MapAxes Properties

Projected coordinate reference system (CRS), specified as a projcrs object. MapAxes objects use the projection method and projection parameters stored in the projected CRS to transform geographic (latitude-longitude) coordinates to projected (xy) coordinates.

When you change the projected CRS, MATLAB^® automatically updates the map axes to use the new projected CRS.

To change the projection parameters of the CRS, access the underlying ProjectionParameters property of the projcrs object.

p = projcrs(26919);
newmap(p)
mx = gca;
mx.ProjectionParameters.LongitudeOfNaturalOrigin = -75;

For examples of how to customize the projection used by map axes, see Change Projection and Projection Parameters.

By default, map axes objects use the World Geodetic System of 1984 (WGS 84) / Equal Earth Greenwich projected CRS, which has the EPSG code 8857.

The projected CRS must have a forward and inverse projection implementation. Most projected CRSs have a forward and inverse projection implementation.

This property is read-only.

Scale bar, stored as a GeographicScalebar object. The scale bar shows proportional distances on the map.

Change the appearance and behavior of the scale bar by setting properties of the GeographicScalebar object. For example, this code shows how to hide the scale bar.

newmap
mx = gca;
mx.Scalebar.Visible = "off";

For more information about the properties of GeographicScalebar objects, see GeographicScalebar Properties.

Text color for the title, the tick labels, and the scale bar, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.

Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

To use a different text color for the title than for the tick labels and scale bar, set the Color property of the title, such as mx.Title.Color = "blue".

To use a different text color for the scale bar than for the title and tick labels, set the FontColor property of the scale bar, such as mx.Scalebar.FontColor = "blue".

Example: mx.FontColor = [0 0 1];

Example: mx.FontColor = "b";

Example: mx.FontColor = "blue";

Example: mx.FontColor = "#0000FF";

Font name, specified as a supported font name or "FixedWidth". To display and print text properly, you must choose a font that your system supports. The default font depends on your operating system and locale.

To use a fixed-width font that looks good in any locale, specify "FixedWidth". The fixed-width font relies on the root FixedWidthFontName property. Setting the root FixedWidthFontName property causes the display to immediately update to use the new font.

Font size, specified as a numeric scalar. The font size affects the title, tick labels, and scale bar, as well as any legends or color bars associated with the axes. The default font size depends on the specific operating system and locale. By default, the axes object measures the font size in points. To change the units, set the FontUnits property.

MATLAB automatically scales some of the text to a percentage of the axes font size.

Selection mode for the font size, specified as one of these values:

Character thickness, specified as "normal" or "bold".

MATLAB uses the FontWeight property to select a font from those available on your system. Not all fonts have a bold weight. Therefore, specifying a bold font weight can still result in the normal font weight.

Character slant, specified as "normal" or "italic".

Not all fonts have both font styles. Therefore, the italic font might look the same as the normal font.

Scale factor for the title font size, specified as a numeric value greater than 0. The scale factor is applied to the value of the FontSize property to determine the font size for the title.

Title character thickness, specified as one of these values:

Subtitle character thickness, specified as one of these values:

Font size units, specified as one of these values.

To set both the font size and the font units in a single function call, you first must set the FontUnits property so that the Axes object correctly interprets the specified font size.

Tick mark direction, specified as one of these values:

Tick label format, specified as one of these options:

Color of the graticule lines, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.

Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

To set the outline color of the axes, use the OutlineColor property.

Line style for graticule lines, specified as one of the line styles in this table.

Width of the graticule lines, specified as a positive scalar in point units. One point equals 1/72 of an inch.

When the GraticuleLineWidthMode property has a value of "auto", the value of GraticuleLineWidth matches the value of LineWidth.

Selection mode for the GraticuleLineWidth property, specified as one of these values:

Transparency of the graticule lines, specified as a value in the range [0, 1]. A value of 1 means opaque and a value of 0 means completely transparent.

Text object for the axes title. To add a title, set the String property of the text object. To change the title appearance, such as the font style or color, set other properties. For a complete list, see Text Properties.

ax = gca;
ax.Title.String = 'My Title';
ax.Title.FontWeight = 'normal';

Alternatively, use the title function to add a title and control the appearance.

title('My Title','FontWeight','normal')

Text object for the axes subtitle. To add a subtitle, set the String property of the text object. To change its appearance, such as the font angle, set other properties. For a complete list, see Text Properties.

ax = gca;
ax.Subtitle.String = 'An Insightful Subtitle';
ax.Subtitle.FontAngle = 'italic';

Alternatively, use the subtitle function to add a subtitle and control the appearance.

subtitle('An Insightful Subtitle','FontAngle','italic')

Or use the title function, and specify two character vector input arguments and two output arguments. Then set properties on the second text object returned by the function.

[t,s] = title('Clever Title','An Insightful Subtitle');
s.FontAngle = 'italic';

Title and subtitle horizontal alignment, specified as one of these values:

This property is read-only.

Legend associated with the axes, stored as a Legend object. To add a legend to the axes, use the legend function. Then, you can use this property to modify the legend. For a complete list of properties, see Legend Properties.

newmap
geoplot(1:10,1:10)
hold on
geoplot(5:14,1:10)

legend(["Line 1" "Line 2"],FontSize=12)
mx = gca;
mx.Legend.TextColor = "red";

You also can use this property to determine if the axes has a legend.

newmap
mx = gca; 

lgd = mx.Legend
if ~isempty(lgd)
    disp("Legend Exists")
end

Color order, specified as a three-column matrix of RGB triplets. This property defines the palette of colors MATLAB uses to create plot objects such as Lineand Scatter objects. Each row of the matrix is an RGB triplet. An RGB triplet is a three-element vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of a color. The intensities must be in the range [0, 1]. This table lists the default colors.

    [    0    0.4470    0.7410
    0.8500    0.3250    0.0980
    0.9290    0.6940    0.1250
    0.4940    0.1840    0.5560
    0.4660    0.6740    0.1880
    0.3010    0.7450    0.9330
    0.6350    0.0780    0.1840]

MATLAB assigns colors to objects according to their order of creation. For example, when plotting lines, the first line uses the first color, the second line uses the second color, and so on. If there are more lines than colors, then the cycle repeats.

Changing the Color Order Before or After Plotting

You can change the color order in either of these ways:

Line style order, specified as a character vector, a cell array of character vectors, or a string array. This property lists the line styles that MATLAB uses to display multiple plot lines in the axes. MATLAB assigns styles to lines according to their order of creation. By default, it changes to the next line style only after cycling through all the colors in the ColorOrder property with the current line style. Set the LineStyleCyclingMethod property to "withcolor" to cycle through both together, or "beforecolor" to cycle through the line styles first. The default LineStyleOrder has only one line style, "-".

To customize the line style order, create a cell array of character vectors or a string array. Specify each element of the array as a line specifier or marker specifier from these tables. You can combine a line and a marker specifier into a single element, such as '-*'.

Changing Line Style Order Before or After Plotting

You can change the line style order before or after plotting into the axes. When you set the LineStyleOrder property to a new value, MATLAB updates the styles of any lines that are in the axes. If you continue plotting into the axes, your plotting commands continue using the line styles from the updated list.

Since R2023a

How to cycle through the line styles when there are multiple lines in the axes, specified as one of the values from this table.

The examples in this table were created using the default colors in the ColorOrder property and three line styles (["-","-o","--"]) in the LineStyleOrder property.

This property is read-only.

SeriesIndex value for the next plot object added to the axes, returned as a whole number greater than or equal to 0. This property is useful when you want to track how the objects cycle through the colors and line styles. This property maintains a count of the objects in the axes that have a numeric SeriesIndex property value. MATLAB uses it to assign a SeriesIndex value to each new object. The count starts at 1 when you create the axes, and it increases by 1 for each additional object. Thus, the count is typically n+1, where n is the number of objects in the axes.

If you manually change the ColorOrderIndex or LineStyleOrderIndex property on the axes, the value of the NextSeriesIndex property changes to 0. As a consequence, objects that have a SeriesIndex property no longer update automatically when you change the ColorOrder or LineStyleOrder properties on the axes.

Properties to reset when adding a new plot to the axes, specified as one of these values:

Figures also have a NextPlot property. Alternatively, you can use the newmap function to prepare figures and axes for subsequent graphics commands.

Order for rendering objects, specified as one of these values:

Color order index, specified as a positive integer. This property specifies the next color MATLAB selects from the axes ColorOrder property when it creates the next plot object, such as a Line or Scatter object. For example, if the color order index value is 1, then the next object added to the axes uses the first color in the ColorOrder matrix. If the index value exceeds the number of colors in the ColorOrder matrix, then the index value modulo of the number of colors in the ColorOrder matrix determines the color of the next object.

When the NextPlot property of the axes is set to 'add', then the color order index value increases every time you add a new plot to the axes. To start again with first color, set the ColorOrderIndex property to 1.

Line style order index, specified as a positive integer. This property specifies the next line style MATLAB selects from the axes LineStyleOrder property to create the next plot line. For example, if this property is set to 1, then the next plot line you add to the axes uses the first item in the LineStyleOrder property. If the index value exceeds the number of line styles in the LineStyleOrder array, then the index value modulo of the number of elements in the LineStyleOrder array determines the style of the next line.

When the NextPlot property of the axes is set to "add", MATLAB increments the index value after cycling through all the colors in the ColorOrder property with the current line style. To start again with first line style, set the LineStyleOrderIndex property to 1.

Color map, specified as an m-by-3 array of RGB (red, green, blue) triplets that define m individual colors.

Example: ax.Colormap = [1 0 1; 0 0 1; 1 1 0] sets the color map to three colors: magenta, blue, and yellow.

MATLAB accesses these colors by their row number.

Alternatively, use the colormap function to change the color map.

Scale for color mapping, specified as one of these values:

Color limits for objects in axes that use the colormap, specified as a two-element vector of the form [cmin cmax]. This property determines how data values map to the colors in the colormap where:

The axes object interpolates data values between cmin and cmax across the colormap. Values outside this range use either the first or last color, whichever is closest.

Selection mode for the CLim property, specified as one of these values:

Transparency map, specified as an array of finite alpha values that progress linearly from 0 to 1. The size of the array can be m-by-1 or 1-by-m. MATLAB accesses alpha values by their index in the array. An alphamap can be any length.

Scale for transparency mapping, specified as one of these values:

Alpha limits, specified as a two-element vector of the form [amin amax]. This property affects the AlphaData values of graphics objects, such as scatter and bubble chart objects. This property determines how the AlphaData values map to the figure alphamap, where:

The MapAxes object interpolates data values between amin and amax across the figure alphamap. Values outside this range use either the first or last alphamap value, whichever is closest.

The Alphamap property of the figure contains the alphamap. For more information, see the alpha function.

Selection mode for the ALim property, specified as one of these values:

Background color, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.

Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

Example: mx.Color = [0 0 1];

Example: mx.Color = "b";

Example: mx.Color = "blue";

Example: mx.Color = "#0000FF";

Color of the map outline, the ticks, and the edge of the scale bar, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.

Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

To use a different color for the edge of the scale bar than for the map outline and ticks, set the EdgeColor property of the scale bar, such as mx.Scalebar.EdgeColor = "blue".

Example: mx.OutlineColor = [0 0 1];

Example: mx.OutlineColor = "b";

Example: mx.OutlineColor = "blue";

Example: mx.OutlineColor = "#0000FF";

Line width of the axes outline, the tick marks, the graticule lines, and the edge of the scale bar, specified as a positive scalar in point units. One point equals 1/72 inch.

You can use a different line width for the graticule lines than for the axes outline and tick marks by setting the GraticuleLineWidth property. The LineWidth property controls the width of the graticule lines only when the value of the GraticuleLineWidthMode property is "auto".

To use a different line width for the edge of the scale bar than for the axes outline, the tick marks, and the graticule lines, set the LineWidth property of the scale bar, such as mx.Scalebar.LineWidth = 2.

Map layout, specified as one of these options:

The "normal" option is appropriate for most data visualization and exploration workflows. The "cartographic" option is useful when creating static maps or when preparing maps for publication. For more information about creating maps using the "cartographic" option, see Create Map of Quadrangle Using Cartographic Map Layout.

This table compares the "normal" and "cartographic" options for several projected CRSs. The figures within the table show the box specified by Position in red.

Latitude limits for the quadrangle used by MapLayout, specified as a two-element vector of the form [latmin latmax], where latmax is greater than latmin.

By default, MATLAB sets this property using the area of use for the projected CRS. When a projected CRS does not indicate the area of use, MATLAB sets this property to [-90 90].

Changing the value of this property does not change the value of ProjectedCRS.

Panning or zooming within the map does not change the value of this property.

To change the geographic limits of a map that is in the default layout (MapLayout is "normal"), use the geolimits function instead of the CartographicLatitudeLimits and CartographicLongitudeLimits properties.

Longitude limits for the quadrangle used by MapLayout, specified as a two-element vector of the form [lonmin lonmax]. In most cases, lonmax is greater than lonmin.

By default, MATLAB sets this property using the area of use for the projected CRS. When a projected CRS does not indicate the area of use, MATLAB sets this property to [-180 180].

Changing the value of this property does not change the value of ProjectedCRS.

Panning or zooming within the map does not change the value of this property.

To change the geographic limits of a map that is in the default layout (MapLayout is "normal"), use the geolimits function instead of the CartographicLatitudeLimits and CartographicLongitudeLimits properties.

Size and location, including the labels and a margin, specified as a four-element vector of the form [left bottom width height]. By default, MATLAB measures the values in units normalized to the container. To change the units, set the Units property. The default value of [0 0 1 1] includes the whole interior of the container.

This figure shows the areas defined by the OuterPosition values (blue) and the Position values (red).

Inner size and location, specified as a four-element vector of the form [left bottom width height]. This property is equivalent to the Position property.

Size and location, excluding a margin for the labels, specified as a four-element vector of the form [left bottom width height]. By default, MATLAB measures the values in units normalized to the container. To change the units, set the Units property.

If you want to specify the position and account for the text around the axes, then set the OuterPosition property instead. This figure shows the areas defined by the OuterPosition values (blue) and the Position values (red).

Position property to hold constant when adding, removing, or changing decorations, specified as one of the following values:

Position units, specified as one of these values.

When specifying the units using a name-value argument during object creation, you must set the Units property before specifying the properties that you want to use these units, such as Position.

Layout options, specified as a TiledChartLayoutOptions or a GridLayoutOptions object. This property is useful when the axes object is either in a tiled chart layout or a grid layout.

To position the axes within the grid of a tiled chart layout, set the Tile and TileSpan properties on the TiledChartLayoutOptions object. For example, consider a 3-by-3 tiled chart layout. The layout has a grid of tiles in the center, and four tiles along the outer edges. In practice, the grid is invisible and the outer tiles do not take up space until you populate them with axes or charts.

This code places the axes ax in the third tile of the grid.

ax.Layout.Tile = 3;

To make the axes span multiple tiles, specify the TileSpan property as a two-element vector. For example, this axes spans 2 rows and 3 columns of tiles.

ax.Layout.TileSpan = [2 3];

To place the axes in one of the surrounding tiles, specify the Tile property as 'north', 'south', 'east', or 'west'. For example, setting the value to 'east' places the axes in the tile to the right of the grid.

ax.Layout.Tile = 'east';

To place the axes into a layout within an app, specify this property as a GridLayoutOptions object. For more information about working with grid layouts in apps, see uigridlayout.

If the axes is not a child of either a tiled chart layout or a grid layout (for example, if it is a child of a figure or panel) then this property is empty and has no effect.

Data exploration toolbar, specified as an AxesToolbar object. The toolbar appears at the top-right corner of the axes when you hover over it.

By default, the toolbar includes buttons for exporting content, zooming into the map center, zooming out of the map center, and restoring the original view. You can customize the toolbar buttons using the axtoolbar and axtoolbarbtn functions.

If you do not want the toolbar to appear when you hover over the axes, set the Visible property of the AxesToolbar object to "off".

newmap
mx = gca;
mx.Toolbar.Visible = "off";

For more information, see AxesToolbar Properties.

Interactions, specified as an array of PanInteraction, ZoomInteraction, or DataTipInteraction objects or as an empty array. The interactions you specify are available within your chart through gestures. You do not have to select any axes toolbar buttons to use them. For example, a PanInteraction object enables you to pan within a chart by dragging. For a list of interaction objects, see Control Chart Interactivity.

By default, charts within map axes have pan, zoom, and data tip interactions. You can replace the default set with a new set of interactions, but you cannot access or modify any of the interactions in the default set. For example, this code replaces the default set of interactions with the PanInteraction and ZoomInteraction objects.

newmap
mx = gca;
mx.Interactions = [panInteraction zoomInteraction];

To remove all interactions from the axes, set this property to an empty array. To temporarily disable the current set of interactions, call the disableDefaultInteractivity function. You can reenable them by calling the enableDefaultInteractivity function.

Since R2024a

Options to customize interaction behavior for apps, specified as a MapAxesInteractionOptions object. Use the properties of the MapAxesInteractionOptions object to customize the behavior of interactions for map axes objects in apps. For a complete list of properties, see MapAxesInteractionOptions Properties.

The options set by the MapAxesInteractionOptions object apply to the built-in interactions specified by the Interactions property of the map axes object and to interactions enabled using the axes toolbar.

To use this property, you must create the map axes object in App Designer, or in a figure created using the uifigure function.

State of visibility, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

This property is read-only.

Location of the mouse pointer, stored as a two-element vector of the form [lat lon]. The elements of the vector indicate the location of the last click within the axes. lat is the latitude in degrees, and lon is the longitude in degrees.

If the figure has a defined WindowButtonMotionFcn callback, then the value indicates the last location of the pointer. The figure also has a CurrentPoint property.

Context menu, specified as a ContextMenu object. Use this property to display a context menu when you right-click the object. Create the context menu using the uicontextmenu function.

Selection state, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

Display of selection handles when selected, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

Mouse-click callback, specified as one of these values:

Use this property to execute code when you click the object. If you specify this property using a function handle, then MATLAB passes two arguments to the callback function when executing the callback:

For more information on how to use function handles to define callback functions, see Create Callbacks for Graphics Objects.

Object creation function, specified as one of these values:

For more information about specifying a callback as a function handle, cell array, or character vector, see Create Callbacks for Graphics Objects.

This property specifies a callback function to execute when MATLAB creates the object. MATLAB initializes all property values before executing the CreateFcn callback. If you do not specify the CreateFcn property, then MATLAB executes a default creation function.

Setting the CreateFcn property on an existing component has no effect.

If you specify this property as a function handle or cell array, you can access the object that is being created using the first argument of the callback function. Otherwise, use the gcbo function to access the object.

Object deletion function, specified as one of these values:

For more information about specifying a callback as a function handle, cell array, or character vector, see Create Callbacks for Graphics Objects.

This property specifies a callback function to execute when MATLAB deletes the object. MATLAB executes the DeleteFcn callback before destroying the properties of the object. If you do not specify the DeleteFcn property, then MATLAB executes a default deletion function.

If you specify this property as a function handle or cell array, you can access the object that is being deleted using the first argument of the callback function. Otherwise, use the gcbo function to access the object.

Callback interruption, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

This property determines if a running callback can be interrupted. There are two callback states to consider:

MATLAB determines callback interruption behavior whenever it executes a command that processes the callback queue. These commands include drawnow, figure, uifigure, getframe, waitfor, and pause.

If the running callback does not contain one of these commands, then no interruption occurs. MATLAB first finishes executing the running callback, and later executes the interrupting callback.

If the running callback does contain one of these commands, then the Interruptible property of the object that owns the running callback determines if the interruption occurs:

Callback queuing, specified as 'queue' or 'cancel'. The BusyAction property determines how MATLAB handles the execution of interrupting callbacks. There are two callback states to consider:

The BusyAction property determines callback queuing behavior only when both of these conditions are met:

Under these conditions, the BusyAction property of the object that owns the interrupting callback determines how MATLAB handles the interrupting callback. These are possible values of the BusyAction property:

Ability to capture mouse clicks, specified as one of these values:

If you want an object to be clickable when it is underneath other objects that you do not want to be clickable, then set the PickableParts property of the other objects to "none" so that the click passes through them.

Response to captured mouse clicks, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

This property is read-only.

Deletion status, returned as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

MATLAB sets the BeingDeleted property to 'on' when the DeleteFcn callback begins execution. The BeingDeleted property remains set to 'on' until the component object no longer exists.

Check the value of the BeingDeleted property to verify that the object is not about to be deleted before querying or modifying it.

Parent container, specified as a Figure, Panel, Tab, TiledChartLayout, or GridLayout object.

Children, returned as an array of graphics objects. Use this property to view a list of the children or to reorder the children by setting the property to a permutation of itself.

You cannot add or remove children using the Children property. To add a child to this list, set the Parent property of the child graphics object to the MapAxes object.

Visibility of the object handle in the Children property of the parent, specified as one of these values:

If the object is not listed in the Children property of the parent, then functions that obtain object handles by searching the object hierarchy or querying handle properties cannot return it. Examples of such functions include the get, findobj, gca, gcf, gco, newplot, cla, clf, and close functions.

Hidden object handles are still valid. Set the root ShowHiddenHandles property to 'on' to list all object handles regardless of their HandleVisibility property setting.

This property is read-only.

Type of graphics object, stored as 'mapaxes'.

Object identifier, specified as a character vector or string scalar. You can specify a unique Tag value to serve as an identifier for an object. When you need access to the object elsewhere in your code, you can use the findobj function to search for the object based on the Tag value.

User data, specified as any MATLAB array. For example, you can specify a scalar, vector, matrix, cell array, character array, table, or structure. Use this property to store arbitrary data on an object.

If you are working in App Designer, create public or private properties in the app to share data instead of using the UserData property. For more information, see Share Data Within App Designer Apps.