PLOTTING with MATLAB
simple 2D plot
h=0.2;
x=0:h:10;
y=sin(x);
plot(x,y);
To see the plot object characteristics you have to assign the plt to a variable:
pt=plot(x,y) % assign to a variable to see line properties
plot(x,y,'LineWidth',1.5); % change line properties
plot(x,y,'LineStyle','--','LineWidth',1.5); % change line properties
add more features: grid, title, etc.
h=0.2;
x=0:h:10;
y=sin(x);
plot(x,y);
axis([0,10,-1.1,1.1]) %give more room for the plot
grid %add grid
title('A nice plot') %add title
two plots in the same window
h=0.2;
x=0:h:10;
y=sin(x);
plot(x,y);
hold on;
z=cos(x);
plot(x,z);
axis([0,10,-1.1,1.1])
grid
title('Two plots')
legend('sin(x)','cos(x)') % to identify plots
line style
h=0.2;
x=0:h:10;
y=sin(x);
z=cos(x);
plot (x, y,'-.k');
axis([0,10,-1.1,1.1])
title('Line styles')
hold on;
plot(x,z,'-sg') % lines and green squares (you can mixed)
grid
hold off;
In these tables you can find different line and marker options:
NaN terms are skipped when using plot
h=0.2;
x=-1:h:10;
y=sin(x)./x;
plot(x,y);
axis([-1,10,-1.1,1.1])
grid
title(' NaN skipped')
Plot a general function:
Let's plot the following function 
You have to define 
like an inline function and then evaluate in a set of points
like an inline function and then evaluate in a set of pointsf=@(x) 10*(1-exp(-x/3).*sin(10*x));
h=0.1; % use only few points
xx=0:h:10;
yy=f(xx);
plot(xx,yy);
grid
title('Few points')
h=0.02; % use more points
xx=0:h:10;
yy=f(xx);
plot(xx,yy);
%axis([0,10,-1.1,1.1])
grid
title('Enough points')
Subplots: many plots in the same window
subplot(2,2,1)
plot(x,y)
subplot(2,2,2) %empty plot (optional, you can comment it)
subplot(2,2,3) %empty plot (optional, you can comment it)
subplot(2,2,4)
plot(xx,yy)
hold off
Get points with the mouse
Selecting 4 points with the mouse, you can obtain something like the image below.
% does not work, inside a livescript, for Matlab 2019 and previous versions
[x, y]=ginput(4); %click 4 times on the window
plot(x,y,'sm');
hold on;
fill(x,y,'r');
Other 2D plots
figure()
% Bar plot of a bell shaped curve
x = -2.9:0.2:2.9;
bar(x,exp(-x.^2));
% Stairstep plot of a sine wave
x=0:0.25:10;
stairs(x,sin(x));
% Errorbar plot
x=-2:0.1:2;
y=erf(x); %Matlab error function
e = rand(size(x))/10;
errorbar(x,y,e);
% Polar plot
t=0:.01:2*pi;
polarplot(t,abs(sin(2*t).*cos(2*t)));
% Stem plot
X = linspace(0,2*pi,50)';
Y = [cos(X), 0.5*sin(X)];
stem(Y)
Animated Plots 2D: sinusoide
Sinusoid Animation: sin(x+P) where P is a phase value
%Assign values to the graphic window
figNumber=figure('Name','Sinusoid Animation', 'NumberTitle','off', 'Visible','on');
endP=2*pi; %max variation angle for P
incP=0.09; %increment de la Fase
x=-2*pi:0.2:2*pi; %rang of x values
for P=-endP:incP:endP
y=sin(x+P);
plot(x,y,'r')
hold on
axis([-2*pi 2*pi -1.2 1.2])
grid
plot([-2*pi 2*pi],[0 0],'Color','k','LineWidth',2)
plot([0 0],[-1.2 1.2],'Color','k','LineWidth',2)
text(1.15,1.1,['Phase = ' num2str(P,'%.4f')])
drawnow
%pause(0.01)
hold off;
end
hold off;
Animated Plots 3D: Helix Animation
figure()
fi=0:pi/20:6*pi;
for k=1:4:size(fi,2)
plot3(cos(fi),sin(fi),fi,'b')
hold on;
plot3(cos(fi(k)), sin(fi(k)), fi(k),'marker','o',...
'markersize',8,'markerfacecolor', 'green');
hold off;
pause(0.1)
end
Create a Video from an animation:
recordVideo=0; %=0 to see it on the screen, =1 to record the video
if (recordVideo==1)
myVideo= VideoWriter('helix.avi'); %name for the video file
open(myVideo); %open our video file
end
fi=0:pi/20:6*pi;
for k=1:size(fi,2)
plot3(cos(fi),sin(fi),fi,'b')
hold on;
plot3(cos(fi(k)), sin(fi(k)), fi(k),'marker','o',...
'markersize',8,'markerfacecolor', 'green');
hold off;
drawnow
pause(0.01)
if (recordVideo==1)
frame = getframe; %get the present plot
writeVideo(myVideo,frame); %save it to the video
end
end
if (recordVideo==1), close(myVideo); end
Mesgrid
x=-2:2;
y=-4:4;
[X,Y]=meshgrid(x,y)
z=X.^2+Y.^2;
figure()
surf(X,Y,z)
figure()
plot(X,Y,'o')