IconChart Properties

Icon chart appearance and behavior

Since R2024b

IconChart properties control the appearance and behavior of an IconChart object. By changing property values, you can modify certain aspects of the icon chart. Use dot notation to query and set properties.

ic = geoiconchart(1:10,1:10);
r = ic.IconRotation;
ic.IconRotation = 30;

Create an icon chart in geographic coordinates by using the geoiconchart function.

Icon

IconColorData — Icon colors

n-by-n-by-3 array

Icon colors, specified as an n-by-n-by-3 array of RGB triplets. The value of n must be less than or equal to 256.

Each RGB triplet defines a color for one pixel of the icon. An RGB triplet is a three-element vector that specifies the intensities of the red, green and blue components of the color. The first page of the array contains the red components, the second page contains the green components, and the third page contains the blue components.

The interpretation of IconColorData depends on the data type of the array.

• If IconColorData is of type double or single, then an RGB triplet value of [0 0 0] corresponds to black and [1 1 1] corresponds to white.

• If IconColorData is an integer type, then the icon uses the full range of data to determine the color. For example, if IconColorData is of type uint8, then [0 0 0] corresponds to black and [255 255 255] corresponds to white. If IconColorData is of type int8, then [-128 -128 -128] corresponds to black and [127 127 127] corresponds to white.

When the value of IconAlphaData is not scalar, the sizes of IconColorData and IconAlphaData must be consistent.

For more information about changing the color of an icon, see Control Color and Transparency of Icon Chart.

IconAlphaData — Icon transparency

scalar | n-by-n matrix

Icon transparency, specified as one of these options:

• A scalar — Use a consistent transparency across the entire icon.

• An n-by-n matrix — Each value defines the transparency for one pixel of the icon. The value of n must be less than or equal to 256. The size of the matrix must be consistent with the size of the first two dimensions of IconColorData.

The interpretation of IconAlphaData depends on the data type:

• If IconAlphaData is of type double or single, then 0 is completely transparent and 1 is opaque. Values between 0 and 1 are semitransparent.

• If IconAlphaData is an integer type, then the icon uses the full range of data to determine the transparency. For example, if IconAlphaData is of type int8, then -128 is completely transparent and 127 is opaque. Values between -128 and 127 are semitransparent.

For more information about changing the transparency of an icon, see Control Color and Transparency of Icon Chart.

IconAnchorPoint — Location of anchor point for icon

"center" | "topright" | "right" | "bottomright" | "bottom" | ...

Location of the anchor point for the icon, specified as one of the values in this table. The coordinates of the anchor point correspond to the latitude and longitude coordinates that you pass to the geoiconchart function.

Value	Description
"center"	Center of the icon
"topright"	Top-right corner of the icon
"right"	Right-center edge of the icon
"bottomright"	Bottom-right corner of the icon
"bottom"	Bottom-center edge of the icon
"bottomleft"	Bottom-left corner of the icon
"left"	Left-center edge of the icon
"topleft"	Top-left corner of the icon
"top"	Top-center edge of the icon

When you create the icon chart using the default pushpin icon, the default anchor point is "bottom". When you create the icon chart by specifying the name of an icon file, the default anchor point is "center".

IconRotation — Icon rotation angle, in degrees

0 (default) | numeric scalar | numeric vector

Icon rotation angle, in degrees, specified using one of these forms:

• Numeric scalar — Use the same rotation angle for all of the icons.

• Numeric vector — Use a different rotation angle for each icon. The size of the vector must match the number of data points.

The icon rotates around the anchor point specified by the IconAnchorPoint property.

Positive values rotate the icon counterclockwise. Negative values rotate the icon clockwise.

IconRotationMode — Control how IconRotation is set

'auto' (default) | 'manual'

Control how the IconRotation property is set, specified as one of these values:

• 'auto' — MATLAB^® controls the value of the IconRotation property.

• 'manual' — You manually control the value of the IconRotation property. When you set the IconRotation property, MATLAB sets this property to 'manual'.

Size Data

SizeData — Icon heights

22 (default) | positive scalar | vector of positive scalars

Icon heights, specified using one of these forms:

• Positive scalar — Use the same height for all of the icons.

• Vector of positive scalars — Use a different height for each icon. The size of the vector must match the number of data points. The vector can contain NaN values.

Specify the values in point units, where one point equals 1/72 inch. To specify an icon that has a height of one inch, use a value of 72. You can also specify NaN values.

SizeDataMode — Control how SizeData is set

'auto' (default) | 'manual'

Control how the SizeData property is set, specified as one of these values:

• 'auto' — MATLAB controls the value of the SizeData property.

• 'manual' — You manually control the value of the SizeData property. When you set the SizeData property, MATLAB sets this property to 'manual'.

Coordinate Data

LatitudeData — Latitude values

numeric vector

Latitude values, specified as a numeric vector. The sizes of LatitudeData and LongitudeData must be equal.

LatitudeDataMode — Control how LatitudeData is set

'auto' | 'manual'

Control how the LatitudeData property is set, specified as one of these values:

• 'auto' — The LatitudeData property updates automatically based on the SourceTable and LatitudeVariable properties. When you pass a table to the geoiconchart function, MATLAB sets this property to 'auto'.

• 'manual' — You manually control the value of the LatitudeData property. When you set the LatitudeData property or pass coordinate values to the geoiconchart function, MATLAB sets this property to 'manual'.

LongitudeData — Longitude values

numeric vector

Longitude values, specified as a numeric vector. The sizes of LongitudeData and LatitudeData must be equal.

LongitudeDataMode — Control how LongitudeData is set

'auto' | 'manual'

Control how the LongitudeData property is set, specified as one of these values:

• 'auto' — The LongitudeData property updates automatically based on the SourceTable and LongitudeData properties. When you pass a table to the geoiconchart function, MATLAB sets this property to 'auto'.

• 'manual' — You manually control the value of the LongitudeData property. When you set the LongitudeData property or pass coordinate values to the geoiconchart function, MATLAB sets this property to 'manual'.

AffectAutoLimits — Include anchor points in axes limits

"on" (default) | on/off logical value

Include the anchor points of the icons in the automatic selection of the axes limits, specified as "on", "off", logical 1 (true), or 0 (false). The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState. The latitude and longitude coordinates define the locations of the anchor points.

By default, the axes limits automatically change to include the data range for each successive icon chart you create in the axes. Setting this property enables you to focus on the range of a subset of data. To exclude the data range of an icon chart in the automatic selection, set its AffectAutoLimits property to "off".

Icon chart with AffectAutoLimits set to "on"	Icon chart with AffectAutoLimits set to "off"

Table Data

SourceTable — Source table

table | timetable

Source table containing the data to plot, specified as a table or timetable.

LatitudeVariable — Table variable containing latitude values

table variable index

Table variable containing the latitude values for geographic plots, specified using one of the indexing schemes from the following table. When you set this property, MATLAB updates the LatitudeData property.

Here is a list of the different indexing schemes you can use to specify the table variable.

Indexing Scheme	Examples
Variable name: A string scalar or character vector. A pattern object. The pattern object must refer to only one variable.	"A" or 'A' — A variable named A "Var"+digitsPattern(1) — The variable with the name "Var" followed by a single digit
Variable index: An index number that refers to the location of a variable in the table. A logical vector. Typically, this vector is the same length as the number of variables, but you can omit trailing 0 or false values.	3 — The third variable from the table [false false true] — The third variable
Variable type: A vartype subscript that selects a table variable of a specified type. The subscript must refer to only one variable.	vartype("double") — The variable containing double values

LongitudeVariable — Table variable containing longitude values

table variable index

Table variable containing the longitude values for geographic plots, specified using one of the indexing schemes from the following table. When you set this property, MATLAB updates the LongitudeData property.

Here is a list of the different indexing schemes you can use to specify the table variable.

Indexing Scheme	Examples
Variable name: A string scalar or character vector. A pattern object. The pattern object must refer to only one variable.	"A" or 'A' — A variable named A "Var"+digitsPattern(1) — The variable with the name "Var" followed by a single digit
Variable index: An index number that refers to the location of a variable in the table. A logical vector. Typically, this vector is the same length as the number of variables, but you can omit trailing 0 or false values.	3 — The third variable from the table [false false true] — The third variable
Variable type: A vartype subscript that selects a table variable of a specified type. The subscript must refer to only one variable.	vartype("double") — The variable containing double values

SizeVariable — Table variable containing size data

table variable index

Table variable containing the size data, specified as a variable index into the source table. When you set the SizeVariable property, MATLAB updates the SizeData property.

Here is a list of the different indexing schemes you can use to specify the table variable.

Indexing Scheme	Examples
Variable name: A string scalar or character vector. A pattern object. The pattern object must refer to only one variable.	"A" or 'A' — A variable named A "Var"+digitsPattern(1) — The variable with the name "Var" followed by a single digit
Variable index: An index number that refers to the location of a variable in the table. A logical vector. Typically, this vector is the same length as the number of variables, but you can omit trailing 0 or false values.	3 — The third variable from the table [false false true] — The third variable
Variable type: A vartype subscript that selects a table variable of a specified type. The subscript must refer to only one variable.	vartype("double") — The variable containing double values

IconRotationVariable — Table variable containing icon rotation data

table variable index

Table variable containing the icon rotation data, specified as a variable index into the source table. When you set IconRotationVariable property, MATLAB updates the IconRotation property.

Here is a list of the different indexing schemes you can use to specify the table variable.

Indexing Scheme	Examples
Variable name: A string scalar or character vector. A pattern object. The pattern object must refer to only one variable.	"A" or 'A' — A variable named A "Var"+digitsPattern(1) — The variable with the name "Var" followed by a single digit
Variable index: An index number that refers to the location of a variable in the table. A logical vector. Typically, this vector is the same length as the number of variables, but you can omit trailing 0 or false values.	3 — The third variable from the table [false false true] — The third variable
Variable type: A vartype subscript that selects a table variable of a specified type. The subscript must refer to only one variable.	vartype("double") — The variable containing double values

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 — Control for including or excluding object from legend

Read-only: Annotation object

This property is read-only.

Control for including or excluding the object from a legend, returned as an Annotation object. Set the underlying IconDisplayStyle property 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 a graphics object, go, from the legend set the IconDisplayStyle property to 'off'.

go.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 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.

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 the Selected property is set to 'on'.

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

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, the BusyAction 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, 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.

• If the interrupting callback is owned by a Timer object, then the callback executes according to schedule regardless of the Interruptible property value.

Note

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.

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:

• The running callback contains a command that processes the callback queue, such as drawnow, figure, uifigure, getframe, waitfor, or pause.

• The value of the Interruptible property of the object that owns the running callback is 'off'.

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) | 'none'

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

• 'visible' — Capture mouse clicks when visible. The Visible property must be set to 'on' and you must click a part of the IconChart 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. The HitTest property determines if the IconChart object responds to the click or if an ancestor does.

• 'none' — Cannot capture mouse clicks. Clicking the IconChart object passes the click to the object below it in the current view of the figure window. The HitTest property of the IconChart object 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 the ButtonDownFcn callback of the IconChart object. If you have defined the ContextMenu property, then invoke the context menu.

• 'off' — Trigger the callbacks for the nearest ancestor of the IconChart 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 IconChart object can capture mouse clicks. If it cannot, then the HitTest property has no effect.

BeingDeleted — Deletion status

Read-only: 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

GeographicAxes object | MapAxes object

Parent, specified as a GeographicAxes object or MapAxes 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. 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

Type — Type of graphics object

Read-only: 'iconchart'

This property is read-only.

Type of graphics object, returned as 'iconchart'. Use this property to find all objects of a given type within a plotting hierarchy, for example, searching for the type using findobj.

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 in R2024b