# PolarAxes Properties

Polar axes appearance and behavior

PolarAxes properties control the appearance and behavior of a PolarAxes object. By changing property values, you can modify certain aspects of the polar axes. Set axes properties after plotting since some graphics functions reset axes properties.

Some graphics functions create polar axes when plotting. Use gca to access the newly created axes. To create empty polar axes, use the polaraxes function.

polarplot([0 pi/2 pi],[1 2 3]) ax = gca; d = ax.ThetaDir; ax.ThetaDir = 'clockwise';

## Font

expand all

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, use 'FixedWidth'. The fixed-width font relies on the root FixedWidthFontName property. Setting the root FixedWidthFontName property causes an immediate update of the display to use the new font.

Font size, specified as a scalar numeric value. The font size affects the title and tick labels. It also affects any legends or colorbars associated with the axes. The default font size depends on the specific operating system and locale. By default, the font size is measured 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.

• Titles — 110% of the axes font size by default. To control the scaling, use the TitleFontSizeMultiplier and LabelFontSizeMultiplier properties.

• Legends and colorbars — 90% of the axes font size by default. To specify a different font size, set the FontSize property for the Legend or Colorbar object instead.

Example: ax.FontSize = 12

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

• 'auto' — Font size specified by MATLAB. If you resize the axes to be smaller than the default size, the font size might scale down to improve readability and layout.

• 'manual' — Font size specified manually. Do not scale the font size as the axes size changes. To specify the font size, set the FontSize property.

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.

Example: ax.TitleFontSizeMultiplier = 1.75

Title character thickness, specified as one of these values:

• 'normal' — Default weight as defined by the particular font

• 'bold' — Thicker characters than normal

Subtitle character thickness, specified as one of these values:

• 'normal' — Default weight as defined by the particular font

• 'bold' — Thicker characters than normal

Font size units, specified as one of these values.

UnitsDescription
'points'Points. One point equals 1/72 inch.
'inches'Inches.
'centimeters'Centimeters.
'normalized' Interpret font size as a fraction of the axes height. If you resize the axes, the font size modifies accordingly. For example, if the FontSize is 0.1 in normalized units, then the text is 1/10 of the height value stored in the axes Position property.
'pixels'

Pixels.

Starting in R2015b, distances in pixels are independent of your system resolution on Windows® and Macintosh systems.

• On Windows systems, a pixel is 1/96th of an inch.

• On Macintosh systems, a pixel is 1/72nd of an inch.

• On Linux® systems, the size of a pixel is determined by your system resolution.

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.

Font smoothing, 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.

ValueDescriptionResult
'on'

Use antialiasing to make text appear smoother on the screen.

Example: ax.FontSmoothing = 'on'

'off'

Do not use antialiasing. Use this setting if the text seems blurry.

Example: ax.FontSmoothing = 'off'

## Ticks

expand all

Radius tick values, specified as a vector of increasing values. The radius tick values are the locations along the r-axis where the circular lines appear. The radius tick labels are the labels that you see next to each line. Use the RTickLabels property to specify the associated labels.

Example: ax.RTick = [0 2 4 6];

Alternatively, use the rticks function to specify the tick values.

Selection mode for the radius tick values, specified as one of these values:

• 'auto' — Automatically select the tick values based on the range of data for the axis.

• 'manual' — Manually specify the tick values. To specify the values, set the RTick property.

Example: ax.RTickMode = 'auto'

Radius tick labels, specified as a cell array of character vectors, string array, or categorical array. If you do not want tick labels to show, then specify an empty cell array {}. If you do not specify enough labels for all the ticks values, then the labels repeat.

Tick labels support TeX and LaTeX markup. See the TickLabelInterpreter property for more information.

If you specify this property as a categorical array, MATLAB uses the values in the array, not the categories.

Example: ax.RTickLabel = {'one','two','three','four'};

Alternatively, use the rticklabels function.

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

• 'auto' — Automatically select the tick labels.

• 'manual' — Manually specify the tick labels. To specify the labels, set the RTickLabel property.

Angles at which to display lines extending from the origin, specified as a vector of increasing values. MATLAB labels the lines with the appropriate angle values, unless you specify different labels using the ThetaTickLabel property.

MATLAB interprets the values in units determined by the ThetaAxisUnits property.

Example: ax.ThetaTick = [0 90 180 270];

Alternatively, specify the values using the thetaticks function.

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

• 'auto' — Automatically select the property value.

• 'manual' — Use the specified property value. To specify the value, set the ThetaTick property.

Labels for angle lines, specified as a cell array of character vectors, string array, or categorical array.

If you do not specify enough labels for all the lines, then the labels repeat. Labels support TeX and LaTeX markup. See the TickLabelInterpreter property for more information.

If you specify this property as a categorical array, MATLAB uses the values in the array, not the categories.

Example: ax.ThetaTickLabel = {'right','top','left','bottom'};

Alternatively, specify the values using the thetaticklabels function.

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

• 'auto' — Automatically select the property value.

• 'manual' — Use the specified property value. To specify the value, set the ThetaTickLabel property.

Rotation of r-axis tick labels, specified as a scalar value in degrees. Positive values give counterclockwise rotation. Negative values give clockwise rotation.

Example: ax.RTickLabelRotation = 45;

Alternatively, use the rtickangle function.

Minor tick marks along r-axis, 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.

• 'on' — Display minor tick marks. The space between the major tick marks and grid lines determines the number of minor tick marks. This property value has a visual effect only if the tick length is positive (controlled by the TickLength property) and if the polar axes is a full circle (controlled by the ThetaLim property).

• 'off' — Do not display minor tick marks.

Example: ax.RMinorTick = 'on';

Minor tick marks between angle lines, 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.

• 'on' — Display minor tick marks. The space between the lines determines the number of minor tick marks. This property value has a visual effect only if the tick length is positive. To set the tick length, use the TickLength property, for example, ax.TickLength = [0.02 0].

• 'off' — Do not display minor tick marks.

Location of the zero reference axis, specified as one of the values in this table.

ValueResult
'right'

'top'

'left'

'bottom'

Example: ax.ThetaZeroLocation = 'left';

Tick mark direction, specified as one of these values:

• 'in' — Direct the tick marks inward from the axes outline.

• 'out' — Direct the tick marks outward from the axes outline.

• 'both' — Center the tick marks over the axes outline.

Example: ax.TickDir = 'out';

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

• 'auto' — Automatically select the tick direction based on the current view.

• 'manual' — Manually specify the tick direction. To specify the tick direction, set the TickDir property.

Example: ax.TickDirMode = 'auto'

Tick label interpreter, specified as one of these values:

• 'tex' — Interpret labels using a subset of the TeX markup.

• 'latex' — Interpret labels using a subset of LaTeX markup. When you specify the tick labels, use dollar signs around each element in the cell array.

• 'none' — Display literal characters.

#### TeX Markup

By default, MATLAB supports a subset of TeX markup. Use TeX markup to add superscripts and subscripts, modify the text type and color, and include special characters in the labels.

Modifiers remain in effect until the end of the text. Superscripts and subscripts are an exception because they modify only the next character or the characters within the curly braces. When you set the interpreter to 'tex', the supported modifiers are as follows.

ModifierDescriptionExample
^{ }Superscript'text^{superscript}'
_{ }Subscript'text_{subscript}'
\bfBold font'\bf text'
\itItalic font'\it text'
\slOblique font (usually the same as italic font)'\sl text'
\rmNormal font'\rm text'
\fontname{specifier}Font name — Replace specifier with the name of a font family. You can use this in combination with other modifiers.'\fontname{Courier} text'
\fontsize{specifier}Font size —Replace specifier with a numeric scalar value in point units.'\fontsize{15} text'
\color{specifier}Font color — Replace specifier with one of these colors: red, green, yellow, magenta, blue, black, white, gray, darkGreen, orange, or lightBlue.'\color{magenta} text'
\color[rgb]{specifier}Custom font color — Replace specifier with a three-element RGB triplet.'\color[rgb]{0,0.5,0.5} text'

This table lists the supported special characters for the 'tex' interpreter.

Character SequenceSymbolCharacter SequenceSymbolCharacter SequenceSymbol

\alpha

α

\upsilon

υ

\sim

~

\angle

\phi

\leq

\ast

*

\chi

χ

\infty

\beta

β

\psi

ψ

\clubsuit

\gamma

γ

\omega

ω

\diamondsuit

\delta

δ

\Gamma

Γ

\heartsuit

\epsilon

ϵ

\Delta

Δ

\spadesuit

\zeta

ζ

\Theta

Θ

\leftrightarrow

\eta

η

\Lambda

Λ

\leftarrow

\theta

θ

\Xi

Ξ

\Leftarrow

\vartheta

ϑ

\Pi

Π

\uparrow

\iota

ι

\Sigma

Σ

\rightarrow

\kappa

κ

\Upsilon

ϒ

\Rightarrow

\lambda

λ

\Phi

Φ

\downarrow

\mu

µ

\Psi

Ψ

\circ

º

\nu

ν

\Omega

Ω

\pm

±

\xi

ξ

\forall

\geq

\pi

π

\exists

\propto

\rho

ρ

\ni

\partial

\sigma

σ

\cong

\bullet

\varsigma

ς

\approx

\div

÷

\tau

τ

\Re

\neq

\equiv

\oplus

\aleph

\Im

\cup

\wp

\otimes

\subseteq

\oslash

\cap

\in

\supseteq

\supset

\lceil

\subset

\int

\cdot

·

\o

ο

\rfloor

\neg

¬

\nabla

\lfloor

\times

x

\ldots

...

\perp

\surd

\prime

´

\wedge

\varpi

ϖ

\0

\rceil

\rangle

\mid

|

\vee

\langle

\copyright

#### LaTeX Markup

To use LaTeX markup, set the TickLabelInterpreter property to 'latex'. Use dollar symbols around the labels, for example, use '$\int_1^{20} x^2 dx$' for inline mode or '$$\int_1^{20} x^2 dx$$' for display mode.

The displayed text uses the default LaTeX font style. The FontName, FontWeight, and FontAngle properties do not have an effect. To change the font style, use LaTeX markup within the text. The maximum size of the text that you can use with the LaTeX interpreter is 1200 characters. For multiline text, the maximum size of the text reduces by about 10 characters per line.

Tick mark length, specified as a two-element vector. The first element determines the tick length. The second element is ignored.

Example: ax.TickLength = [0.02 0];

## Rulers

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Minimum and maximum radius limits, specified as a two-element vector of the form [rmin rmax], where rmax is a numeric value greater than rmin. You can specify both limits, or specify one limit and let the axes automatically calculate the other.

• To automatically set the minimum limit to the minimum data value, specify the first element as -inf, for example, [-inf 0].

• To automatically set the maximum limit to the maximum data value, specify the second element as inf, for example, [0 inf].

Alternatively, use the rlim function to set the limits.

Example: ax.RLim = [0 6];

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

• 'auto'— Automatically set the property value.

• 'manual'— Use the specified property value. To specify the value, set the RLim property.

Minimum and maximum angle values, specified as a two-element vector of the form [thmin thmax]. If the difference between the values is less than 360 degrees, then the theta-axis is a partial circle.

MATLAB interprets the values in units determined by the ThetaAxisUnits property.

Example: ax.ThetaLim = [0 180];

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

• 'auto' — Automatically select the property value.

• 'manual' — Use the specified property value. To specify the value, set the ThetaLim property.

Component that controls the appearance and behavior of the r-axis, returned as a ruler object. When MATLAB creates polar axes, it automatically creates a ruler for the r-axis. Modify the appearance and behavior of this axis by accessing the associated ruler and setting ruler properties. For a list of options, see NumericRuler Properties.

For example, change the color of the r-axis to red.

ax = polaraxes; ax.RAxis.Color = 'r'; 

Use the RAxis properties to access the ruler objects and set ruler properties. If you want to set polar axes properties, set them directly on the PolarAxes object.

Component that controls the appearance and behavior of the theta-axis, returned as a ruler object. When MATLAB creates polar axes, it automatically creates a numeric ruler for the theta-axis. Modify the appearance and behavior of this axis by accessing the associated ruler and setting ruler properties. For a list of options, see NumericRuler Properties.

For example, change the color of the theta-axis to red.

ax = polaraxes; ax.ThetaAxis.Color = 'r'; 

Use the ThetaAxis property to access the ruler object and set ruler properties. If you want to set polar axes properties, set them directly on the PolarAxes object.

Location of the r-axis, specified a scalar angle value. MATLAB interprets the values in units determined by the ThetaAxisUnits property.

Example: ax.RAxisLocation = 90;

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

• 'auto' — Automatically select the property value.

• 'manual' — Use the specified property value. To specify the value, set the RAxisLocation property.

Color of the r-axis, including the r-axis grid lines, tick marks, and tick labels. Specify this value as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name.

Note

If you specify the GridColor property, then the grid lines use the color in the GridColor property instead. See GridColorMode for more information.

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

• An RGB triplet is a three-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0,1]; for example, [0.4 0.6 0.7].

• A hexadecimal color code is a character vector or a string scalar that starts with a hash symbol (#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from 0 to F. The values are not case sensitive. Thus, the color codes '#FF8800', '#ff8800', '#F80', and '#f80' are equivalent.

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

Color NameShort NameRGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
'red''r'[1 0 0]'#FF0000'

'green''g'[0 1 0]'#00FF00'

'blue''b'[0 0 1]'#0000FF'

'cyan' 'c'[0 1 1]'#00FFFF'

'magenta''m'[1 0 1]'#FF00FF'

'yellow''y'[1 1 0]'#FFFF00'

'black''k'[0 0 0]'#000000'

'white''w'[1 1 1]'#FFFFFF'

'none'Not applicableNot applicableNot applicableNo color

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

[0 0.4470 0.7410]'#0072BD'

[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]'#D95319'

[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]'#EDB120'

[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]'#7E2F8E'

[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]'#77AC30'

[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]'#4DBEEE'

[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]'#A2142F'

For example, ax.RColor = 'r' changes the color to red.

Property for setting r-axis grid color, specified 'auto' or 'manual'. The mode value only affects the r-axis grid color. The r-axis tick labels always use the RColor value, regardless of the mode.

The r-axis grid color depends on both the RColorMode property and the GridColorMode property, as shown here.

RColorModeGridColorModer-Axis Grid Color
'auto''auto'GridColor property
'manual'GridColor property
'manual''auto'RColor property
'manual'GridColor property

The r-axis minor grid color depends on both the RColorMode property and the MinorGridColorMode property, as shown here.

RColorModeMinorGridColorModer-Axis Minor Grid Color
'auto''auto'MinorGridColor property
'manual'MinorGridColor property
'manual''auto'RColor property
'manual'MinorGridColor property

Color of the theta-axis, including the theta-axis grid lines, tick marks, tick labels. Specify this value as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name.

Note

If you specify the GridColor property, then the grid lines use the color in the GridColor property instead. See GridColorMode for more information.

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

• An RGB triplet is a three-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0,1]; for example, [0.4 0.6 0.7].

• A hexadecimal color code is a character vector or a string scalar that starts with a hash symbol (#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from 0 to F. The values are not case sensitive. Thus, the color codes '#FF8800', '#ff8800', '#F80', and '#f80' are equivalent.

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

Color NameShort NameRGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
'red''r'[1 0 0]'#FF0000'

'green''g'[0 1 0]'#00FF00'

'blue''b'[0 0 1]'#0000FF'

'cyan' 'c'[0 1 1]'#00FFFF'

'magenta''m'[1 0 1]'#FF00FF'

'yellow''y'[1 1 0]'#FFFF00'

'black''k'[0 0 0]'#000000'

'white''w'[1 1 1]'#FFFFFF'

'none'Not applicableNot applicableNot applicableNo color

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

[0 0.4470 0.7410]'#0072BD'

[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]'#D95319'

[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]'#EDB120'

[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]'#7E2F8E'

[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]'#77AC30'

[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]'#4DBEEE'

[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]'#A2142F'

For example, ax.ThetaColor = 'r' changes the color to red.

Property for setting theta-axis grid color, specified 'auto' or 'manual'. The mode value only affects the theta-axis grid color. The theta-axis line, tick marks, and labels always use the ThetaColor value, regardless of the mode.

The theta-axis grid color depends on both the ThetaColorMode property and the GridColorMode property, as shown here.

ThetaColorModeGridColorModetheta-Axis Grid Color
'auto''auto'GridColor property
'manual'GridColor property
'manual''auto'ThetaColor property
'manual'GridColor property

The theta-axis minor grid color depends on both the ThetaColorMode property and the MinorGridColorMode property, as shown here.

ThetaColorModeMinorGridColorModetheta-Axis Minor Grid Color
'auto''auto'MinorGridColor property
'manual'MinorGridColor property
'manual''auto'ThetaColor property
'manual'MinorGridColor property

Direction of increasing values along the r-axis, specified as one of these values:

• 'normal' — Values increase outward from the center of the chart. The radius at the origin corresponds to the minimum value stored in the RLim property (typically 0).

• 'reverse' — Values decrease outward from the center of the chart. The radius at the origin corresponds to the maximum value stored in the RLim property.

Example: ax.RDir = 'reverse';

Direction of increasing angles, specified as one of the values in this table.

ValueResult
'counterclockwise'

Angles increase in a counterclockwise direction.

'clockwise'

Angles increase in a clockwise direction.

Example: ax.ThetaDir = 'clockwise';

Units for angle values, specified as one of these values:

• 'degrees' — Label the angles in degrees, and interpret the ThetaLim, ThetaTick, and RAxisLocation property values in degrees. When you switch the units from radians to degrees, MATLAB converts the radian values in those three properties to the equivalent degree values.

• 'radians' — Label the angles in radians, and interpret the ThetaLim, ThetaTick, and RAxisLocation property values in radians. When you switch the units from degrees to radians, MATLAB converts the degree values in those three properties to the equivalent radian values.

Example: ax.ThetaAxisUnits = 'radians';

## Grid Lines

expand all

Display of r-axis grid lines, 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.

ValueResult
'on'

Display the lines.

'off'

Do not display the lines.

Example: ax.RGrid = 'off';

Display of theta-axis grid lines, 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.

ValueResult
'on'

Display the lines.

'off'

Do not display the lines.

Example: ax.ThetaGrid = 'off';

Placement of grid lines and tick marks in relation to graphic objects, specified as one of these values:

• 'bottom' — Display tick marks and grid lines under graphics objects.

• 'top' — Display tick marks and grid lines over graphics objects.

This property affects only 2-D views.

Example: ax.Layer = 'top'

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

Line StyleDescriptionResulting Line
'-'Solid line

'--'Dashed line

':'Dotted line

'-.'Dash-dotted line

'none'No lineNo line

To display grid lines, use the grid on command or set the ThetaGrid or RGrid property to 'on'.

Example: ax.GridLineStyle = '--';

Color of the grid lines, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The actual grid color depends on the values of the GridColorMode, ThetaColorMode, and RColorMode properties. See GridColorMode for more information.

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

• An RGB triplet is a three-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0,1]; for example, [0.4 0.6 0.7].

• A hexadecimal color code is a character vector or a string scalar that starts with a hash symbol (#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from 0 to F. The values are not case sensitive. Thus, the color codes '#FF8800', '#ff8800', '#F80', and '#f80' are equivalent.

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

Color NameShort NameRGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
'red''r'[1 0 0]'#FF0000'

'green''g'[0 1 0]'#00FF00'

'blue''b'[0 0 1]'#0000FF'

'cyan' 'c'[0 1 1]'#00FFFF'

'magenta''m'[1 0 1]'#FF00FF'

'yellow''y'[1 1 0]'#FFFF00'

'black''k'[0 0 0]'#000000'

'white''w'[1 1 1]'#FFFFFF'

'none'Not applicableNot applicableNot applicableNo color

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

[0 0.4470 0.7410]'#0072BD'

[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]'#D95319'

[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]'#EDB120'

[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]'#7E2F8E'

[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]'#77AC30'

[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]'#4DBEEE'

[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]'#A2142F'

Example: ax.GridColor = [0 0 1]

Example: ax.GridColor = 'blue'

Example: ax.GridColor = '#0000FF'

Property for setting the grid color, specified as one of these values:

• 'auto' — Check the values of the RColorMode and ThetaColorMode properties to determine the grid line colors for the r and theta directions.

• 'manual' — Use GridColor to set the grid line color for all directions.

Grid-line transparency, specified as a value in the range [0,1]. A value of 1 means opaque and a value of 0 means completely transparent.

Example: ax.GridAlpha = 0.5

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

• 'auto' — Default transparency value of 0.15.

• 'manual' — Manually specify the transparency value. To specify the value, set the GridAlpha property.

Example: ax.GridAlphaMode = 'auto'

Display of r-axis minor grid lines, 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.

ValueResult
'on'

Display the lines.

'off'

Do not display the lines.

Example: ax.RMinorGrid = 'on';

Display of theta-axis minor grid lines, 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.

ValueResult
'on'

Display the lines.

'off'

Do not display the lines.

Example: ax.ThetaMinorGrid = 'on';

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

Line StyleDescriptionResulting Line
'-'Solid line

'--'Dashed line

':'Dotted line

'-.'Dash-dotted line

'none'No lineNo line

To display the grid lines, use the grid minor command or set the ThetaMinorGrid or RMinorGrid property to 'on'.

Example: ax.MinorGridLineStyle = '-.';

Color of minor grid lines, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The actual grid color depends on the values of the MinorGridColorMode, ThetaColorMode, and RColorMode properties. See MinorGridColorMode for more information.

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

• An RGB triplet is a three-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0,1]; for example, [0.4 0.6 0.7].

• A hexadecimal color code is a character vector or a string scalar that starts with a hash symbol (#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from 0 to F. The values are not case sensitive. Thus, the color codes '#FF8800', '#ff8800', '#F80', and '#f80' are equivalent.

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

Color NameShort NameRGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
'red''r'[1 0 0]'#FF0000'

'green''g'[0 1 0]'#00FF00'

'blue''b'[0 0 1]'#0000FF'

'cyan' 'c'[0 1 1]'#00FFFF'

'magenta''m'[1 0 1]'#FF00FF'

'yellow''y'[1 1 0]'#FFFF00'

'black''k'[0 0 0]'#000000'

'white''w'[1 1 1]'#FFFFFF'

'none'Not applicableNot applicableNot applicableNo color

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

[0 0.4470 0.7410]'#0072BD'

[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]'#D95319'

[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]'#EDB120'

[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]'#7E2F8E'

[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]'#77AC30'

[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]'#4DBEEE'

[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]'#A2142F'

Example: ax.MinorGridColor = [0 0 1]

Example: ax.MinorGridColor = 'blue'

Example: ax.MinorGridColor = '#0000FF'

Property for setting the minor grid color, specified as one of these values:

• 'auto' — Check the values of the RColorMode and ThetaColorMode properties to determine the grid line colors for the r and theta directions.

• 'manual' — Use MinorGridColor to set the grid line color for all directions.

Minor grid line transparency, specified as a value in the range [0,1]. A value of 1 means opaque and a value of 0 means completely transparent.

Example: ax.MinorGridAlpha = 0.5

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

• 'auto' — Default transparency value of 0.25.

• 'manual' — Manually specify the transparency value. To specify the value, set the MinorGridAlpha property.

Example: ax.MinorGridAlphaMode = 'auto'

## Labels

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Text object for 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 list, see Text Properties.

ax = polaraxes; ax.Title.String = 'My Title'; ax.Title.Color = 'red';

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

title('My Title','Color','red')

Note

This text object is not contained in the axes Children property, cannot be returned by findobj, and does not use default values defined for text objects.

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';

Note

This text object is not contained in the axes Children property, cannot be returned by findobj, and does not use default values defined for text objects.

Title and subtitle horizontal alignment with an invisible box that circumscribes the polar axes, specified as one of the following values:

• 'center' — The title and subtitle are centered over the polar axes.

• 'left' — The title and subtitle are aligned with the left edge of an invisible box that circumscribes the polar axes.

• 'right' — The title and subtitle are aligned with the right edge of an invisible box that circumscribes the polar axes.

Legend associated with the axes, specified as a legend object. You can use this property to determine if the axes has a legend.

ax = gca; lgd = ax.Legend if ~isempty(lgd) disp('Legend Exists') end

You also can use this property to access properties of an existing legend. For a list of properties, see Legend Properties.

polarplot(1:10) legend({'Line 1'},'FontSize',12) ax = gca; ax.Legend.TextColor = 'red';

## Multiple Plots

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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 Line, Scatter, and Bar objects. Each row of the array 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.

ColorsColorOrder Matrix

 [ 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

Starting in R2019b, you can change the color order in either of the following ways:

• Call the colororder function to change the color order for all the axes in a figure. The colors of existing plots in the figure update immediately. If you place additional axes into the figure, those axes also use the new color order. If you continue to call plotting commands, those commands also use the new colors.

• Set the ColorOrder property on the axes, call the hold function to set the axes hold state to 'on', and then call the desired plotting functions. This is like calling the colororder function, but in this case you are setting the color order for the specific axes, not the entire figure. Setting the hold state to 'on' is necessary to ensure that subsequent plotting commands do not reset the axes to use the default color order.

If you are using R2019a or an earlier release, changing the color order matrix does not affect existing plots. To change colors in an existing plot, you must set the ColorOrder property, and then set the axes hold state to 'on' before calling any plotting functions.

The behavior of this property changed in R2019b. For more information, see:

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, Scatter, or Bar 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.

The behavior of this property changed in R2019b. For more information, see Indexing scheme for ColorOrder and LineStyleOrder might change plot colors and line styles.

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. It changes to the next line style only after cycling through all the colors in the ColorOrder property with the current line style. 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 the following tables. You can combine a line and a marker specifier into a single element, such as '-*'.

Line SpecifierDescription
'-' (default) Solid line
'--'Dashed line
':'Dotted line
'-.'Dash-dotted line

Marker SpecifierDescription
'+'Plus sign markers
'o'Circle markers
'*'Star markers
'.'Point markers
'x'Cross markers
's'Square markers
'd'Diamond markers
'^'Upward-pointing triangle markers
'v'Downward-pointing triangle markers
'>'Right-pointing triangle markers
'<'Left-pointing triangle markers
'p'Five-pointed star (pentagram) markers
'h'Six-pointed star (hexagram) markers

#### Changing Line Style Order Before or After Plotting

Starting in R2019b, 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.

If you are using R2019a or an earlier release, you must change the line style order before plotting. Set the value of the LineStyleOrder property, and then call the hold function to set the axes hold state to 'on' before calling any plotting functions.

The behavior of this property changed in R2019b. For more information, see:

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.

The behavior of this property changed in R2019b. For more information, see Indexing scheme for ColorOrder and LineStyleOrder might change plot colors and line styles.

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 SeriesIndex property. 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:

• 'add' — Add new plots to the existing axes. Do not delete existing plots or reset axes properties before displaying the new plot.

• 'replacechildren' — Delete existing plots before displaying the new plot. Reset the ColorOrderIndex and LineStyleOrderIndex properties to 1, but do not reset other axes properties. The next plot added to the axes uses the first color and line style based on the ColorOrder and LineStyle order properties. This value is similar to using cla before every new plot.

• 'replace' — Delete existing plots and reset axes properties, except Position and Units, to their default values before displaying the new plot.

• 'replaceall' — Delete existing plots and reset axes properties, except Position and Units, to their default values before displaying the new plot. This value is similar to using cla reset before every new plot.

Note

For Axes objects with only one y-axis, the 'replace' and 'replaceall' property values are equivalent. For Axes objects with two y-axes, the 'replace' value affects only the active side while the 'replaceall' value affects both sides.

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

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

• 'depth' — Draw objects in back-to-front order based on the current view. Use this value to ensure that objects in front of other objects are drawn correctly.

• 'childorder' — Draw objects in the order in which they are created by graphics functions, without considering the relationship of the objects in three dimensions. This value can result in faster rendering, particularly if the figure is very large, but also can result in improper depth sorting of the objects displayed.

## Color and Transparency Maps

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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:

• 'linear' — Linear scale. The tick values along the colorbar also use a linear scale.

• 'log' — Log scale. The tick values along the colorbar also use a log scale.

Example: ax.ColorScale = 'log'

Color limits for the colormap, specified as a two-element vector of the form [cmin cmax].

If the associated mode property is set to 'auto', then MATLAB chooses the color limits. If you assign a value to this property, then MATLAB sets the mode to 'manual' and does not automatically choose the color limits.

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

• 'auto' — Automatically select the limits based on the color data of the graphics objects contained in the axes.

• 'manual' — Manually specify the values. To specify the values, set the CLim property. The values do not change when the limits of the axes children change.

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. Alphamaps can be any length.

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

• 'linear' — Linear scale

• 'log' — Log scale

Example: ax.AlphaScale = 'log'

Alpha limits for alphamap, specified as a two-element vector of the form [amin amax].

If the associated mode property is set to 'auto', then MATLAB chooses the alpha limits. If you set this property, then MATLAB sets the mode to 'manual' and does not automatically choose the alpha limits.

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

• 'auto' — Automatically select the limits based on the AlphaData values of the graphics objects contained in the axes.

• 'manual' — Manually specify the alpha limits. To specify the alpha limits, set the ALim property.

## Box Styling

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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.

• An RGB triplet is a three-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0,1]; for example, [0.4 0.6 0.7].

• A hexadecimal color code is a character vector or a string scalar that starts with a hash symbol (#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from 0 to F. The values are not case sensitive. Thus, the color codes '#FF8800', '#ff8800', '#F80', and '#f80' are equivalent.

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

Color NameShort NameRGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
'red''r'[1 0 0]'#FF0000'

'green''g'[0 1 0]'#00FF00'

'blue''b'[0 0 1]'#0000FF'

'cyan' 'c'[0 1 1]'#00FFFF'

'magenta''m'[1 0 1]'#FF00FF'

'yellow''y'[1 1 0]'#FFFF00'

'black''k'[0 0 0]'#000000'

'white''w'[1 1 1]'#FFFFFF'

'none'Not applicableNot applicableNot applicableNo color

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

[0 0.4470 0.7410]'#0072BD'

[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]'#D95319'

[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]'#EDB120'

[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]'#7E2F8E'

[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]'#77AC30'

[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]'#4DBEEE'

[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]'#A2142F'

Example: ax.Color = 'none'

Width of circular and angle lines, specified as a scalar value in point units. One point equals 1/72 inch.

Example: ax.LineWidth = 1.5

Outline around the polar axes, 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.

The difference between the values is most noticeable when the theta-axis limits do not span 360 degrees.

ValueResult
'on'

Display the full outline around the polar axes.

'off'

Do not display the full outline around the polar axes.

Example: ax.Box = 'on'

Clipping of objects to the polar axes boundary, 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.

The clipping behavior of an object in the polar axes depends on both the Clipping property of the polar axes and the Clipping property of the individual object. The property value of the polar axes has these effects:

• 'on' — Allow each individual object in the polar axes to control its own clipping behavior based on the Clipping property value for the object.

• 'off' — Disable clipping for all objects in the polar axes, regardless of the Clipping property value for the individual objects. Parts of objects can appear outside of the polar axes limits. For example, parts can appear outside the limits if you create a plot, set hold on, freeze the axis scaling, and then add a plot that is larger than the original plot.

This table lists the results for different combinations of Clipping property values.

Clipping Property for Axes ObjectClipping Property for Individual ObjectResult
'on''on'Individual object is clipped. Others might or might not be.
'on''off'Individual object is not clipped. Others might or might not be.
'off''on'Individual object and other objects are not clipped.
'off''off'Individual object and other objects are not clipped.

Thick lines and markers might display outside the polar axes limits, even if clipping is enabled. If a plot contains markers, then as long as the data point lies within the polar axes, MATLAB draws the entire marker.

## Position

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Size and position of polar axes, including the labels and margins, specified as a four-element vector of the form [left bottom width height]. This vector defines the extents of the rectangle that encloses the outer bounds of the polar axes. The left and bottom elements define the distance from the lower-left corner of the figure or uipanel that contains the polar axes to the lower-left corner of the rectangle. The width and height elements are the rectangle dimensions.

By default, the values are measured 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.

Note

Setting this property has no effect when the parent container is a TiledChartLayout.

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.

Note

Setting this property has no effect when the parent container is a TiledChartLayout.

Size and position of the polar axes, not including labels or margins, specified as a four-element vector of the form [left bottom width height]. This vector defines the extents of the tightest bounding rectangle that encloses the polar axes. The left and bottom elements define the distance from the lower-left corner of the container to the lower-left corner of the rectangle. The width and height elements are the rectangle dimensions.

By default, the values are measured in units normalized to the container. To change the units, set the Units property.

Example: ax.Position = [0 0 1 1]

Note

Setting this property has no effect when the parent container is a TiledChartLayout.

Margins for the text labels, returned as a four-element vector of the form [left bottom right top]. The elements define the distances between the bounds of the Position property and the extent of the polar axes text labels and title. By default, the values are measured in units normalized to the figure or uipanel that contains the polar axes. To change the units, set the Units property.

The Position property and the TightInset property define the tightest bounding box that encloses the polar axes and its labels and title.

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

• 'outerposition' — The OuterPosition property remains constant when you add, remove, or change decorations such as a title or an axis label. If any positional adjustments are needed, MATLAB adjusts the InnerPosition property.

• 'innerposition' — The InnerPosition property remains constant when you add, remove, or change decorations such as a title or an axis label. If any positional adjustments are needed, MATLAB adjusts the OuterPosition property.

Note

Setting this property has no effect when the parent container is a TiledChartLayout.

Position units, specified as one of these values.

UnitsDescription
'normalized' (default)Normalized with respect to the container, which is typically the figure or a panel. The lower left corner of the container maps to (0,0) and the upper right corner maps to (1,1).
'inches'Inches.
'centimeters'Centimeters.
'characters'

Based on the default uicontrol font of the graphics root object:

• Character width = width of letter x.

• Character height = distance between the baselines of two lines of text.

'points'Typography points. One point equals 1/72 inch.
'pixels'

Pixels.

Starting in R2015b, distances in pixels are independent of your system resolution on Windows and Macintosh systems.

• On Windows systems, a pixel is 1/96th of an inch.

• On Macintosh systems, a pixel is 1/72nd of an inch.

• On Linux systems, the size of a pixel is determined by your system resolution.

When specifying the units as a Name,Value pair 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.

## Interactivity

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Data exploration toolbar, which is an AxesToolbar object. The toolbar appears at the top-right corner of the axes when you hover over it and includes options for exporting and data tips.

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'.

ax = gca; ax.Toolbar.Visible = 'off';

Interactions, specified as a DataTipInteraction object or an empty array. When the value of this property is a DataTipInteraction object, you can display data tips within your chart without selecting any of the axes toolbar buttons.

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.

Note

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.

• 'on' — Display the object.

• 'off' — Hide the object without deleting it. You still can access the properties of an invisible object.

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.

Note

If the PickableParts property is set to 'none' or if the HitTest property is set to 'off', then the context menu does not appear.

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.

• 'on' — Selected. If you click the object when in plot edit mode, then MATLAB sets its Selected property to 'on'. If the SelectionHighlight property also is set to 'on', then MATLAB displays selection handles around the object.

• 'off' — Not selected.

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.

• 'on' — Display selection handles when the Selected property is set to 'on'.

• 'off' — Never display selection handles, even when the Selected property is set to 'on'.

## Callbacks

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

• Function handle

• Cell array containing a function handle and additional arguments

• Character vector that is a valid MATLAB command or function, which is evaluated in the base workspace (not recommended)

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:

• Clicked object — Access properties of the clicked object from within the callback function.

• Event data — Empty argument. Replace it with the tilde character (~) in the function definition to indicate that this argument is not used.

For more information on how to use function handles to define callback functions, see Callback Definition.

Note

If the PickableParts property is set to 'none' or if the HitTest property is set to 'off', then this callback does not execute.

Object creation function, specified as one of these values:

• Function handle.

• Cell array in which the first element is a function handle. Subsequent elements in the cell array are the arguments to pass to the callback function.

• Character vector containing a valid MATLAB expression (not recommended). MATLAB evaluates this expression in the base workspace.

For more information about specifying a callback as a function handle, cell array, or character vector, see Callback Definition.

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:

• Function handle.

• Cell array in which the first element is a function handle. Subsequent elements in the cell array are the arguments to pass to the callback function.

• Character vector containing a valid MATLAB expression (not recommended). MATLAB evaluates this expression in the base workspace.

For more information about specifying a callback as a function handle, cell array, or character vector, see Callback Definition.

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 Execution Control

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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:

• The running callback is the currently executing callback.

• The interrupting callback is a callback that tries to interrupt the running callback.

Whenever MATLAB invokes a callback, that callback attempts to interrupt the running callback (if one exists). The Interruptible property of the object owning the running callback determines if interruption is allowed.

• A value of 'on' allows other callbacks to interrupt the object's callbacks. The interruption occurs at the next point where MATLAB processes the queue, such as when there is a drawnow, figure, uifigure, getframe, waitfor, or pause command.

• If the running callback contains one of those commands, then MATLAB stops the execution of the callback at that point and executes the interrupting callback. MATLAB resumes executing the running callback when the interrupting callback completes.

• If the running callback does not contain one of those commands, then MATLAB finishes executing the callback without interruption.

• A value of 'off' blocks all interruption attempts. The BusyAction property of the object owning the interrupting callback determines if the interrupting callback is discarded or put into a queue.

Note

Callback interruption and execution behave differently in these situations:

• If the interrupting callback is a DeleteFcn, CloseRequestFcn or SizeChangedFcn callback, then the interruption occurs regardless of the Interruptible property value.

• If the running callback is currently executing the waitfor function, then the interruption occurs regardless of the Interruptible property value.

• Timer objects execute according to schedule regardless of the Interruptible property value.

When an interruption occurs, MATLAB does not save the state of properties or the display. For example, the object returned by the gca or gcf command might change when another callback executes.

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 running callback is the currently executing callback.

• The interrupting callback is a callback that tries to interrupt the running callback.

Whenever MATLAB invokes a callback, that callback attempts to interrupt a running callback. The Interruptible property of the object owning the running callback determines if interruption is permitted. If interruption is not permitted, then the BusyAction property of the object owning the interrupting callback determines if it is discarded or put in the queue. These are possible values of the BusyAction property:

• 'queue' — Puts the interrupting callback in a queue to be processed after the running callback finishes execution.

• 'cancel' — Does not execute the interrupting callback.

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

• 'visible' — Capture mouse clicks only when visible. The Visible property must be set to 'on'. The HitTest property determines if the PolarAxes object responds to the click or if an ancestor does.

• 'all' — Capture mouse clicks regardless of visibility. The Visible property can be set to 'on' or 'off'. The HitTest property determines if the PolarAxes object responds to the click or if an ancestor does.

• 'none' — Cannot capture mouse clicks. Clicking the PolarAxes object passes the click to the object below it in the current view of the figure window, which is typically the axes or the figure. The HitTest property has no effect.

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.

• 'on' — Trigger the ButtonDownFcn callback of the PolarAxes object. If you have defined the ContextMenu property, then invoke the context menu.

• 'off' — Trigger the callbacks for the nearest ancestor of the PolarAxes object that has one of these:

• HitTest property set to 'on'

• PickableParts property set to a value that enables the ancestor to capture mouse clicks

Note

The PickableParts property determines if the PolarAxes object can capture mouse clicks. If it cannot, then the HitTest property has no effect.

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/Child

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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 PolarAxes object.

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

• 'on' — Object handle is always visible.

• 'off' — Object handle is invisible at all times. This option is useful for preventing unintended changes by another function. Set the HandleVisibility to 'off' to temporarily hide the handle during the execution of that function.

• 'callback' — Object handle is visible from within callbacks or functions invoked by callbacks, but not from within functions invoked from the command line. This option blocks access to the object at the command line, but permits callback functions to access it.

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.

## Identifiers

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Type of graphics object, returned as 'polaraxes'.

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.

## Compatibility Considerations

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Not recommended starting in R2020a

Not recommended starting in R2020a

Behavior changed in R2019b

Behavior changed in R2019b