BubbleChart - Bubble chart appearance and behavior - MATLAB (original) (raw)

BubbleChart Properties

Bubble chart appearance and behavior

Since R2020b

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

b = bubblechart(rand(1,10),rand(1,10),1:10); b.MarkerFaceColor = 'r';

Markers

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Marker fill color, specified as 'flat', 'auto', an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The 'flat' option uses the CData values. The 'auto' option uses the same color as the Color property for the axes.

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 string scalar or character vector 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. Therefore, 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 the 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

This table lists the default color palettes for plots in the light and dark themes.

Palette	Palette Colors
"gem" — Light theme default_Before R2025a: Most plots use these colors by default._
"glow" — Dark theme default

You can get the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for these palettes using the orderedcolors and rgb2hex functions. For example, get the RGB triplets for the "gem" palette and convert them to hexadecimal color codes.

RGB = orderedcolors("gem"); H = rgb2hex(RGB);

Before R2023b: Get the RGB triplets using RGB = get(groot,"FactoryAxesColorOrder").

Before R2024a: Get the hexadecimal color codes using H = compose("#%02X%02X%02X",round(RGB*255)).

Example: [0.3 0.2 0.1]

Example: 'green'

Example: '#D2F9A7'

Marker edge transparency, specified as a scalar in the range [0,1] or 'flat'. A value of 1 is opaque and 0 is completely transparent. Values between 0 and 1 are semitransparent.

To set the edge transparency to a different value for each point in the plot, set theAlphaData property to a vector the same size as theXData property, and set theMarkerEdgeAlpha property to 'flat'.

Marker face transparency, specified as a scalar in the range [0,1] or 'flat'. A value of 1 is opaque and 0 is completely transparent. Values between 0 and 1 are partially transparent.

To set the marker face transparency to a different value for each point, set the AlphaData property to a vector the same size as the XData property, and set the MarkerFaceAlpha property to 'flat'.

Transparency data for each plotted point, specified as an array the same size as theXData property. After specifying the values, set theMarkerFaceAlpha and MarkerEdgeAlpha properties to control the type of transparency. If theMarkerFaceAlpha and MarkerEdgeAlpha properties are both set to scalar values, then the BubbleChart object does not use the AlphaData values.

The AlphaDataMapping property determines how theBubbleChart object interprets the AlphaData property values.

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

'auto' — MATLAB® controls the value of the AlphaData property. The value can be:
- The default value of the AlphaData property.
- The values in a table variable. TheSourceTable property specifies the table, and the AlphaVariable property specifies the variable. If either the SourceTable orAlphaVariable properties are empty, the default AlphaData value is used.
'manual' — The AlphaData property is set directly and does not update automatically.

Color and Size Data

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Marker colors, specified as one of these values:

RGB triplet — Use the same color for all the markers in the plot. 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, [0.5 0.6 0.7].
Three-column matrix of RGB triplets — Use a different color for each marker in the plot. Each row of the matrix defines one color. The number of rows must equal the number of markers.
Vector — Use a different color for each marker in the plot. SpecifyCData as a vector the same length asXData. Linearly map the values in the vector to the colors in the current colormap.

Example: [1 0 0; 0 1 0; 0 0 1]

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

'auto' — MATLAB controls the value of the CData property. The value can be:
- One of the colors from the ColorOrder property of the axes. MATLAB uses the SeriesIndex property of theBubbleChart object and the ColorOrder property of the axes to select a color. This is the default behavior.
- The values in a table variable. TheSourceTable property specifies the table, and the ColorVariable property specifies the variable. If either of these properties are empty, then the color data comes from the ColorOrder property of the axes.
'manual' — You control the value of the CData property manually, either by specifying a color when you call a plotting function or by setting theCData property on theBubbleChart object after plotting.

Variable linked to CData, specified as a character vector or string containing a MATLAB workspace variable. MATLAB evaluates the variable in the base workspace to generate theCData.

By default, there is no linked variable so the value is an empty character vector. If you link a variable, then MATLAB does not update the CData values immediately. To force an update of the data values, use the refreshdata function.

Note

If you change one data source property to a variable that contains data of a different dimension, you might cause the function to generate a warning and not render the graph until you have changed all data source properties to appropriate values.

Series index, specified as a positive whole number or "none". This property is useful for reassigning the marker colors of BubbleChart objects so that they match the colors of other objects. By default, theSeriesIndex property is a number that corresponds to the object's order of creation, starting at 1.

MATLAB uses the number to calculate indices for assigning colors when you call plotting functions. The indices refer to the rows of the arrays stored in theColorOrder property of the axes. The marker colors change when you change the BubbleChart object's SeriesIndex value, or when you change ColorOrder property of the axes.

A SeriesIndex value of"none" corresponds to a neutral color that does not participate in the indexing scheme. (since R2023b)

How Manual Color Assignment Overrides `SeriesIndex` Behavior

To manually control the fill color of the markers, use either of these approaches:

One color for all markers — Set theMarkerFaceColor property to a color name, RGB triplet, or a hexadecimal color code.
Different colors for all the markers — Set theMarkerFaceColor property to"flat". Then set the CData property to an RGB triplet, matrix of RGB triplets, or a vector of colormap indices.

Manually controlling the edge colors of the markers works the same way, except that you set MarkerEdgeColor property to a color value or"flat".

When you manually set the color of an object, MATLAB disables automatic color selection for that object and allows your color to persist, regardless of the value of the SeriesIndex property. The CDataMode property indicates whether theCData colors have been set manually (by you) or automatically. A value of "manual" indicates manual selection, and a value of "auto" indicates automatic selection.

Automatic color selection is disabled when you perform either of these actions:

Set the MarkerFaceColor orMarkerEdgeColor to a value other than"flat".
Set the CData to a color value manually.

To enable automatic selection again, set the MarkerFaceColor,MarkerEdgeColor, or both properties to"flat". Set the CDataMode property to"auto", and set the SeriesIndex property to a positive whole number.

In some cases, MATLAB sets the SeriesIndex value to0, which also disables automatic color selection.

Relative bubble sizes, specified in one of these forms:

Scalar — Use the same size for all of the bubbles.
Vector — Use a different size for each bubble. SpecifySizeData as a vector the same length asXData.

The SizeData values control the relative distribution of the bubble sizes. By default, MATLAB linearly maps a range of bubble areas across the range of theSizeData values for all the bubble charts in the axes. For more control over the absolute bubble sizes, and how they map across the range of theSizeData values, see bubblesize and bubblelim.

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

'auto' — The SizeData property updates automatically based on the SourceTable andSizeVariable properties. This is the case when you pass a table to the bubblechart or bubblechart3 functions.
'manual' — The SizeData property is set directly and does not update automatically. This is the case when you pass coordinate values as vectors to the bubblechart orbubblechart3 functions.

Variable linked to SizeData, specified as a character vector or string containing a MATLAB workspace variable. MATLAB evaluates the variable in the base workspace to generate theSizeData.

By default, there is no linked variable so the value is an empty character vector. If you link a variable, then MATLAB does not update the SizeData values. To force an update of the data values, use the refreshdata function.

Note

Cartesian Coordinate Data

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x values, specified as a scalar or a vector. The chart displays bubble for each value in XData.

The input argument X to the bubblechart and bubblechart3 functions set the x values.XData and YData must have equal lengths.

Example: [1 2 4 2 6]

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

'auto' — The XData property updates automatically based on the SourceTable andXVariable properties. This is the case when you pass a table to the bubblechart or bubblechart3 functions.
'manual' — The XData property is set directly and does not update automatically. This is the case when you pass coordinate values as vectors to the bubblechart orbubblechart3 functions.

y values, specified as a scalar or a vector. The chart displays bubble for each value in YData.

The input argument Y to the bubblechart and bubblechart3 functions set the y values.XData and YData must have equal lengths.

Example: [1 3 3 4 6]

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

'auto' — The YData property updates automatically based on the SourceTable andYVariable properties. This is the case when you pass a table to the bubblechart or bubblechart3 functions.
'manual' — The YData property is set directly and does not update automatically. This is the case when you pass coordinate values as vectors to the bubblechart orbubblechart3 functions.

z values, specified as a scalar or a vector.

For 2-D bubble charts, ZData is empty by default.
For 3-D bubble charts, the input argument Z to thebubblechart3 function sets the z values.XData, YData, and ZData must have equal lengths.

Example: [1 2 2 1 0]

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

'auto' — The ZData property updates automatically based on the SourceTable andZVariable properties. This is the case when you pass a table to the bubblechart or bubblechart3 functions.
'manual' — The ZData property is set directly and does not update automatically. This is the case when you pass coordinate values as vectors to the bubblechart orbubblechart3 functions.

Type of jitter (spacing of points) along the _x_-dimension, specified as one of the following values:

'none' — Do not jitter the points.
'density' — Jitter the points using the kernel density estimate of y for 2-D charts. If you specify this option in two dimensions for a 3-D chart, the points are jittered based on the kernel density estimate in the third dimension. For example, settingXJitter and YJitter to'density' uses the kernel density estimate of_z_.
'rand' — Jitter the points randomly with a uniform distribution.
'randn' — Jitter points randomly with a normal distribution.

Maximum amount of jitter (offset between points) along the _x_-dimension, specified as a nonnegative scalar value in data units.

For example, to set the jitter width to 90% of the shortest distance between adjacent points, take the minimum distance between unique values of x and scale by0.9.

XJitterWidth = 0.9 * min(diff(unique(x)));

Since R2025a

Direction of jitter along the _x_-dimension, specified as one of these values:

"positive" — Jitter the points in the positive_x_ direction.
"negative" — Jitter the points in the negative_x_ direction.
"both" — Jitter the points in both directions of_x_.

Type of jitter (spacing of points) along the _y_-dimension, specified as one of the following values:

'none' — Do not jitter the points.
'density' — Jitter the points using the kernel density estimate of x for 2-D charts. If you specify this option in two dimensions for a 3-D chart, the points are jittered based on the kernel density estimate in the third dimension. For example, settingXJitter and YJitter to'density' uses the kernel density estimate of_z_.
'rand' — Jitter the points randomly with a uniform distribution.
'randn' — Jitter points randomly with a normal distribution.

Maximum amount of jitter (offset between points) along the_y_-dimension, specified as a nonnegative scalar value in data units.

For example, to set the jitter width to 90% of the shortest distance between adjacent points, take the minimum distance between unique values of y and scale by0.9.

YJitterWidth = 0.9 * min(diff(unique(y)));

Since R2025a

Direction of jitter along the _y_-dimension, specified as one of these values:

"positive" — Jitter the points in the positive_y_ direction.
"negative" — Jitter the points in the negative_y_ direction.
"both" — Jitter the points in both directions of_y_.

Type of jitter (spacing of points) along the _z_-dimension, specified as one of the following values:

'none' — Do not jitter the points.
'density' —Jitter the points using the kernel density estimate of y. Or, if you specify this option in one additional dimension, the points are jittered based on the kernel density estimate in the third dimension. For example, settingYJitter and ZJitter to'density' uses the kernel density estimate of_x_.
'rand' — Jitter the points randomly with a uniform distribution.
'randn' — Jitter points randomly with a normal distribution.

Maximum amount of jitter (offset between points) along the _z_-dimension in data units, specified as a nonnegative scalar value.

For example, to set the jitter width to 90% of the shortest distance between adjacent points, take the minimum distance between unique values ofz and scale by0.9.

ZJitterWidth = 0.9 * min(diff(unique(z)));

Since R2025a

Direction of jitter along the _z_-dimension, specified as one of these values:

"positive" — Jitter the points in the positive_z_ direction.
"negative" — Jitter the points in the negative_z_ direction.
"both" — Jitter the points in both directions of_z_.

Polar Coordinate Data

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Radius values, specified as a vector. ThetaData andRData must be vectors of equal length.

This property applies only to polar axes.

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

'auto' — The RData property updates automatically based on the SourceTable andRVariable properties. This is the case when you pass a table to the polarbubblechart orbubblechart functions.
'manual' — The RData property is set directly and does not update automatically. This is the case when you pass coordinate values as vectors or matrices to thepolarbubblechart or bubblechart functions.

Variable linked to RData, specified as a character vector or string containing a MATLAB workspace variable name. MATLAB evaluates the variable in the base workspace to generate theRData.

By default, there is no linked variable so the value is an empty character vector,''. If you link a variable, then MATLAB does not update the RData values immediately. To force an update of the data values, use the refreshdata function.

Note

This property applies only to polar axes.

Angle values, specified as a vector. ThetaData andRData must be vectors of equal length.

This property applies only to polar axes.

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

'auto' — The ThetaData property updates automatically based on the SourceTable andThetaVariable properties. This is the case when you pass a table to the polarbubblechart orbubblechart functions.
'manual' — The ThetaData property is set directly and does not update automatically. This is the case when you pass coordinate values as vectors or matrices to thepolarbubblechart or bubblechart functions.

Variable linked to ThetaData, specified as a character vector or string containing a MATLAB workspace variable name. MATLAB evaluates the variable in the base workspace to generate theRData.

By default, there is no linked variable so the value is an empty character vector,''. If you link a variable, then MATLAB does not update the ThetaData values immediately. To force an update of the data values, use the refreshdata function.

Note

This property applies only to polar axes.

Geographic Coordinate Data

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Latitude values, specified as a vector. LatitudeData andLongitudeData must be vectors of equal length.