scatter

Scatter plot.

📝 Syntax

• scatter(x, y)

• scatter(x, y, sz)

• scatter(x, y, sz, c)

• scatter(..., 'filled')

• scatter(..., marker)

• scatter(ax, ...)

• scatter(..., propertyName, propertyValue)

• s = scatter(...)

📥 Input argument

• X - x-coordinates: vector or matrix.

• Y - y-coordinates: vector or matrix.

• sz - Marker size: numeric scalar, vector, [] (default: 36)

• c - Marker color: short color name, color name, RGB triplet or vector of colormap indices

• ax - a scalar graphics object value: parent container, specified as a axes.

• propertyName - a scalar string or row vector character. see help of 'line' for property list.

• propertyValue - a value.

📤 Output argument

• s - a graphics object: scatter type or array of scatter.

📄 Description

scatter(x, y) generates a scatter plot by placing circular markers at the coordinates defined by the vectors x and y.

If you intend to display a single dataset, ensure that both x and yare vectors of the same length.

To visualize multiple datasets on a shared set of axes, you can achieve this by using a matrix for either x or y, while keeping the other as a vector.

This allows you to overlay or compare multiple datasets within the same plot.

Scatter Properties:

Property	Description
AlphaData	Marker face transparency, 1 (default) or array the same size as XData
BeingDeleted	Flag indicating that the object is being deleted.
BusyAction	Callback queuing specified as 'queue' (default) or 'cancel'. The property determines how Nelson handles the execution of interrupting callbacks.
CData	Marker colors: [] (default), RGB triplet, matrix of RGB triplets or vector. Marker color to use for each data series: 'k'/'black' (Black), 'y'/'yellow' (Yellow), 'm'/'magenta' (Magenta), 'c'/'cyan' (Cyan), 'r'/'red' (Red), 'b'/'blue' (Blue), 'g'/'green' (Green)
CDataMode	Selection mode for CData: 'manual', 'auto' (default).
Children	Children.
CreateFcn	Component creation function.
DeleteFcn	Component deletion function.
DisplayName	Legend label: character vector or string scalar, '' (default).
Interruptible	Callback interruption 'on' (default).
LineWidth	Line width: scalar positive value.
Marker	Marker symbol: 'o' (Circle), 'x' (Times), '+' (Plus), '*' (Asterisk), '.' (Dot), 's' (Square), 'd' (Diamond), 'v' (Downward-pointing triangle), '^' (Upward-pointing triangle), '>' (Left-pointing triangle), '<' (Right-pointing triangle)
MarkerEdgeColor	Marker outline color: RGB triplet.
MarkerEdgeAlpha	Marker edge transparency: scalar in range [0,1], 'flat or 1 (default). To assign distinct transparency values to the edges of each point in a plot, set the AlphaData property to a vector matching the size of the XData property and set the MarkerEdgeAlpha property to 'flat'.
MarkerFaceColor	Marker fill color: RGB triplet.
MarkerFaceAlpha	Marker face transparency: scalar in range [0,1], 'flat or 1 (default). To assign distinct transparency values to the faces of each point in a plot, set the AlphaData property to a vector matching the size of the XData property and set the MarkerFaceAlpha property to 'flat'.
Parent	Parent container: Figure graphics object.
SizeData	Marker sizes:[] (default), scalar or vector.
Tag	Object identifier: character vector, string scalar or '' (default).
Type	Type of graphics object 'scatter'.
UserData	User data: array or []
Visible	State of visibility: 'on' (default) or 'off'.
XData	x values: vector or matrix or [] (default).
YData	y values: vector or matrix or [] (default).
ZData	z values: vector or matrix or [] (default).
XDataMode	Selection mode for XData: 'manual' or 'auto'.

💡 Examples

f = figure();
theta = linspace(0,1,600);
x = exp(theta).*sin(110*theta);
y = exp(theta).*cos(110*theta);
s = scatter(x,y ,'filled');

f = figure();
x = linspace(0,3*pi,255);
y = cos(x) + rand(1,255);
sz = 1:255;
c = 1:length(x);
scatter(x, y, sz, c, 'd', 'filled')

f = figure();
x = linspace(0, 3*pi, 255);
y = cos(x) + rand(1, 255);
c = linspace(1,10,length(x));
scatter(x, y, [], c, 'filled')

f = figure();
theta = linspace(0,2*pi,244);
x = sin(theta) + 0.75*rand(1,244);
y = cos(theta) + 0.75*rand(1,244);
sz = 45;
scatter(x,y,sz,'MarkerEdgeColor',[0 .6 .5], 'MarkerFaceColor',[0 .6 .7],  'LineWidth',3.5)

f = figure(),
x = linspace(0,3*pi,200);
y = cos(x) + rand(1,200);
% Top plot
ax1 = subplot(2,1, 1);
scatter(ax1,x,y)
% Bottom plot
ax2 = subplot(2,1, 2);
scatter(ax2,x,y,'filled','d')

f = figure();
x = rand(500,5);
y = randn(500,5) + (5:5:25);
s = scatter(x,y, 'filled');

f = figure();
% Create figure
hold on;
% Settings
nPoints = 10; % Number of points per marker type
markers = {'o', '+', '*', 's', 'd', '^', 'v', '>', '<', 'p', 'h'};
sizesMin = 20; % Minimum size
sizesMax = 100; % Maximum size
% X positions
x = linspace(1, 10, nPoints);
% Fixed color
fixedColor = [0 0 0]; % black
% Plot each marker type
for m = 1:numel(markers)
    y = m * ones(size(x)); % Constant Y for each marker type
    sizes = linspace(sizesMin, sizesMax, nPoints); % Increasing sizes
    % Scatter points
    scatter(x, y, sizes, ...
        'Marker', markers{m}, ...
        'MarkerEdgeColor', fixedColor, ...
        'MarkerFaceColor', 'none', ...
        'LineWidth', 1.5);
end
title('Scatter Only - One Line per Marker Type with Increasing Size');
xlabel('X Axis');
ylabel('Marker Type Line');
ylim([0 numel(markers)+1]);
hold off;

🔗 See also

line, plot, scatter3.

🕔 History

Version	📄 Description
1.0.0	initial version
1.12.0	color name and short color name managed.
1.14.0	Scatter is a graphics object with Properties.