The datacursormode and its update function is applied to the entire figure but you can assign different update function responses to each axes by following these steps listed and demonstrated below.
- Assign a unique tag name to each axes so the update function can identify which axes its responding to.
- Define the update function after all axes are created and pass any relevant variables into the function.
- Within the update function, identify which axes contains the object that was clicked and create the text output according to the active axes.
See inline comments for detail.
% Create figure with 2 subplots
fig = figure();
sp(1) = subplot(2,1,1);
hold on
h(1) = plot(rand(1,20),'-o','DisplayName','A');
h(2) = plot(rand(1,20),'-o','DisplayName','B');
h(3) = plot(rand(1,20),'-o','DisplayName','C');
h(4) = plot(rand(1,20),'-o','DisplayName','D');
h(5) = plot(rand(1,20),'-o','DisplayName','E');
sp(1).Tag = 'subplot1'; % <--- Assign a unique tag to first axes
title('Click to reveal line name')
sp(2) = subplot(2,1,2);
x = linspace(0,3*pi,200);
y = cos(x) + rand(1,200);
index = 1:numel(x);
sz = 25;
c = linspace(1,10,length(x));
s = scatter(x,y,sz,c,'filled');
sp(2).Tag = 'subplot2'; % <--- Assign a unique tag to second axes
title('Click to reveal index value')
% After plotting, assign data cursor object to figure.
dcm = datacursormode(fig);
dcm.Enable = 'on';
% Create a structure that contains fields to any variable
% needed for the data cursor text for any axes.
S.index = index;
% Define the update function
dcm.UpdateFcn = @(empty,info,data)dcmUpdateFcn(empty,info,S);
function txt = dcmUpdateFcn(~, info, S)
% Identify subplot tag
subplotTag = info.Target.Parent.Tag;
% Create text output based on which subplot was identified
switch subplotTag
case 'subplot1'
% Display line name
txt = sprintf('Line Name: %s', info.Target.DisplayName);
case 'subplot2'
% Find closest point to mouse click
d = pdist2([info.Target.XData(:), info.Target.YData(:)], info.Position);
[~, minIdx] = min(d);
% Display the x value, y value, and index value
txt = sprintf('X = %.3f\nY = %.2f\ni = %d', ...
info.Target.XData(minIdx), info.Target.YData(minIdx), S.index(minIdx));
otherwise
% Define a default output for axes that aren't identified
txt = 'Undefined';
end
end
Example of result:
