stem3

Plot 3-D discrete sequence data

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Syntax

stem3(Z)

stem3(X,Y,Z)

stem3(___,'filled')

stem3(___,LineSpec)

stem3(___,Name,Value)

stem3(ax,___)

h = stem3(___)

Description

example

stem3(Z) plots entries in Z as stems extending from the xy-plane and terminating with circles at the entry values. The stem locations in the xy-plane are automatically generated.

example

stem3(X,Y,Z) plots entries in Z as stems extending from the xy-plane where X and Y specify the stem locations in the xy-plane. The inputs X, Y, and Z must be vectors or matrices of the same size.

example

stem3(___,'filled') fills the circles. Use this option with any of the input argument combinations in the previous syntaxes.

example

stem3(___,LineSpec) specifies the line style, marker symbol, and color.

example

stem3(___,Name,Value) modifies the stem chart using one or more name-value pair arguments.

example

stem3(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 = stem3(___) returns the Stem object h.

Examples

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Row Vector Input

Open Live Script

Create a 3-D stem plot of cosine values between $- π / 2$ and $π / 2$ with a row vector input.

figure
X = linspace(-pi/2,pi/2,40);
Z = cos(X);
stem3(Z)

stem3 plots elements of Z against the same y value at equally space x values.

Column Vector Input

Open Live Script

Create a 3-D stem plot of cosine values between $- π / 2$ and $π / 2$ with a column vector input.

figure
X = linspace(-pi/2,pi/2,40)';
Z = cos(X);
stem3(Z)

stem3 plots elements of Z against the same x value at equally space y values.

Matrix Input

Open Live Script

Create a 3-D stem plot of sine and cosine values between $- π / 2$ and $π / 2$ with a matrix input.

figure
X = linspace(-pi/2,pi/2,40);
Z = [sin(X); cos(X)];
stem3(Z)

stem3 plots each row of Z against the same y value at equally space x values.

Specify Stem Locations with Vector Inputs

Open Live Script

Create a 3-D stem plot and specify the stem locations along a curve. Use view to adjust the angle of the axes in the figure.

figure
X = linspace(-5,5,60);
Y = cos(X);
Z = X.^2;
stem3(X,Y,Z)
view(-8,30)

X and Y determine the stem locations. Z determines the marker heights.

Specify Stem Locations with Matrix Inputs

Open Live Script

Create a 3-D stem plot with matrix data and specify the stem locations in the xy-plane.

figure
[X,Y] = meshgrid(0:.1:1);
Z = exp(X+Y);
stem3(X,Y,Z)

X and Y determine the stem locations. Z determines the marker heights.

Fill in Markers

Open Live Script

Create a 3-D stem plot of cosine values between $- π$ and $π$ and fill in the markers.

X = linspace(-pi,pi,40);
Z = cos(X);
stem3(Z,'filled')

Line Style, Marker Symbol, and Color Options

Open Live Script

Create a 3-D stem plot of cosine values between $- π$ and $π$ . Use a dashed line style for the stem, set the marker symbols to stars, and set the color to magenta.

figure
X = linspace(-pi,pi,40);
Z = cos(X);
stem3(Z,'--*m')

To specify only two of the three LineSpec options, omit the third option from the character vector. For example, '*m' sets the marker symbol and the color and uses the default line style.

Line Style, Marker Symbol, and Color Options

Open Live Script

Create a 3-D stem plot and specify the stem locations along a circle. Set the stem to a dotted line style, the marker symbols to stars, and the color to magenta.

figure
theta = linspace(0,2*pi);
X = cos(theta);
Y = sin(theta);
Z = theta;
stem3(X,Y,Z,':*m')

X and Y determine the stem locations. Z determines the marker heights.

Additional Style Options

Open Live Script

Create a 3-D stem plot of cosine values between $- π$ and $π$ . Set the marker symbols to squares with green faces and magenta edges.

figure
X = linspace(-pi,pi,40);
Z = cos(X);
stem3(Z,'Marker','s',...
     'MarkerEdgeColor','m',...
     'MarkerFaceColor','g')

Stem Plot in Specific Axes

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 stem plots in the axes by specifying the axes object as the first argument to stem3.

X = linspace(-2,2,50);
Y = X.^3;
Z = exp(X);
tiledlayout(2,1)

% Top plot
ax1 = nexttile;
stem(ax1,X,Z)

% Bottom plot
ax2 = nexttile;  
stem3(ax2,X,Y,Z)

Modify Stem Series After Creation

Open Live Script

Create a 3-D stem plot and return the stem series object.

X = linspace(0,2);
Y = X.^3;
Z = exp(X).*cos(Y);
h = stem3(X,Y,Z,'filled');

Change the color to magenta and set the marker face color to yellow. Use view to adjust the angle of the axes in the figure. Use dot notation to set properties.

h.Color = 'm';
h.MarkerFaceColor = 'y';
view(-10,35)

Input Arguments

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`Z` — Data sequence to display
vector or matrix

Data sequence to display, specified as a vector or matrix. stem3 plots each element in Z as a stem extending from the xy-plane and terminating at the data value.

If Z is a row vector, stem3 plots all elements against the same y value at equally spaced x values.
If Z is a column vector, stem3 plots all elements against the same x value at equally spaced y values.
If Z is a matrix, stem3 plots each row of Z against the same y value at equally spaced x values.

`X` — Locations to plot values of `Z`
vector or matrix

Locations to plot values ofZ, specified as a vector or a matrix. Inputs X, Y and Z must be vectors or matrices of the same size.

`Y` — Locations to plot values of `Z`
vector or matrix

Locations to plot values of Z, specified as a vector or a matrix. Inputs X, Y and Z must be vectors or matrices of the same size.

`LineSpec` — Line style, marker, and color
character vector | string

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 Style	Description
`-`	Solid line
`--`	Dashed line
`:`	Dotted line
`-.`	Dash-dot line

Marker	Description
`'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

Color	Description
`y`	yellow
`m`	magenta
`c`	cyan
`r`	red
`g`	green
`b`	blue
`w`	white
`k`	black

`ax` — `Axes` object
`Axes` object

Axes object. If you do not specify the axes, then stem 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: 'LineStyle',':','MarkerFaceColor','red' plots the stem as a dotted line and sets the marker face color to red.

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

`'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 of stem and marker edge
`0.5` (default) | positive value

Line width of stem and marker edge, specified as a positive value in point units.

Example: 0.75

`'Color'` — Stem color
`[0 0 0]` (default) | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | `'r'` | `'g'` | `'b'` | ...

Stem 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 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'`

Example: 'blue'

Example: [0 0 1]

Example: '#0000FF'

`'Marker'` — Marker symbol
`'o'` (default) | `'+'` | `'*'` | `'.'` | `'x'` | ...

Marker symbol, specified as one of the markers listed in this table.

Value	Description
`'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

Example: '+'

Example: 'diamond'

`'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) | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | `'r'` | `'g'` | `'b'` | ...

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 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'` | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | `'r'` | `'g'` | `'b'` | ...

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 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'`

Output Arguments

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`h` — `Stem` object
`Stem`

Stem object. This is a unique identifier, which you can use to modify the properties of the Stem object after it is created.

Extended Capabilities

GPU Arrays
Accelerate code by running on a graphics processing unit (GPU) using Parallel Computing Toolbox™.

Usage notes and limitations:

This function accepts GPU arrays, but does not run on a GPU.

For more information, see Run MATLAB Functions on a GPU (Parallel Computing Toolbox).

Distributed Arrays
Partition large arrays across the combined memory of your cluster using Parallel Computing Toolbox™.

Usage notes and limitations:

This function operates on distributed arrays, but executes in the client MATLAB.

For more information, see Run MATLAB Functions with Distributed Arrays (Parallel Computing Toolbox).

Documentation

stem3

Syntax

Description

Examples

Row Vector Input

Column Vector Input

Matrix Input

Specify Stem Locations with Vector Inputs

Specify Stem Locations with Matrix Inputs

Fill in Markers

Line Style, Marker Symbol, and Color Options

Line Style, Marker Symbol, and Color Options

Additional Style Options

Stem Plot in Specific Axes

Modify Stem Series After Creation

Input Arguments

Z — Data sequence to display vector or matrix

X — Locations to plot values of Z vector or matrix

Y — Locations to plot values of Z vector or matrix

LineSpec — Line style, marker, and color character vector | string

ax — Axes object Axes object

Name-Value Pair Arguments

'LineStyle' — Line style '-' (default) | '--' | ':' | '-.' | 'none'

'LineWidth' — Line width of stem and marker edge 0.5 (default) | positive value

'Color' — Stem color [0 0 0] (default) | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | 'r' | 'g' | 'b' | ...

'Marker' — Marker symbol 'o' (default) | '+' | '*' | '.' | 'x' | ...

'MarkerSize' — Marker size 6 (default) | positive value

'MarkerEdgeColor' — Marker outline color 'auto' (default) | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | 'r' | 'g' | 'b' | ...

'MarkerFaceColor' — Marker fill color 'none' (default) | 'auto' | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | 'r' | 'g' | 'b' | ...

Output Arguments

h — Stem object Stem

Extended Capabilities

GPU Arrays Accelerate code by running on a graphics processing unit (GPU) using Parallel Computing Toolbox™.

Distributed Arrays Partition large arrays across the combined memory of your cluster using Parallel Computing Toolbox™.

See Also

Functions

Properties

Topics

MATLAB Documentation

Support

`Z` — Data sequence to display
vector or matrix

`X` — Locations to plot values of `Z`
vector or matrix

`Y` — Locations to plot values of `Z`
vector or matrix

`LineSpec` — Line style, marker, and color
character vector | string

`ax` — `Axes` object
`Axes` object

`'LineStyle'` — Line style
`'-'` (default) | `'--'` | `':'` | `'-.'` | `'none'`

`'LineWidth'` — Line width of stem and marker edge
`0.5` (default) | positive value

`'Color'` — Stem color
`[0 0 0]` (default) | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | `'r'` | `'g'` | `'b'` | ...

`'Marker'` — Marker symbol
`'o'` (default) | `'+'` | `'*'` | `'.'` | `'x'` | ...

`'MarkerSize'` — Marker size
`6` (default) | positive value

`'MarkerEdgeColor'` — Marker outline color
`'auto'` (default) | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | `'r'` | `'g'` | `'b'` | ...

`'MarkerFaceColor'` — Marker fill color
`'none'` (default) | `'auto'` | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | `'r'` | `'g'` | `'b'` | ...

`h` — `Stem` object
`Stem`

GPU Arrays
Accelerate code by running on a graphics processing unit (GPU) using Parallel Computing Toolbox™.

Distributed Arrays
Partition large arrays across the combined memory of your cluster using Parallel Computing Toolbox™.