Graphics Object Properties

Properties for the graphics object in OML.

Root Properties

Property Name
Description/Values
children
A vector of figure handles, which are children of the root.
currentfigure
The handle of the current figure.
handle
The handle of the root, which is 0.
0
handlevisibility
If set to 'off' then this object is not listed in its parent 'children' value.
'on' | 'off'
parent
The parent handle; null for the root object.
0
screendepth
The color depth of the screen. Read-only.
Integer
screenpixelsperinch
The number of pixels per inch of the screen. Read-only.
Double
screensize
The size (resolution) of the screen. Read-only.
[1 1 width height]
showhiddenhandles
If set to 'on' then all objects in the hierarchy are listed in their parents' 'children' value regardless of their 'handlevisibility' value.
'off' | 'on'
tag
A tag attached to the root object.
String
type
The type of the root object.
'root'
units
Units of measurement.
'pixels' | 'normalized'

Figure Properties

Property Name
Description/Values
bottomlabel
Handle of the label that is placed on the bottom area of the figure.
Note: Use the set command to set the contents of the label.
string | cell
children
A vector of axes handles, which are the children of the figure.
color
The background color of the figure.
1*3 matrix of RGB | colorname
createfcn
Function triggered when the figure object is created.
Function handle, string, or cell specifying function name and arguments.
currentaxes
Handle of the current axes of the figure.
deletefcn
Function triggered when the figure object is deleted.
Function handle, string, or cell specifying function name and arguments.
filename
The '.fig' file that was used to create the figure.
String
handle
Handle of the figure object.
Integer.
handlevisibility
If set to 'off' then this object is not listed in its parent 'children' value.
'on' | 'off'
interruptible
Determines if a callback associated with this figure is interruptible by the user or not.
'off' | 'on'
keypressfcn
Function triggered when there is a key press event on the figure object.
Function handle, string, or cell specifying function name and arguments.
leftlabel
Handle of the label that is placed on the left area of the figure.
Note: Use the set command to set the contents of the label.
string | cell
name
Name of the figure.
String
parent
Parent handle, which is always 0 (root).
0
position
Location and size of the figure.
The location is specified by the upper-left point, and the size is specified by the width and height.
Note: This property is only valid for floating figure. If you change this property for a docked figure, there will be no effect, but after undocking the figure, the size/position will be updated accordingly.
[left top width height]
resize
Enable or disable the resizing of the figure window when the figure is undocked. If resize is set to 'off', the figure can still be resized by setting the 'position' property.
'on' | 'off'
rightlabel
Handle of the label that is placed on the right area of the figure.
Note: Use the set command to set the contents of the label.
string | cell
sizechangedfcn
Function triggered when the figure window is resized.
Function handle, string, or cell specifying function name and arguments.
toplabel
Handle of the label that is placed on the top area of the figure.
Note: Use the set command to set the contents of the label.
string | cell
tag
A tag attached to the figure object.
String
type
Type of figure object.
'figure'
units
Units of measurement.
'pixels' | 'normalized'
uicontextmenu
Handle of the uicontextmenu object associated with this figure, if it exists.
visible
Visibility of the figure.
'on' | 'off'
windowicon
Path to an image file that is shown at the top-left corner of the figure window. Supported file types are: .ico, .jpg, .jpeg, .png.
Note: The icon will be visible only if the figure is undocked.
String
windowstyle
Display style of the figure window.
Note: The 'modal' option will undock the figure window and bring it to the front. Interaction with other windows of the application will be blocked until the figure is closed.
'docked' | 'undocked' | 'modal'

Axes Properties

Property Name
Description/Values
bargap (2D bar plot only)
Gap between bars.
Integer
barlabels (2D bar chart plot only)
Show the value over each bar.
'off' | 'on'
barlabelsfontangle (2D bar chart plot only)
Font angle for the bar labels.
'regular' | 'italic'
barlabelsfontname (2D bar chart plot only)
Font name for the bar labels.
Any available font from the system.
barlabelsfontsize (2D bar chart plot only)
Font size for the bar labels.
Integer
barlabelsfontweight (2D bar chart plot only)
Font weight for the bar labels.
'normal' | 'bold'
barorientation (2D bar chart plot only)
Orientation of the bars.
'horizontal' | 'vertical'
children
A vector of handles, which are the children of the axes.
color
Background color of the axes.
1*3 matrix of RGB | colorname
colorbar
Handle of the colorbar object.
Double
colorbarscale
Scale of the colorbar values.
'linear' | 'log' | 'db10' | 'db20'
colorlevels
The colorbar values.
Note: The set command for this property accepts either an integer or a real vector. Use a real vector to set custom values to the colorbar. Use an integer to define the number of colors in the colorbar. In this case, the range and values of the colorbar are automatically calculated.
Integer or real vector.
contourtype
Type of contour.
'blended' | 'discrete' | 'none'
fontangle
Font angle of the axes.
'regular' | 'italic'
fontname
Axes font name.
Any available font from the system.
fontsize
Font size of the axes.
Integer
fontweight
Font weight of the axes.
'normal' | 'bold'
framecolor
Frame color.
1*3 matrix of RGB.
gridcolor
Grid line color.
1*3 matrix of RGB.
handle
Handle of the axes object.
Double
handlevisibility
If set to 'off' then this object is not listed in its parent 'children' value.
'on' | 'off'
mouseclickcallback
Callback function triggered by a mouse click on a 2D plot.
Function handle
parent
Handle of the parent figure.
plottiptotail (polar plot only)
Enable creation of a tip-to-tail curve.
'off' | 'on'
polarmethod (polar plot only)
The polar method of the plot.
'phasevsmag' | 'vector' | 'radar'
position
Location and size of the axes in the figure.
Location is specified by the upper-left point; size is specified by the width and height
[left top width height]
title
Handle of the title, which is a text object.
tag
A tag attached to the axes object.
String
type
Type of axes object.
'axes'
units
Units of measurement.
'normalized' | 'pixels'
visible
Visibility of the axes.
'on' | 'off'
xcategories (bar chart plots only)
Labels for the x category axis of a bar plot.
Cell
xcolor
Color of the x axis.
1*3 matrix of RGB | colorname
xdb10reference (2D plots only)
Reference value for the x axis dB10 scale. Data values are scaled using the formula: value = 10*log10(original_value/reference)
Scalar
xdb20reference (2D plots only)
Reference value for the x axis dB20 scale. Data values are scaled using the formula: value = 20*log10(original_value/reference)
Scalar
xfontangle
Font angle of the x axis tick labels.
'regular' | 'italic'
xfontname
Font name of the x axis tick labels.
Any available font from the system.
xfontsize
Font size of the x axis tick labels.
Integer
xfontweight
Font weight of the x axis tick labels.
'normal' | 'bold'
xgrid
Status of the x axis grid lines.
'off' | 'on'
xlabel
Handle of the label of the x axis, which is a text object.
xlim
X axis limits.
2-element vector
xaxislocation
X axis location.
'bottom' | 'top'
xminorgrid
Status of the x axis minor grid lines.
'off' | 'on'
xminortick
Number of ticks on the x minor axis.
Integer
xnumericformat
Displays the format of the x axis values.
'auto' | 'fixed' | 'scientific'
xnumericprecision
Number of digits following the decimal point of the x axis values.
Integer
xscale
Scale of the x axis.
'linear' | 'log' | 'db10' | 'db20'
xtick
Number of ticks on the x axis or vector of tick values to display on the x axis. Custom tick values can be set only on the linear axis of 2D plots.
Note: If the axis scale is logarithmic, decibels, or dB10, this property refers to ticks per decade. The accepted values are:
  • 0, 1, 2, 5, 9 or 18 for logarithmic.
  • 0, 1, 2, 4, 10 or 20 for decibels.
  • 0, 1, 2, 4 or 10 for dB10.
Integer | Vector
xticklabel
Labels of the x axis ticks.
Note: The labels are set on the custom ticks that are specified by the xtick property.
Cell of strings
xtickmethod
The method for calculating the number of ticks on the x axis.
'increment' | 'ticks'
xweighting (2D plots only)
Weighting method for the dB10 and dB20 x axis scale.
Note: For more information about the weighting methods refer to the dba, dbb, dbc and dbu commands.
'none' | 'a' | 'b' | 'c' | 'u'
ycategories (3D bar chart plots only)
Labels for the y category axis of a 3D bar chart plot.
Cell
ycolor
Color of the y axis.
1*3 matrix of RGB | colorname
ydb10reference (2D plots only)
Reference value for the y axis dB10 scale. Data values are scaled using the formula: value = 10*log10(original_value/reference)
Scalar
ydb20reference (2D plots only)
Reference value for the y axis dB20 scale. Data values are scaled using the formula: value = 20*log10(original_value/reference)
Scalar
yfontangle
Font angle of the y axis tick labels.
'regular' | 'italic'
yfontname
Font name of the y axis tick labels.
Any available font from the system.
yfontsize
Font size of the y axis tick labels.
Integer
yfontweight
Font weight of the y axis tick labels.
'normal' | 'bold'
ygrid
Status of the y axis grid lines.
'off' | 'on'
ylabel
Handle of the label of y axis, which is a text object.
ylim
Y axis limits.
2-element vector
yaxislocation
Y axis location.
'left' | 'right'
yminorgrid
Status of the y axis minor grid lines.
'off' | 'on'
yminortick
Number of ticks on the y minor axis.
Integer
ynumericformat
Display format of the y axis values.
'auto' | 'fixed' | 'scientific'
ynumericprecision
Number of digits following the decimal point of the y axis values.
Integer
yscale
Scale of the y axis.
'linear' | 'log' | 'db10' | 'db20'
ytick
Number of ticks on the y axis or vector of tick values to display on the y axis. Custom tick values can be set only on the linear axis of 2D plots.
Note: If the axis scale is logarithmic, decibels, or dB10, this property refers to ticks per decade and the accepted values are:
  • 0, 1, 2, 5, 9 or 18 for logarithmic.
  • 0, 1, 2, 4, 10 or 20 for decibels.
  • 0, 1, 2, 4 or 10 for dB10.
Integer | Vector
yticklabel
Labels of the y axis ticks.
Note: The labels are set on the custom ticks that are specified by the ytick property.
Cell of strings
ytickmethod
The method for calculating the number of ticks for the y axis.
'increment' | 'ticks'
yweighting (2D plots only)
Weighting method for the dB10 and dB20 y axis scale.
Note: For more information about the weighting methods refer to the dba, dbb, dbc and dbu commands.
'none' | 'a' | 'b' | 'c' | 'u'
zcolor
Color of the z axis.
1*3 matrix of RGB | colorname
zerolinecolor
Zero line color.
1*3 matrix of RGB.
zfontangle
Font angle of the z axis tick labels.
'regular' | 'italic'
zfontname
Font name of the z axis tick labels.
Any available font from the system.
zfontsize
Font size of the z axis tick labels.
Integer
zfontweight
Font weight of the z axis tick labels.
'normal' | 'bold'
zgrid
Status of the z axis grid lines.
'off' | 'on'
zlabel
Handle of the label of z axis, which is a text object.
zlim
Z axis limits.
2-element vector
zminorgrid
Status of the z axis minor grid lines.
'off' | 'on'
zminortick
Number of ticks on the z minor axis.
Integer
znumericformat
Display format of the z axis values.
'auto' | 'fixed' | 'scientific'
znumericprecision
Number of digits following the decimal point of the z axis values.
Integer
zscale
Scale of the z axis.
'linear' | 'log' | 'db10' | 'db20'
ztick
Number of tics on the z axis.
Note: If the axis scale is logarithmic, decibels, or dB10, this property refers to tics per decade and the accepted values are:
  • 0, 1, 2, 5, 9 or 18 for logarithmic.
  • 0, 1, 2, 4, 10 or 20 for decibels.
  • 0, 1, 2, 4 or 10 for dB10.
Integer
ztickmethod
The method for calculating the number of ticks for the z axis.
'increment' | 'ticks'

Y-axis Properties

Property Name
Description/Values
children
A vector of handles, which are the children of the axis.
fontangle
Font angle of the axis.
'regular' | 'italic'
fontname
Font name of the axis.
Any available font from system.
fontsize
Font size of the axis.
Integer
fontweight
Font weight of the axis.
'normal' | 'bold'
handle
Axis object handle.
Double
parent
Parent axis object handle.
tag
A tag attached to the axis object.
String
type
Type of the axis object.
'axes'
units
Units of measurement.
'normalized' | 'pixels'
visible
Visibility of the axis.
'on' | 'off'
ycolor
Axis color.
1*3 matrix of RGB | colorname
ydb10reference (2D plots only)
Reference value for the y axis dB10 scale. Data values are scaled using the formula: value = 10*log10(original_value/reference)
Scalar
ydb20reference (2D plots only)
Reference value for the y axis dB20 scale. Data values are scaled using the formula: value = 20*log10(original_value/reference)
Scalar
ylabel
Handle of the axis label, which is a text object.
yscale
Axis scale.
'linear' | 'log' | 'db10' | 'db20'
ytick
Number of ticks on the y axis or vector of tick values to display on the y axis. Custom tick values can be set only on the linear axis of 2D plots.
Note: If the axis scale is logarithmic, decibels, or dB10, this property refers to ticks per decade and the accepted values are:
  • 0, 1, 2, 5, 9 or 18 for logarithmic.
  • 0, 1, 2, 4, 10 or 20 for decibels.
  • 0, 1, 2, 4 or 10 for dB10.
Integer | Vector
yticklabel
Labels of the y axis ticks.
Note: The labels are set on the custom ticks that are specified by the ytick property.
Cell of strings
ytickmethod
The method for calculating the number of ticks for the y axis.
'increment' | 'ticks'
yweighting (2D plots only)
Weighting method for the dB10 and dB20 y axis scale.
Note: For more information about the weighting methods refer to the dba, dbb, dbc and dbu commands.
'none' | 'a' | 'b' | 'c' | 'u'

Line Properties

Property Name
Description/Values
children
Children of the line object, currently an empty matrix.
color
Line color.
1*3 matrix of RGB | colorname
dataxoffset
Shifts the data along the x axis.
Double
datayoffset
Shifts the data along the y axis.
Double
datazoffset
Shifts the data along the z axis.
Double
dataxscale
Scales the data in the x axis.
Double
datayscale
Scales the data in the y axis.
Double
datazscale
Scales the data in the z axis.
Double
displayname
The line's name.
String
handle
Handle of the line object.
handlevisibility
If set to 'off' then this object is not listed in its parent 'children' value.
'on' | 'off'
linestyle
The line style.
'-' | '--' | '-.' | ':' | '-:' | 'none'
linewidth
Width of the line.
Integer
marker
Line marker.
's' | 'square' | '^' | 'v' | 'x' | 'o' | 'd' | 'diamond' | '+' | '*' | '.' | 'none'
markerevery
Frequency of line markers.
Integer
markerfacecolor
Color of the line marker.
1*3 matrix of RGB | colorname
markersize
Size of the marker.
Integer
parent
Handle of the parent axes.
0
tag
A tag attached to the line object.
String
tiptotail (polar plot only)
Enables participation of the line in the tip-to-tail curve.
'on' | 'off'
type
The type of line object.
'line'
units
Units of measurement.
'pixels' | 'normalized'
visible
Visibility of the line.
'on' | 'off'
xdata
Data values associated with the x axis.
vector
yaxis
Handle of the vertical axis this object is plotted on.
Double
ydata
Data values associated with the y axis.
vector
zdata
Data values associated with the z axis (3D lines only).
vector

Surface Properties

Property Name
Description/Values
children
Children of the surface object, currently an empty matrix.
color
Surface color.
1*3 matrix of RGB | colorname
displayname
The surface's name.
String
handle
Handle of the surface object.
handlevisibility
If set to 'off' then this object is not listed in its parent 'children' value.
'on' | 'off'
linewidth (waterfall plot only)
Width of the waterfall lines.
Integer
meshlines
Visibility of the surface mesh lines.
'on' | 'off'
parent
Handle of the parent axes.
0
tag
A tag attached to the surface object.
String
type
Surface object type.
'surface'
units
Units of measurement.
'pixels' | 'normalized'
visible
Visibility of the surface.
'on' | 'off'
xdata
Data values associated with the x axis.
vector | matrix
ydata
Data values associated with the y axis.
vector | matrix
zdata
Data values associated with the z axis.
matrix

Text Properties

Property Name
Description/Values
attached
Enables the attachement of the text box to a point. Supported in 2D plots only.
'on' | 'off'
backgroundcolor
The background color of the text box.
1*3 matrix of RGB | colorname
borderwidth
The width of the text's border line.
Integer
children
Children of the text object, currently an empty matrix.
color
The text color.
1*3 matrix of RGB | colorname
fontangle
The font angle of the text.
'regular' | 'italic'
fontname
The text's font name.
Any available fonts from the system.
fontsize
The text's font size.
Integer
fontweight
The font weight of the text.
'normal' | 'bold'
handle
The handle of the text object.
Double
handlevisibility
If set to 'off' then this object is not listed in its parent 'children' value.
'on' | 'off'
horizontalalignment
The horizontal alignment of the text box relative to the given x,y coordinate. Supported in 2D plots only.
'center' | 'left' | 'right'
interpreter
The interpreter that will be used to process the text. Supported in 2D plots only.
Note: The 'tex' interpreter supports a subset of the TeX markup language and is currently available in 2D plots for title, axis labels and text objects. Mathematical expressions should be placed inside '$'. Examples may be found in the documation of the text command.
'none' | 'tex'
offset
The distance between the given x,y coordinate and the text box. Supported in 2D plots only.
Double
parent
The handle of the parent object.
Double
string
The content of the text object.
tag
A tag attached to the text object.
String
type
The text object type.
'text'
units
The units of measurement.
'pixels' | 'normalized'
verticalalignment
The vertical alignment of the text box relative to the given x,y coordinate. Supported in 2D plots only.
'middle' | 'top' | 'bottom'
visible
Visibility of the text object.
'on' | 'off'

Hggroup Properties

Property Name
Description/Values
areagroup (area plot only)
A vector of handles, which point to area groups.
autoscale (quiver plot only)
Enables the scaling of the quiver plot vectors.
'on' | 'off'
autoscalefactor (quiver plot only)
The scaling factor of the quiver plot vectors. Default value is 0.9.
Double
basevalue (area plot only)
Base value of the shading.
Double
bargroup (bar chart plot only)
A vector of handles, which point to bar groups.
barlayout (bar chart plot only)
The bar layout style.
'grouped' | 'stacked'
barstyle (bar chart plot only)
The bar style.
Integer in the range [0,4]
barwidth (bar chart plot only)
The width of the bars.
Integer
cdata (2d scatter plot only)
The color of each marker of a scatter plot.
M*3 matrix of RGB
children
The children of the hggroup object.
color (quiver plot only)
Color of the quiver plot vectors.
1*3 matrix of RGB | colorname
dataxoffset
Shifts the data along the x axis.
Double
datayoffset
Shifts the data along the y axis.
Double
datazoffset
Shifts the data along the z axis.
Double
dataxscale
Scales the data in the x axis.
Double
datayscale
Scales the data in the y axis.
Double
datazscale
Scales the data in the z axis.
Double
displayname
The group's named.
String
facecolor
The object color.
1*3 matrix of RGB | colorname
handle
The handle of the hggroup object.
handlevisibility
If set to 'off' then this object is not listed in its parent 'children' value.
'on' | 'off'
imgrid (imagesc plot only)
Visibility of the image grid.
'off' | 'on'
linestyle (quiver plot only)
The vector line style.
'-' | '--' | '-.' | ':' | '-:' | 'none'
linewidth (quiver plot only)
The vector line width.
Integer
marker (scatter and quiver plot only)
marker style
's' | 'square' | '^' | 'v' | 'x' | 'o' | 'd' | 'diamond' | '+' | '*' | '.' | 'none'
markerfacecolor (scatter and quiver plot only)
The marker color.
1*3 matrix of RGB | colorname
markersize (scatter and quiver plot only)
Size of the marker.
Integer
maxheadsize (quiver plot only)
The scaling factor of the quiver plot arrow head. Default value is 0.3.
Double
parent
The handle of the parent axes.
0
showarrowhead (quiver plot only)
Sets the arrow head visible.
'on' | 'off'
tag
A tag attached to the hggroup object.
String
type
The type of the hggroup object.
'hggroup'
udata (quiver plot only)
Data values of the vector u component.
vector | matrix
units
The units of measurement, currently not used.
'pixels' | 'normalized'
vdata (quiver plot only)
Data values of the vector v component.
vector | matrix
visible
Visibility of the hggroup object.
'on' | 'off'
xdata
Data values associated with the x axis.
vector | matrix
yaxis(all except bar plot)
Handle of the vertical axis this object is plotted on.
Double
ydata
Data values associated with the y axis.
vector | matrix
zdata
Data values associated with the z axis (3D bar or scatter only).
vector | matrix

Image Properties

Property Name
Description/Values
children
The children of the image object, currently an empty matrix.
filepath
The filepath.
handle
The handle of the image object.
handlevisibility
If set to 'off' then this object is not listed in its parent 'children' value.
'on' | 'off'
parent
The handle of the parent object.
0
position
The location and size of the image in the figure. The location is specified by the upper-left point, and the size is specified by the width and height.
[left top width height]
tag
A tag attached to the image object.
String
type
The image object type.
'image'
units
Units of measurement (not yet used).
'pixels' | 'normalized'

Shape Properties

Property Name
Description/Values
children
Children of the shape object; an empty matrix for now.
curvature
Curvature for the horizontal and vertical edge.
[h-curvature v-curvature]
edgecolor
Color of the shape's border.
1*3 matrix of RGB | colorname
facecolor
Color to fill the shape.
1*3 matrix of RGB | colorname
handle
Handle of the shape object.
Double
handlevisibility
If set to 'off' then this object is not listed in its parent 'children' value.
'on' | 'off'
linestyle
Edge style.
'-' | '--' | '-.' | ':' | '-:' | 'none'
linewidth
Edge width.
Integer
parent
handle of the parent object, which is a handle of the figure.
Integer
position
Location and size of the shape in the figure. Location is specified by the upper-left point, size is specified by the width and height.
[left top width height]
tag
A tag attached to the shape.
String
type
Shape object type.
'hggroug'
units
Units of measurement, (currently not used).
'pixels' | 'normalized'
visible
Shape visibility.
'on' | 'off'

Colorbar Properties

Property Name
Description/Values
children
Children of the colobar object; an empty matrix for now.
clim
Range of the colorbar.
2-element vector
colorbarscale
Scale of the colorbar values.
'linear' | 'log' | 'db10' | 'db20'
colorlevels
The colorbar values.
Note: The set command for this property accepts either an integer or a real vector. Use a real vector to set custom values to the colorbar. Use an integer to define the number of colors in the colorbar. In this case, the range and values of the colorbar are automatically calculated.
Integer or real vector.
colormap
The color map of the plot.
matrix
fontname
The font name of the colorbar tick labels.
Any available font from the system.
fontsize
The font size of the colorbar tick labels.
Integer
handle
Handle of the colorbar object.
Double
location
Location of the colorbar.
'northeast' | 'northwest' | 'southeast' | 'southwest'
numericformat
The format of the colorbar tick labels.
'scientific' | 'fixed'
numericprecision
The precision of the colorbar tick labels.
Integer
parent
Handle of the parent axes object.
Double
tag
A tag attached to the colorbar object.
String
type
Object type.
'colorbar'
units
Units of measurement (currently not used).
'pixels' | 'normalized'
visible
Colorbar visibility.
'on' | 'off'

Legend Properties

Property Name
Description/Values
bordercolor
Legend border color.
1*3 matrix of RGB | colorname
borderwidth
Legend border width.
Integer
children
Children of the legend object; an empty matrix for now.
fontangle (2D plots only)
The font angle of the legend tick labels.
'regular' | 'italic'
fontname
The font name of the legend tick labels.
Any available font in the system.
fontsize
The font size of the legend tick labels.
Integer
fontweight (2D plots only)
The font weight of the legend tick labels.
'normal' | 'bold'
handle
Handle of the legend object.
Double
location
Location of the legend. Refer to the legend documentation page for valid options.
String | 2-element vector
parent
Handle of the parent axes object.
Double
tag
A tag attached to the legend object.
String
type
Object type.
'legend'
units
Units of measurement (currently not used).
'pixels' | 'normalized'
visible
Legend visibility.
'on' | 'off'

Waitbar Properties

Property Name
Description/Values
handle
Handle of the waitbar.
height
Height of the waitbar in pixels.
message
Message displayed in the waitbar.
title
Title of the waitbar.
Value
Fractional value of the progress of the waitbar.
visible
1 if waitbar is visible and 0 if waitbar is hidden.
width
Width of the waitbar in pixels.