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Product Documentation


R2011b Documentation → MATLAB
View documentation for other releases	Learn more about MATLAB

Contents

Index

• Getting Started

• Product Overview

Overview of the MATLAB Environment

The MATLAB System

• Starting and Quitting the MATLAB Program

Starting a MATLAB Session

Quitting the MATLAB Program

• Matrices and Magic Squares

Entering Matrices

sum, transpose, and diag

The Colon Operator

The magic Function

• Expressions

Examples of Expressions

• Working with Matrices

Generating Matrices

The load Function

Saving Code to a File

Deleting Rows and Columns

• More About Matrices and Arrays

Multivariate Data

Scalar Expansion

Logical Subscripting

The find Function

• Controlling Command Window Input and Output

The format Function

Suppressing Output

Entering Long Statements

Command Line Editing

• Plotting Data

Interactive or Command Approach

• Plotting Techniques

Plotting Workflow

• Graph Components

Graph Components

Arranging Graphs Within a Figure

• Choosing a Graph Type

Choosing a Type of Graph to Plot

• Editing Plots

Using Functions to Edit Graphs

• Interactive Plotting

Plotting Two Variables with Plotting Tools

Changing the Appearance of Lines and Markers

Adding More Data to the Graph

Changing the Type of Graph

Modifying the Graph Data Source

• Preparing Graphs for Presentation

Annotating Graphs

Printing the Graph

Exporting the Graph

• Basic Plotting Functions

Creating a Plot

Plotting Multiple Data Sets in One Graph

Specifying Line Styles and Colors

Plotting Lines and Markers

Graphing Imaginary and Complex Data

Adding Plots to an Existing Graph

Displaying Multiple Plots in One Figure

Controlling the Axes

Adding Axis Labels and Titles

• Creating Mesh and Surface Plots

About Mesh and Surface Plots

Visualizing Functions of Two Variables

• Plotting Image Data

About Plotting Image Data

Reading and Writing Images

• Printing Graphics

Overview of Printing

Printing from the File Menu

Exporting the Figure to a Graphics File

Using the Print Command

• Understanding Handle Graphics Objects

Using the Handle

Graphics Objects

Setting Object Properties

Specifying the Axes or Figure

Finding the Handles of Existing Objects

• Flow Control

Conditional Control - if, else, switch

Loop Control - for, while, continue, break

Error Control - try, catch

Program Termination - return

• Other Data Structures

Multidimensional Arrays

Characters and Text

• Scripts and Functions

Types of Functions

Global Variables

Passing String Arguments to Functions

The eval Function

Function Handles

Function Functions

• Object-Oriented Programming

MATLAB Classes and Objects

Learn About Defining MATLAB Classes

• Preprocessing Data

Loading the Data

Smoothing and Filtering

• Summarizing Data

Measures of Location

Measures of Scale

Shape of a Distribution

• Visualizing Data

2-D Scatter Plots

3-D Scatter Plots

Scatter Plot Arrays

Exploring Data in Graphs

• Modeling Data

Polynomial Regression

General Linear Regression

• Laying Out a GUI

The Layout Editor

Programming a GUI

• Desktop Overview

Introduction to the Desktop

Arranging the Desktop

• Command Window and Command History

Command History

• Getting Help

Ways to Get Help

Searching for Documentation and Demos

• Workspace Browser and Variable Editor

Workspace Browser

Variable Editor

• Managing Files in MATLAB

How MATLAB Helps You Manage Files

Making Files Accessible to MATLAB

Using the Current Folder Browser to Manage Files

More Ways to Manage Files

Finding and Getting Files Created by Other Users - File Exchange

Editing MATLAB Code Files

Identifying Problems and Areas for Improvement

Publishing MATLAB Code Files

• Improving and Tuning Your MATLAB Programs

Finding Errors Using the Code Analyzer Report

Improving Performance Using the Profiler

• Programming Interfaces

Call MATLAB Software from C/C++ and Fortran Programs

Call C/C++ and Fortran Programs from MATLAB Command Line

Call Sun Java Commands from MATLAB Command Line

Call Functions in Shared Libraries

Import and Export Data

Interface to .NET Framework

Component Object Model Interface

Serial Port Interface

• User's Guide

• Desktop Tools and Development Environment

• Data Import and Export

• Mathematics

• Data Analysis

• Programming Fundamentals

• Object-Oriented Programming

• Plots and Plotting Tools

• Figures, Plots, and Graphs

• Plotting Tools - Interactive Plotting

• Example - Plotting Workspace Variables

• Example - Choosing a Graph Type

• Example - Specifying a Data Source

• Example - Generating MATLAB Code to Reproduce a Graph

• Editing Plots

• Working in Plot Edit Mode

• Saving Your Work

• Data Exploration Tools

• Ways to Explore Graphical Data

• Data Cursor - Displaying Data Values Interactively

• Enlarging the View

Panning - Shifting Your View of the Graph

• Rotate 3D - Interactive Rotation of 3-D Views

• Annotating Graphs

• How to Annotate Graphs

• Alignment Tool - Aligning and Distributing Objects

• Adding Titles to Graphs

• Adding Axis Labels to Graphs

• Adding Text Annotations to Graphs

• Adding Arrows and Lines to Graphs

• Positioning Annotations in Data Space

• Basic Plotting Commands

• Setting Up Figures

• Using High-Level Plotting Functions

Line Plots of Matrix Data

Plotting Imaginary and Complex Data

• Plotting with Two Y-Axes

• Setting Axis Parameters

• Creating Specialized Plots

• Bar and Area Graphs

• Discrete Data Graphs

• Direction and Velocity Vector Graphs

• Contour Plots

• Interactive Plotting

• Displaying Bit-Mapped Images

• Working with Images in MATLAB Graphics

• Image Types

• Working with 8-Bit and 16-Bit Images

• Reading, Writing, and Querying Graphics Image Files

• Displaying Graphics Images

• The Image Object and Its Properties

Printing Images

Converting the Data or Graphic Type of Images

• Printing and Exporting

• Overview of Printing and Exporting

• How to Print or Export

• Examples of Printing and Exporting

• Changing a Figure's Settings

• Choosing a Graphics Format

• Choosing a Printer Driver

• Troubleshooting

• Handle Graphics Objects

Organization of Graphics Objects

• Types of Graphics Objects

• Graphics Windows - the Figure

• Core Graphics Objects

• Plot Objects

• Linking Graphs to Variables - Data Source Properties

• Annotation Objects

• Group Objects

Example - Transforming a Hierarchy of Objects

• Object Properties

• Setting and Querying Property Values

Factory-Defined Property Values

• Setting Default Property Values

• Accessing Object Handles

• Controlling Graphics Output

• The Figure Close Request Function

• Saving Handles in Files

Properties Changed by Built-In Functions

Objects That Can Contain Other Objects

• Using Panel Containers in Figures - Uipanels

• Grouping Objects Within Axes - hgtransform

• Controlling Legends

• Callback Properties for Graphics Objects

• Function Handle Callbacks

• Optimizing Graphics Performance

• Using Figure Properties

• Figure Objects

• Docking Figures in the Desktop

• Positioning Figures

• Figure Colormaps - The Colormap Property

• Selecting Drawing Methods

• Specifying the Figure Pointer

• Using Axes Properties

Axes Objects - Defining Coordinate Systems for Graphs

• Labeling and Appearance Properties

• Positioning Axes

• Automatic Axes Resize

• Multiple Axes per Figure

• Individual Axis Control

• Using Multiple X- and Y-Axes

Automatic-Mode Properties

• Colors Controlled by Axes

• Axes Color Limits - the CLim Property

• Defining the Color of Lines for Plotting

• 3-D Visualization

• Creating Graphical User Interfaces

Handle Graphics Property Browser

• External Interfaces

• C/C++ and Fortran API Reference

• Release Notes

Graphics

This section discusses techniques for plotting data and provides examples showing how to plot, annotate, and print graphs.

Plots and Plotting Tools	How to create and customize data plots using GUI tools
Data Exploration Tools	Tools to extract information from graphs interactively
Annotating Graphs	How to enhance data plots with labels, text, and shapes
Basic Plotting Commands	Plotting vector and matrix data in 2-D representations
Creating Specialized Plots	Creating bar graphs, histograms, contour plots, and other specialized plots
Displaying Bit-Mapped Images	Displaying and modifying bit-mapped images with MATLAB
Printing and Exporting	Printing graphs on paper and exporting graphs to standard graphic file formats
Handle Graphics Objects	MATLAB graphics objects and properties
Using Figure Properties	How to use figure properties
Using Axes Properties	How to use axes properties

Related Information. These other sections provide additional information about plotting.

3-D Visualization
Using viewing and lighting techniques to achieve complex graphic effects
Creating Graphical User Interfaces
How to include menus, push buttons, text boxes, and other user interface objects in MATLAB^® applications

Plots and Plotting Tools

Plots and Plotting Tools

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