docs: def save_and_show(fig, ax, save, show, close, filename, file_format, dpi, axis_off):
      """
      Save a figure to disk and show it, as specified.
  
      Parameters
      ----------
      fig : figure
      ax : axis
      save : bool
          whether to save the figure to disk or not
      show : bool
          whether to display the figure or not
      close : bool
          close the figure (only if show equals False) to prevent display
      filename : string
          the name of the file to save
      file_format : string
          the format of the file to save (e.g., 'jpg', 'png', 'svg')
      dpi : int
          the resolution of the image file if saving
      axis_off : bool
          if True matplotlib axis was turned off by plot_graph so constrain the
          saved figure's extent to the interior of the axis
  
      Returns
      -------
      fig, ax : tuple
      """
      # save the figure if specified
      if save:
          start_time = time.time()
  
          # create the save folder if it doesn't already exist
          if not os.path.exists(settings.imgs_folder):
              os.makedirs(settings.imgs_folder)
          path_filename = os.path.join(settings.imgs_folder, os.extsep.join([filename, file_format]))
  
          if file_format == 'svg':
              # if the file_format is svg, prep the fig/ax a bit for saving
              ax.axis('off')
              ax.set_position([0, 0, 1, 1])
              ax.patch.set_alpha(0.)
              fig.patch.set_alpha(0.)
              fig.savefig(path_filename, bbox_inches=0, format=file_format, facecolor=fig.get_facecolor(), transparent=True)
          else:
              if axis_off:
                  # if axis is turned off, constrain the saved figure's extent to
                  # the interior of the axis
                  extent = ax.get_window_extent().transformed(fig.dpi_scale_trans.inverted())
              else:
                  extent = 'tight'
              fig.savefig(path_filename, dpi=dpi, bbox_inches=extent, format=file_format, facecolor=fig.get_facecolor(), transparent=True)
          log('Saved the figure to disk in {:,.2f} seconds'.format(time.time()-start_time))
  
      # show the figure if specified
      if show:
          start_time = time.time()
          plt.show()
          log('Showed the plot in {:,.2f} seconds'.format(time.time()-start_time))
      # if show=False, close the figure if close=True to prevent display
      elif close:
          plt.close()
  
      return fig, ax