stairs

Stairstep graph

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Syntax

stairs(Y)
stairs(X,Y)
stairs(___,LineSpec)
stairs(___,Name,Value)
stairs(ax,___)
h = stairs(___)
[xb,yb] = stairs(___)

Description

example

stairs(Y) draws a stairstep graph of the elements in Y.

  • If Y is a vector, then stairs draws one line.

  • If Y is a matrix, then stairs draws one line per matrix column.

example

stairs(X,Y) plots the elements in Y at the locations specified by X. The inputs X and Y must be vectors or matrices of the same size. Additionally, X can be a row or column vector and Y must be a matrix with length(X) rows.

example

stairs(___,LineSpec) specifies a line style, marker symbol, and color. For example, ':*r' specifies a dotted red line with asterisk markers. Use this option with any of the input argument combinations in the previous syntaxes.

example

stairs(___,Name,Value) modifies the stairstep chart using one or more name-value pair arguments. For example, 'Marker','o','MarkerSize',8 specifies 8 point circle markers.

example

stairs(ax,___) plots into the axes specified by ax instead of into the current axes (gca). The option, ax, can precede any of the input argument combinations in the previous syntaxes.

example

h = stairs(___) returns one or more Stair objects. Use h to make changes to properties of a specific Stair object after it is created.

example

[xb,yb] = stairs(___) does not create a plot, but returns matrices xb and yb of the same size, such that plot(xb,yb) plots the stairstep graph.

Examples

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Open Live Script

Create a stairstep plot of sine evaluated at 40 equally spaced values between 0 and 4π. 

X = linspace(0,4*pi,40);
Y = sin(X);

figure
stairs(Y)

The length of Y automatically determines and generates the x-axis scale.

Open Live Script

Create a stairstep plot of two cosine functions evaluated at 50 equally spaced values between 0 and 4π. 

X = linspace(0,4*pi,50)';
Y = [0.5*cos(X), 2*cos(X)];

figure
stairs(Y)

The number of rows in Y automatically determines and generates the x-axis scale.

Open Live Script

Create a stairstep plot of a sine wave evaluated at equally spaced values between 0 and 4π. Specify the set of x-values for the plot. 

X = linspace(0,4*pi,40);
Y = sin(X);

figure
stairs(X,Y)

The entries in Y are plotted against the corresponding entries in X.

Open Live Script

Create a stairstep plot of two cosine waves evaluated at equally spaced values between 0 and 4π. Specify the set of x-values for the plot. 

X = linspace(0,4*pi,50)';
Y = [0.5*cos(X), 2*cos(X)];

figure
stairs(X,Y)

The first vector input, X, determines the x-axis positions for both data series.

Open Live Script

Create a stairstep plot of two sine waves evaluated at different values. Specify a unique set of x-values for plotting each data series. 

x1 = linspace(0,2*pi)';
x2 = linspace(0,pi)';
X = [x1,x2];
Y = [sin(5*x1),exp(x2).*sin(5*x2)];

figure
stairs(X,Y)

Each column of X is plotted against the corresponding column of Y.

Open Live Script

Create a stairstep plot and set the line style to a dot-dashed line, the marker symbol to circles, and the color to red. 

X = linspace(0,4*pi,20);
Y = sin(X);

figure
stairs(Y, '-.or')

Open Live Script

Create a stairstep plot and set the line width to 2, the marker symbols to diamonds, and the marker face color to cyan using Name,Value pair arguments. 

X = linspace(0,4*pi,20);
Y = sin(X);

figure
stairs(Y,'LineWidth',2,'Marker','d','MarkerFaceColor','c')

Open Live Script

Starting in R2019b, you can display a tiling of plots using the tiledlayout and nexttile functions. Call the tiledlayout function to create a 2-by-1 tiled chart layout. Call the nexttile function to create the axes objects ax1 and ax2. Create separate stairstep plots in the axes by specifying the axes object as the first argument to stairs.

x = linspace(0,2*pi);
y1 = 5*sin(x);
y2 = sin(5*x);
tiledlayout(2,1)

% Top plot
ax1 = nexttile;
stairs(ax1,x,y1)

% Bottom plot
ax2 = nexttile;  
stairs(ax2,x,y2)

Open Live Script

Create a stairstep plot of two data series and return the two stair objects.

X = linspace(0,1,30)';
Y = [cos(10*X), exp(X).*sin(10*X)];
h = stairs(X,Y);

Use small circle markers for the first data series. Use magenta filled circles for the second series. Use dot notation to set properties.

h(1).Marker = 'o';
h(1).MarkerSize = 4;
h(2).Marker = 'o';
h(2).MarkerFaceColor = 'm';

Open Live Script

Evaluate two cosine functions at 50 equally spaced values between 0 and 4π and create a stairstep plot using plot. 

X = linspace(0,4*pi,50)';
Y = [0.5*cos(X), 2*cos(X)];
[xb,yb] = stairs(X,Y);

stairs returns two matrices of the same size, xb and yb, but no plot.

Use plot to create the stairstep plot with xb and yb. 

figure
plot(xb,yb)

Input Arguments

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y values, specified as a vector or matrix. When Y is a vector, stairs creates one stair object. When Y is a matrix, stairs draws one line per matrix column and creates a separate stair object for each column.

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64 | categorical | datetime | duration

x values, specified as a vector or matrix. When Y is a vector, X must be a vector of the same size. When Y is a matrix, X must be a matrix of the same size, or a vector whose length equals the number of rows in Y.

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64 | categorical | datetime | duration

Line style, marker, and color, specified as a character vector or string containing symbols. The symbols can appear in any order. You do not need to specify all three characteristics (line style, marker, and color). For example, if you omit the line style and specify the marker, then the plot shows only the marker and no line.

Example: '--or' is a red dashed line with circle markers

Line StyleDescription
-Solid line
--Dashed line
:Dotted line
-.Dash-dot line
MarkerDescription
'o'Circle
'+'Plus sign
'*'Asterisk
'.'Point
'x'Cross
'_'Horizontal line
'|'Vertical line
's'Square
'd'Diamond
'^'Upward-pointing triangle
'v'Downward-pointing triangle
'>'Right-pointing triangle
'<'Left-pointing triangle
'p'Pentagram
'h'Hexagram
ColorDescription

y

yellow

m

magenta

c

cyan

r

red

g

green

b

blue

w

white

k

black

Axes object. If you do not specify the axes, then stairs plots into the current axes.

Name-Value Pair Arguments

Specify optional comma-separated pairs of Name,Value arguments. Name is the argument name and Value is the corresponding value. Name must appear inside quotes. You can specify several name and value pair arguments in any order as Name1,Value1,...,NameN,ValueN.

Example: 'Marker','s','MarkerFaceColor','red' plots the stairstep graph with red square markers.

The properties listed here are only a subset. For a complete list, see Stair Properties.

Line style, specified as one of the options listed in this table.

Line StyleDescriptionResulting Line
'-'Solid line

'--'Dashed line

':'Dotted line

'-.'Dash-dotted line

'none'No lineNo line

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.

Line 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.

RGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
[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: 'blue'

Example: [0 0 1]

Example: '#0000FF'

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.

ValueDescription
'o'Circle
'+'Plus sign
'*'Asterisk
'.'Point
'x'Cross
'_'Horizontal line
'|'Vertical line
'square' or 's'Square
'diamond' or 'd'Diamond
'^'Upward-pointing triangle
'v'Downward-pointing triangle
'>'Right-pointing triangle
'<'Left-pointing triangle
'pentagram' or 'p'Five-pointed star (pentagram)
'hexagram' or 'h'Six-pointed star (hexagram)
'none'No markers

Marker size, specified as a positive value in points, where 1 point = 1/72 of an inch.

Marker outline color, specified as 'auto', an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The default value of 'auto' uses the same color as the Color property.

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.

RGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
[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'

Marker fill color, specified as 'auto', 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 of the parent axes. If you specify 'auto' and the axes plot box is invisible, the marker fill color is the color of the figure.

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.

RGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
[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'

Output Arguments

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Stair objects. These are unique identifiers, which you can use to query and modify the properties of a specific Stair object after it is created.

x values for use with plot, returned as a vector or matrix. xb contains the appropriate values such that plot(xb,yb) creates the stairstep graph.

y values for use with plot, returned as a vector or matrix. yb contains the appropriate values such that plot(xb,yb) creates the stairstep graph.

Extended Capabilities

See Also

Functions

Properties

Topics

Introduced before R2006a

MATLAB Documentation

Support