parameters are applied.
+
+        Notes
+        -----
+        This method returns the default values for styling *new* elements
+        added to this axis and may be different from the values on current
+        elements, if they were modified directly by the user (e.g., via
+        ``set_*`` methods on individual tick objects).
+
         """
         _api.check_in_list(['major', 'minor'], which=which)
         if which == 'major':

lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py

@@ -6377,6 +6377,24 @@ def test_tick_apply_tickdir_deprecation():
         tick.apply_tickdir('out')
 
 
+def test_axis_get_tick_params():
+    axis = plt.subplot().yaxis
+    initial_major_style = {**axis.get_tick_params(which='major')}
+    initial_minor_style = {**axis.get_tick_params(which='minor')}
+
+    assert axis._major_tick_kw == initial_major_style
+    assert axis._minor_tick_kw == initial_minor_style
+    axis.set_tick_params(labelsize=30, labelcolor='red',
+                         direction='out', which='both')
+
+    new_major_style = {**axis.get_tick_params(which='major')}
+    new_minor_style = {**axis.get_tick_params(which='minor')}
+    assert initial_major_style != new_major_style
+    assert axis._major_tick_kw == new_major_style
+    assert initial_minor_style != new_minor_style
+    assert axis._minor_tick_kw == new_minor_style
+
+
 def test_axis_set_tick_params_labelsize_labelcolor():
     # Tests fix for issue 4346
     axis_1 = plt.subplot()