Surface Properties
Chart surface appearance and behavior
Surface
properties control the appearance and behavior of
Surface
objects. By changing property values, you can modify
certain aspects of the surface chart. Use dot notation to query and set
properties.
h = surf(...); c = h.CData; h.CDataMapping = 'direct';
Faces
FaceColor
— Face color
'flat'
(default) | 'interp'
| 'none'
| 'texturemap'
| RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | 'r'
| 'g'
| 'b'
| ...
Face color, specified as one of the values in this table.
Value | Description |
---|---|
'flat' | Use a different color for each face based on the values
in the |
'interp' |
Use interpolated coloring for each face based on the values in the
|
RGB triplet, hexadecimal color code, or color name |
Use the specified color for all the faces. This option does not use the color
values in the
|
'texturemap' | Transform the color data in CData so that
it conforms to the surface. |
'none' | Do not draw the faces. |
RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes are useful for specifying custom colors.
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 from0
toF
. 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 Name | Short Name | RGB Triplet | Hexadecimal Color Code | Appearance |
---|---|---|---|---|
"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" |
Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB® uses in many types of plots.
RGB Triplet | Hexadecimal Color Code | Appearance |
---|---|---|
[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" |
FaceAlpha
— Face transparency
1 (default) | scalar in range [0,1]
| 'flat'
| 'interp'
| 'texturemap'
Face transparency, specified as one of these values:
Scalar in range
[0,1]
— Use uniform transparency across all the faces. A value of1
is fully opaque and0
is completely transparent. Values between0
and1
are semitransparent. This option does not use the transparency values in theAlphaData
property.'flat'
— Use a different transparency for each face based on the values in theAlphaData
property. The transparency value at the first vertex determines the transparency for the entire face. First you must specify theAlphaData
property as a matrix the same size as theZData
property. TheFaceColor
property also must be set to'flat'
.'interp'
— Use interpolated transparency for each face based on the values inAlphaData
property. The transparency varies across each face by interpolating the values at the vertices. First you must specify theAlphaData
property as a matrix the same size as theZData
property. TheFaceColor
property also must be set to'interp'
.'texturemap'
— Transform the data inAlphaData
so that it conforms to the surface.
FaceLighting
— Effect of light objects on faces
'flat'
| 'gouraud'
| 'none'
Effect of light objects on faces, specified as one of these values:
'flat'
— Apply light uniformly across each face. Use this value to view faceted objects.'gouraud'
— Vary the light across the faces. Calculate the light at the vertices and then linearly interpolate the light across the faces. Use this value to view curved surfaces.'none'
— Do not apply light from light objects to the faces.
To add a light object to the axes, use the light
function.
Note
The 'phong'
value has been removed. Use 'gouraud'
instead.
BackFaceLighting
— Face lighting when normals point away from camera
'reverselit'
(default) | 'unlit'
| 'lit'
Face lighting when the vertex normals point away from camera, specified as one of these values:
'reverselit'
— Light the face as if the vertex normal pointed towards the camera.'unlit'
— Do not light the face.'lit'
— Light the face according to the vertex normal.
Use this property to discriminate between the internal and external surfaces of an object. For an example, see Back Face Lighting.
Edges
MeshStyle
— Edges to display
'both'
(default) | 'row'
| 'column'
Edges to display, specified as 'both'
, 'row'
,
or 'column'
.
EdgeColor
— Edge line color
[0 0 0]
(default) | 'none'
| 'flat'
| 'interp'
| RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | 'r'
| 'g'
| 'b'
| ...
Edge line color, specified as one of the values listed here.
The default color of [0 0 0]
corresponds to black
edges.
Value | Description |
---|---|
'none' | Do not draw the edges. |
'flat' | Use a different color for each edge based on the values
in the |
'interp' |
Use interpolated coloring for each edge based on the values in the
|
RGB triplet, hexadecimal color code, or color name |
Use the specified color for all the edges. This option does not use the color
values in the
|
RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes are useful for specifying custom colors.
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 from0
toF
. 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 Name | Short Name | RGB Triplet | Hexadecimal Color Code | Appearance |
---|---|---|---|---|
"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" |
Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.
RGB Triplet | Hexadecimal Color Code | Appearance |
---|---|---|
[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" |
EdgeAlpha
— Edge transparency
1 (default) | scalar value in range[0,1]
| 'flat'
| 'interp'
Edge transparency, specified as one of these values:
Scalar in range
[0,1]
— Use uniform transparency across all of the edges. A value of1
is fully opaque and0
is completely transparent. Values between0
and1
are semitransparent. This option does not use the transparency values in theAlphaData
property.'flat'
— Use a different transparency for each edge based on the values in theAlphaData
property. First you must specify theAlphaData
property as a matrix the same size as theZData
property. The transparency value at the first vertex determines the transparency for the entire edge. TheEdgeColor
property also must be set to'flat'
.'interp'
— Use interpolated transparency for each edge based on the values inAlphaData
property. First you must specify theAlphaData
property as a matrix the same size as theZData
property. The transparency varies across each edge by interpolating the values at the vertices. TheEdgeColor
property also must be set to'interp'
.
LineStyle
— Line style
"-"
(default) | "--"
| ":"
| "-."
| "none"
Line style, specified as one of the options listed in this table.
Line Style | Description | Resulting Line |
---|---|---|
"-" | Solid line |
|
"--" | Dashed line |
|
":" | Dotted line |
|
"-." | Dash-dotted line |
|
"none" | No line | No line |
LineWidth
— Line width
0.5
(default) | positive value
Line width, specified as a positive value in points, where 1 point = 1/72 of an inch. If the line has markers, then the line width also affects the marker edges.
The line width cannot be thinner than the width of a pixel. If you set the line width to a value that is less than the width of a pixel on your system, the line displays as one pixel wide.
AlignVertexCenters
— Sharp vertical and horizontal lines
'off'
(default) | on/off logical value
Sharp vertical and horizontal 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
.
Value | Description | Appearance |
---|---|---|
'on' | Sharpen vertical and horizontal lines to eliminate an uneven appearance. |
|
'off' | Do not sharpen vertical or horizontal lines. The lines might appear uneven in thickness or color. |
|
If the associated figure has a GraphicsSmoothing
property set to 'on'
and a Renderer
property set to
'opengl'
, then the figure applies a smoothing technique to plots.
In some cases, this smoothing technique can cause vertical and horizontal lines to
appear uneven in thickness or color. Use the AlignVertexCenters
property to eliminate the uneven appearance.
Note
You must have a graphics card that supports this feature. To see if the feature is
supported, call the rendererinfo
function. If it is supported,
rendererinfo
returns value of 1
for
info.Details.SupportsAlignVertexCenters
.
EdgeLighting
— Effect of light objects on edges
'none'
| 'flat'
| 'gouraud'
Effect of light objects on edges, specified as one of these values:
'flat'
— Apply light uniformly across the each edges.'none'
— Do not apply lights from light objects to the edges.'gouraud'
— Calculate the light at the vertices, and then linearly interpolate across the edges.
Note
The 'phong'
value has been removed. Use 'gouraud'
instead.
Markers
Marker
— Marker symbol
"none"
(default) | "o"
| "+"
| "*"
| "."
| ...
Marker symbol, specified as one of the values listed in this table. By default, the object does not display markers. Specifying a marker symbol adds markers at each data point or vertex.
Marker | Description | Resulting Marker |
---|---|---|
"o" | Circle |
|
"+" | Plus sign |
|
"*" | Asterisk |
|
"." | Point |
|
"x" | Cross |
|
"_" | Horizontal line |
|
"|" | Vertical line |
|
"square" | Square |
|
"diamond" | Diamond |
|
"^" | Upward-pointing triangle |
|
"v" | Downward-pointing triangle |
|
">" | Right-pointing triangle |
|
"<" | Left-pointing triangle |
|
"pentagram" | Pentagram |
|
"hexagram" | Hexagram |
|
"none" | No markers | Not applicable |
MarkerSize
— Marker size
6
(default) | positive value
Marker size, specified as a positive value in points, where 1 point = 1/72 of an inch.
MarkerEdgeColor
— Marker outline color
'auto'
(default) | 'flat'
| RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | 'r'
| 'g'
| 'b'
Marker outline color, specified as 'auto'
, 'flat'
, an
RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The
'auto'
option uses the same color as the
EdgeColor
property. The 'flat'
option uses
the CData
value at the vertex to set the color.
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 string scalar or character vector that starts with a hash symbol (
#
) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from0
toF
. The values are not case sensitive. Therefore, 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 Name | Short Name | RGB Triplet | Hexadecimal Color Code | Appearance |
---|---|---|---|---|
"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 applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | No color |
Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.
RGB Triplet | Hexadecimal Color Code | Appearance |
---|---|---|
[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" |
MarkerFaceColor
— Marker fill color
'none'
(default) | 'auto'
| 'flat'
| RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | 'r'
| 'g'
| 'b'
| ...
Marker fill color, specified as 'auto'
, 'flat'
, an RGB
triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The
'auto'
option uses the same color as the Color
property for the axes. The
'flat'
option uses the CData
value of the
vertex to set the color.
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 string scalar or character vector that starts with a hash symbol (
#
) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from0
toF
. The values are not case sensitive. Therefore, 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 Name | Short Name | RGB Triplet | Hexadecimal Color Code | Appearance |
---|---|---|---|---|
"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 applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | No color |
Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.
RGB Triplet | Hexadecimal Color Code | Appearance |
---|---|---|
[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" |
This property affects only the circle, square, diamond, pentagram, hexagram, and the four triangle marker types.
Example: [0.3 0.2 0.1]
Example: 'green'
Example: '#D2F9A7'
Coordinate Data
XData
— x-coordinate data
matrix | vector
x-coordinate data specified as a matrix that is the
same size as ZData
or as a vector of length
n
, where [m,n] = size(ZData)
.
Data Types: single
| double
| int8
| int16
| int32
| int64
| uint8
| uint16
| uint32
| uint64
| categorical
| datetime
| duration
XDataMode
— Selection mode for XData
'auto'
| 'manual'
Selection mode for XData
, specified as one of these
values:
'auto'
— Use the column indices ofZData
..'manual'
— Use manually specified values. To specify the values, use an input argument to the plotting function or directly set theXData
property.
XDataSource
— Variable linked to XData
''
(default) | character vector | string
Variable linked to XData
, specified as a character vector or string
containing a MATLAB workspace variable name. MATLAB evaluates the variable in the base workspace to generate the
XData
.
By default, there is no linked variable so the value is an empty
character vector, ''
. If you link a variable, then MATLAB does
not update the XData
values immediately. To force
an update of the data values, use the refreshdata
function.
Note
If you change one data source property to a variable that contains data of a different dimension, you might cause the function to generate a warning and not render the graph until you have changed all data source properties to appropriate values.
Example: 'x'
YData
— y-coordinate data
matrix | vector
y-coordinate data, specified as a matrix that is the
same size as ZData
or a vector of length
m
, where [m,n] = size(ZData)
.
Data Types: single
| double
| int8
| int16
| int32
| int64
| uint8
| uint16
| uint32
| uint64
| categorical
| datetime
| duration
YDataMode
— Selection mode for YData
'auto'
| 'manual'
Selection mode for YData
, specified as one of these
values:
'auto'
— Use the row indices ofZData
.'manual'
— Use manually specified values. To specify the values, use an input argument to the plotting function or directly set theYData
property.
YDataSource
— Variable linked to YData
''
(default) | character vector | string
Variable linked to YData
, specified as a character vector or string
containing a MATLAB workspace variable name. MATLAB evaluates the variable in the base workspace to generate the
YData
.
By default, there is no linked variable so the value is an empty
character vector, ''
. If you link a variable, then MATLAB does
not update the YData
values immediately. To force
an update of the data values, use the refreshdata
function.
Note
If you change one data source property to a variable that contains data of a different dimension, you might cause the function to generate a warning and not render the graph until you have changed all data source properties to appropriate values.
Example: 'y'
ZData
— z-coordinate data
matrix
z-coordinate data, specified as a matrix.
Data Types: single
| double
| int8
| int16
| int32
| int64
| uint8
| uint16
| uint32
| uint64
| categorical
| datetime
| duration
ZDataSource
— Variable linked to ZData
''
(default) | character vector | string
Variable linked to ZData
, specified as a character vector or string
containing a MATLAB workspace variable name. MATLAB evaluates the variable in the base workspace to generate the
ZData
.
By default, there is no linked variable so the value is an empty
character vector, ''
. If you link a variable, then MATLAB does
not update the ZData
values immediately. To force
an update of the data values, use the refreshdata
function.
Note
If you change one data source property to a variable that contains data of a different dimension, you might cause the function to generate a warning and not render the graph until you have changed all data source properties to appropriate values.
Example: 'z'
Color and Transparency Data
CData
— Vertex colors
2-D or 3-D array
Vertex colors, specified in one of these forms:
2-D array — Use colormap colors. Specify a color for each vertex by setting
CData
to an array the same size asZData
. TheCDataMapping
property determines how these values map into the current colormap. If theFaceColor
property is set to'texturemap'
, thenCData
does not need to be the same size asZData
. However, it must be of typedouble
oruint8
. TheCData
values map to conform to the surface defined byZData
.3-D array — Use true colors. Specify an RGB triplet color for each vertex by setting
CData
to an m-by-n-by-3 array where[m,n] = size(ZData)
. An RGB triplet is a three-element vector that specifies the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of a color. The first page of the array contains the red components, the second the green components, and the third the blue components of the colors. Since the surface uses true colors instead of colormap colors, theCDataMapping
property has no effect.If
CData
is of typedouble
orsingle
, then an RGB triplet value of[0 0 0]
corresponds to black and[1 1 1]
corresponds to white.If
CData
is an integer type, then the surface uses the full range of data to determine the color. For example, ifCData
is of typeuint8
, then[0 0 0]
corresponds to black and[255 255 255]
corresponds to white. IfCData
is of typeint8
, then[-128 -128 -128]
corresponds to black and[127 127 127]
corresponds to white.
Data Types: single
| double
| int8
| int16
| int32
| int64
| uint8
| uint16
| uint32
| uint64
CDataMode
— Selection mode for CData
'auto'
(default) | 'manual'
Selection mode for CData
, specified as one
of these values:
'auto'
— Use theZData
values to set the colors.'manual'
— Use manually specified values. To specify the values, set theCData
property.
CDataSource
— Variable linked to CData
''
| character vector | string
Variable linked to CData
, specified as a character
vector or string containing a MATLAB workspace variable name. MATLAB evaluates the variable in the base workspace to generate the
CData
.
By default, there is no linked variable, so the value is an empty
character vector, ''
. If you link a variable, then
MATLAB does not update the CData
values
immediately. To force an update of the values, use the refreshdata
function.
Note
If you change one data source property to a variable that contains data of a different dimension, then you might cause the function to generate a warning and not render the graph until you have changed all data source properties to appropriate values.
CDataMapping
— Color mapping method
'scaled'
(default) | 'direct'
Color mapping method, specified as 'scaled'
or
'direct'
. Use this property to control the mapping of
color data values in CData
into the colormap.
The methods have these effects:
'direct'
— Interpret the values as indices into the current colormap. Values with a decimal portion are fixed to the nearest lower integer.If the values are of type
double
orsingle
, then values of1
or less map to the first color in the colormap. Values equal to or greater than the length of the colormap map to the last color in the colormap.If the values are of type
uint8
,uint16
,uint32
,uint64
,int8
,int16
,int32
, orint64
, then values of0
or less map to the first color in the colormap. Values equal to or greater than the length of the colormap map to the last color in the colormap (or up to the range limits of the type).If the values are of type
logical
, then values of0
map to the first color in the colormap and values of1
map to the second color in the colormap.
'scaled'
— Scale the values to range between the minimum and maximum color limits. TheCLim
property of the axes contains the color limits.
AlphaData
— Transparency data
1 (default) | array same size as ZData
Transparency data for each vertex, specified as an array the
same size as the ZData
property. After specifying
the values, set the FaceAlpha
and EdgeAlpha
properties
to control the type of transparency. If the FaceAlpha
and EdgeAlpha
properties
are both set to scalar values, then the surface does
not use the AlphaData
values.
The AlphaDataMapping
property determines
how the surface interprets the AlphaData
property
values.
Data Types: single
| double
| int8
| int16
| int32
| int64
| uint8
| uint16
| uint32
| uint64
| logical
AlphaDataMapping
— Interpretation of AlphaData
values
'scaled'
(default) | 'direct'
| 'none'
Interpretation of AlphaData
values, specified
as one of these values:
'none'
— Interpret the values as transparency values. A value of 1 or greater is completely opaque, a value of 0 or less is completely transparent, and a value between 0 and 1 is semitransparent.'scaled'
— Map the values into the figure’s alphamap. The minimum and maximum alpha limits of the axes determine theAlphaData
values that map to the first and last elements in the alphamap, respectively. For example, if the alpha limits are[3 5]
, then values of3
or less map to the first element in the alphamap. Values of5
or greater map to the last element in the alphamap. TheALim
property of the axes contains the alpha limits. TheAlphamap
property of the figure contains the alphamap.'direct'
— Interpret the values as indices into the figure’s alphamap. Values with a decimal portion are fixed to the nearest lower integer.If the values are of type
double
orsingle
, then values of 1 or less map to the first element in the alphamap. Values equal to or greater than the length of the alphamap map to the last element in the alphamap.If the values are of integer type, then values of 0 or less map to the first element in the alphamap. Values equal to or greater than the length of the alphamap map to the last element in the alphamap (or up to maximum value for the integer type). The integer types are
uint8
,uint16
,uint32
,uint64
,int8
,int16
,int32
, andint64
.If the values are of type
logical
, then values of 0 map to the first element in the alphamap and values of 1 map to the second element in the alphamap.
Normals
VertexNormals
— Normal vectors for each surface vertex
[]
(default) | m-by-n-by-3 array
Normal vectors for each surface vertex, specified as a m-by-n-by-3
array, where [m,n] = size(ZData)
. Specify one normal
vector per vertex.
Specifying values for this property sets the associated mode to manual. If you do not specify normal vectors, then the surface generates this data for lighting calculations.
Data Types: single
| double
VertexNormalsMode
— Selection mode for VertexNormals
'auto'
(default) | 'manual'
Selection mode for VertexNormals
, specified
as one of these values:
'auto'
— Calculate the normal vectors based on the coordinate data.'manual'
— Use manually specified values. To specify the values, set theVertexNormals
property.
FaceNormals
— Normal vectors for each surface face
[]
(default) | (m-1)-by-(n-1)-by-3 array
Normal vectors for each surface face, specified as a (m-1)-by-(n-1)-by-3
array, where [m,n] = size(ZData)
. Specify one normal
vector per face.
Specifying values for this property sets the associated mode to manual. If you do not specify normal vectors, then the surface generates this data for lighting calculations.
Data Types: single
| double
FaceNormalsMode
— Selection mode for FaceNormals
'auto'
(default) | 'manual'
Selection mode for FaceNormals
, specified
as one of these values:
'auto'
— Calculate the normal vectors based on the coordinate data.'manual'
— Use manually specified values. To specify the values, set theFaceNormals
property.
Lighting
AmbientStrength
— Strength of ambient light
0.3
(default) | scalar in range [0,1]
Strength of ambient light, specified as a scalar value in the
range [0,1]
. Ambient light is a nondirectional
light that illuminates the entire scene. There must be at least one
visible light object in the axes for the ambient light to be visible.
The AmbientLightColor
property for the axes
sets the color of the ambient light. The color is the same for all
objects in the axes.
Example: 0.5
Data Types: double
DiffuseStrength
— Strength of diffuse light
0.6
(default) | scalar in range [0,1]
Strength of diffuse light, specified as a scalar value in the
range [0,1]
. Diffuse light is the nonspecular reflectance
from light objects in the axes.
Example: 0.3
Data Types: double
SpecularStrength
— Strength of specular reflection
0.9
(default) | scalar in range [0,1]
Strength of specular reflection, specified as a scalar value
in the range [0,1]
. Specular reflections are the
bright spots on the surface from light objects in the axes.
Example: 0.3
Data Types: double
SpecularExponent
— Size of specular spot
10 (default) | scalar greater than or equal to 1
Size of specular spot, specified as a scalar value greater than
or equal to 1. Most materials have exponents in the range [5
20]
.
Example: 7
Data Types: double
SpecularColorReflectance
— Color of specular reflections
1 (default) | scalar in range [0,1]
Color of specular reflections, specified as a scalar value in
the range [0,1]
. A value of 1
sets
the color using only the color of the light source. A value of 0
sets
the color using both the color of the object from which it reflects
and the color of the light source. The Color
property of the
light contains the color of the light source. The proportions vary
linearly for values in between.
Example: 0.5
Data Types: double
Legend
DisplayName
— Legend label
''
(default) | character vector | string scalar
Legend label, specified as a character vector or string scalar. The legend does not
display until you call the legend
command. If you do not specify
the text, then legend
sets the label using the form
'dataN'
.
Annotation
— Include object in legend
Annotation
object
Include the object in the legend, specified as an Annotation
object. Set the underlying IconDisplayStyle
property of the
Annotation
object to one of these values:
"on"
— Include the object in the legend (default)."off"
— Do not include the object in the legend.
For example, to exclude the Surface
object named
obj
from the legend, set the IconDisplayStyle
property to "off"
.
obj.Annotation.LegendInformation.IconDisplayStyle = "off";
Alternatively, you can control the items in a legend using the legend
function. Specify the first input argument as a vector of the
graphics objects to include. If you do not specify an existing graphics object in the
first input argument, then it does not appear in the legend. However, graphics objects
added to the axes after the legend is created do appear in the legend. Consider creating
the legend after creating all the plots to avoid extra items.
Interactivity
Visible
— State of visibility
"on"
(default) | on/off logical value
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.
DataTipTemplate
— Data tip content
DataTipTemplate
object
Data tip content, specified as a DataTipTemplate
object. You can
control the content that appears in a data tip by modifying the properties of the
underlying DataTipTemplate
object. For a list of properties, see
DataTipTemplate Properties.
For an example of modifying data tips, see Create Custom Data Tips.
Note
The DataTipTemplate
object is not returned by
findobj
or findall
, and it is not
copied by copyobj
.
ContextMenu
— Context menu
empty GraphicsPlaceholder
array (default) | ContextMenu
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.
Selected
— Selection state
'off'
(default) | on/off logical value
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 itsSelected
property to'on'
. If theSelectionHighlight
property also is set to'on'
, then MATLAB displays selection handles around the object.'off'
— Not selected.
SelectionHighlight
— Display of selection handles
'on'
(default) | on/off logical value
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 theSelected
property is set to'on'
.'off'
— Never display selection handles, even when theSelected
property is set to'on'
.
Clipping
— Clipping of object to axes limits
'on'
(default) | on/off logical value
Clipping of the object to the axes limits, 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
.
A value of
'on'
clips parts of the object that are outside the axes limits.A value of
'off'
displays the entire object, even if parts of it appear outside the axes limits. Parts of the object might appear outside the axes limits if you create a plot, sethold on
, freeze the axis scaling, and then create the object so that it is larger than the original plot.
The Clipping
property of the axes that contains the object must be set to
'on'
. Otherwise, this property has no effect. For more
information about the clipping behavior, see the Clipping
property of the
axes.
Callbacks
ButtonDownFcn
— Mouse-click callback
''
(default) | function handle | cell array | character vector
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 Create Callbacks for Graphics Objects.
Note
If the PickableParts
property is set to 'none'
or
if the HitTest
property is set to 'off'
,
then this callback does not execute.
CreateFcn
— Creation function
''
(default) | function handle | cell array | character vector
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 Create Callbacks for Graphics Objects.
This property specifies a callback function to execute when MATLAB creates the object. MATLAB initializes all property values before executing the CreateFcn
callback. If you do not specify the CreateFcn
property, then MATLAB executes a default creation function.
Setting the CreateFcn
property on an existing component has no effect.
If you specify this property as a function handle or cell array, you can access the object that is being created using the first argument of the callback function. Otherwise, use the gcbo
function to access the object.
DeleteFcn
— Deletion function
''
(default) | function handle | cell array | character vector
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 Create Callbacks for Graphics Objects.
This property specifies a callback function to execute when MATLAB deletes the object. MATLAB executes the DeleteFcn
callback before destroying the
properties of the object. If you do not specify the DeleteFcn
property, then MATLAB executes a default deletion function.
If you specify this property as a function handle or cell array, you can access the object that is being deleted using the first argument of the callback function. Otherwise, use the gcbo
function to access the object.
Callback Execution Control
Interruptible
— Callback interruption
'on'
(default) | on/off logical value
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.
MATLAB determines callback interruption behavior whenever it executes a command that
processes the callback queue. These commands include drawnow
, figure
, uifigure
, getframe
, waitfor
, and pause
.
If the running callback does not contain one of these commands, then no interruption occurs. MATLAB first finishes executing the running callback, and later executes the interrupting callback.
If the running callback does contain one of these commands, then the
Interruptible
property of the object that owns the running
callback determines if the interruption occurs:
If the value of
Interruptible
is'off'
, then no interruption occurs. Instead, theBusyAction
property of the object that owns the interrupting callback determines if the interrupting callback is discarded or added to the callback queue.If the value of
Interruptible
is'on'
, then the interruption occurs. The next time MATLAB processes the callback queue, it stops the execution of the running callback and executes the interrupting callback. After the interrupting callback completes, MATLAB then resumes executing the running callback.
Note
Callback interruption and execution behave differently in these situations:
If the interrupting callback is a
DeleteFcn
,CloseRequestFcn
, orSizeChangedFcn
callback, then the interruption occurs regardless of theInterruptible
property value.If the running callback is currently executing the
waitfor
function, then the interruption occurs regardless of theInterruptible
property value.If the interrupting callback is owned by a
Timer
object, then the callback executes according to schedule regardless of theInterruptible
property value.
BusyAction
— Callback queuing
'queue'
(default) | 'cancel'
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.
The BusyAction
property determines callback queuing behavior only
when both of these conditions are met:
Under these conditions, the BusyAction
property of the
object that owns the interrupting callback determines how MATLAB handles the interrupting callback. These are possible values of the
BusyAction
property:
'queue'
— Puts the interrupting callback in a queue to be processed after the running callback finishes execution.'cancel'
— Does not execute the interrupting callback.
PickableParts
— Ability to capture mouse clicks
'visible'
(default) | 'all'
| 'none'
Ability to capture mouse clicks, specified as one of these values:
'visible'
— Capture mouse clicks when visible. TheVisible
property must be set to'on'
and you must click a part of theSurface
object that has a defined color. You cannot click a part that has an associated color property set to'none'
. If the plot contains markers, then the entire marker is clickable if either the edge or the fill has a defined color. TheHitTest
property determines if theSurface
object responds to the click or if an ancestor does.'all'
— Capture mouse clicks regardless of visibility. TheVisible
property can be set to'on'
or'off'
and you can click a part of theSurface
object that has no color. TheHitTest
property determines if theSurface
object responds to the click or if an ancestor does.'none'
— Cannot capture mouse clicks. Clicking theSurface
object passes the click through it to the object below it in the current view of the figure window. TheHitTest
property has no effect.
HitTest
— Response to captured mouse clicks
'on'
(default) | on/off logical value
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 theButtonDownFcn
callback of theSurface
object. If you have defined theContextMenu
property, then invoke the context menu.'off'
— Trigger the callbacks for the nearest ancestor of theSurface
object that meets one of these conditions:HitTest
property is set to'on'
.PickableParts
property is set to a value that enables the ancestor to capture mouse clicks.
Note
The PickableParts
property determines if
the Surface
object can capture
mouse clicks. If it cannot, then the HitTest
property
has no effect.
BeingDeleted
— Deletion status
on/off logical value
This property is read-only.
Deletion status, returned as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState
.
MATLAB sets the BeingDeleted
property to
'on'
when the DeleteFcn
callback begins
execution. The BeingDeleted
property remains set to
'on'
until the component object no longer exists.
Check the value of the BeingDeleted
property to verify that the object is not about to be deleted before querying or modifying it.
Parent/Child
Parent
— Parent
Axes
object | Group
object | Transform
object
Parent, specified as an Axes
, Group
,
or Transform
object.
Children
— Children
empty GraphicsPlaceholder
array | DataTip
object array
Children, returned as an empty GraphicsPlaceholder
array or a
DataTip
object array. Use this property to view a list of data tips
that are plotted on the chart.
You cannot add or remove children using the Children
property. To add a
child to this list, set the Parent
property of the
DataTip
object to the chart object.
HandleVisibility
— Visibility of object handle
"on"
(default) | "off"
| "callback"
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. SetHandleVisibility
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
Type
— Type of graphics object
'surface'
This property is read-only.
Type of graphics object, returned as 'surface'
.
Tag
— Object identifier
''
(default) | character vector | string scalar
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.
UserData
— User data
[]
(default) | array
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.
Version History
Introduced before R2006aR2020a: UIContextMenu
property is not recommended
Setting or getting UIContextMenu
property is not recommended. Instead,
use the ContextMenu
property, which accepts the same type of input and behaves the same way as the
UIContextMenu
property.
There are no plans to remove the UIContextMenu
property, but it is no
longer listed when you call the set
, get
, or
properties
functions on the Surface
object.
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