missing axes after copy

I have a UIAxes in an app that I want to save as a .fig file so I'm using this:
placeholder=figure();
placeax=copyobj(app.UIAxes,placeholder,"legacy");
savefig(placeax,[app.folder,'\Results\',app.model,' - nodeview.fig']);
The new figure is created and the graph is copied across but I can't see it. What I mean by that is when hovering my mouse over I can see that the axes and the points are there but the graphic doesn't show up.
Any suggestions as to why I can't see the graph?

4 Comments

The target is an "ordinary" figure into which you're placing a new UIAxes. Try into a UIFigure instead
I have the same issue that I can't save a UIfigure as a .fig file - at least not using savefig. Also it doesn't seem to slove the issue anyway
Stephen23
Stephen23 2 minutes ago
Edited: Stephen23 less than a minute ago
uifigure uses the newer web-based UI framework (used by App Designer). Its components (uilabel, uibutton, etc.) are not standard graphics objects and cannot be serialized with savefig.
The .mlapp file is effectively the “save format” (UI + logic together).
Try something on the order of
placeholder=figure('Visible','off');
placeax=copyobj(app.UIAxes.Children,axes(placeholder),'legacy');
savefig(placeholder,fullfile(app.folder,'\Results\',app.model,' - nodeview.fig'));
delete(placeholder); % optional
Nota bene: Untested...
For figures in app developer apps which reside in UIFigure-land, look at exportgraphics

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Answers (1)

dpb
dpb about 1 hour ago
Try <copyUIAxes> by @Adam Danz (from before he moved to TMW) in FEX

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R2025b

Asked:

on 4 Jun 2026 at 13:50

Answered:

dpb
about 23 hours ago

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