handle of a function, as in
surf(x,y, myFun)
where the
expected syntax of
myFun
is
Z=myFun(X,Y)
.
If the 2D function
fun
to plot needs some parameters
as input arguments, the function and its parameters can be specified
through a list, as in
surf(x,y, list(delip, -0.4))
or
surf(x,y, list(myfun, a,b))
with
Z = myFun(X,Y, a,b)
If
X
or/and
Y
are grid-generating
vectors while
fun(…)
expects only input matrices,
surf(…)
automatically generates matrices from
X
or/and
Y
and properly calls
fun(…)
.
Description
surf
draws a colored parametric surface using a grid
whose nodes coordinates are defined by
X
and
Y
.
At each node of this grid, a Z coordinate is given using the
Z
matrix.
surf
has been created to better handle Matlab syntax.
To improve graphical compatibility, Matlab users should use
surf
rather than
plot3d
.
Data entry specification :
In this paragraph and to be clearer, we won't mention
GlobalProperty
optional arguments as they do not interfere
with entry data (except for
"Xdata"
,
"Ydata"
and
"Zdata"
property, see
GlobalProperty
). It is
assumed that all those optional arguments could be present too.
X
or
Y
can be :
-
a) a vector : if
X
is a vector,
length(
X
)=
nx
. Respectively, if
Y
is a vector, length(
Y
)=
ny
.
b) a matrix : in this case, size(
X
) (or
size(
Y
)) must equal size(
Z
).
Color entry specification :
As stated before, the surface is created over a rectangular grid
support. Let consider two independent variables
i
and
j
such as :
a) 1 <= i <= ny and 1 <= j <= nx
b) i-1,j-1 ---- i-1,j ---- i-1,j+1 ---… |
| | | | i direction
i,j-1 ----- i,j ----- i,j+1 ---… |
| | | |
: : :
............> j direction
This imaginary rectangular grid is used to build the real surface
support onto the
XY
plane. Indeed,
X
,
Y
and
Z
data have the same size
(even if
X
or
Y
is vector, see below) and can be
considered as 3 functions
x(i,j)
,
y(i,j)
and
z(i,j)
specifying the desired surface. If
X
or
Y
are vectors, they are internally treated to produce good
matrices matching the
Z
matrix dimension (and the grid is
forcibly a rectangular region).
Considering the 3 functions
x(i,j)
,
y(i,j)
and
z(i,j)
, the portion of surface defining between two
consecutive
i
and
j
is called a patch.
By default, when no colors matrix is added to a surf call, the colors
parameter is linked to the
Z
data. When a
colors
matrix is given, it can be applied to the patch in two different ways : at
the vertices or at the center of each patch.
That is why, if
Z
is a [
ny
x
nx
]
matrix, the
C colors
matrix dimension can be
[
ny
x
nx
] (one color defined per vertex) or
[
ny-1
x
nx-1
] (one color per patch).
Color representation also varies when specifying some GlobalPropery:
The
FaceColor
property sets the shading mode : it can
be
'interp'
or
'flat'
(default mode). When
'interp'
is selected, we perform a bilinear color
interpolation onto the patch. If size(
C
) equals
size(
Z
)-1 (i.e. we provided only one color per patch) then
the color of the vertices defining the patch is set to the given color of
the patch.
When
'flat'
(default mode) is enabled we use a color
faceted representation (one color per patch). If size(
C
)
equals size(
Z
) (i.e. we provided only one color per
vertices), the last row and column of
C
are ignored.
The
GlobalProperty
arguments should be used to customize
the surface. Here is a brief description on how it works:
-
GlobalProperty
-
This option may be used to specify how all the surfaces are
drawn. It must always be a couple statement constituted of a string
defining the
PropertyName
, and its associated value
PropertyValue
(which can be a string or an integer or...
as well depending on the type of the
PropertyName
). Note
that you can set multiple properties : the face & edge color,
color data, color data mapping, marker color (foreground and
background), the visibility, clipping and thickness of the edges of
the surface... (see
GlobalProperty
)
Note that all these properties can be (re-)set through the surface
entity properties (see
surface_properties
).
|
By default, successive surface plots are superposed. To clear the previous
plot, use
clf()
. To set the
auto_clear
mode as the default one for forthcoming axes, execute
gda().auto_clear = 'on'
.
Enter the command
surf
to see a demo.
|
Examples
With a function:
function z=mySurf(x, y, a, b)
if ~isdef("a","l"), a = 1, end
if ~isdef("b","l"), b = 1, end
z = a*x.*sin(y) + b*y.*cos(x);
endfunction
subplot(121), surf(-5:0.2:5, -3:0.2:3, mySurf)
subplot(122), surf(-5:0.2:5, -3:0.2:3, list(mySurf, 2
,-1))
gcf().color_map = jet(100);
set(gcf(), "axes_size", [800 350], "rotation_style","multiple");
gca().rotation_angles = [40 -60];
surf(Z)
:
Z= [0.0001 0.0013 0.0053 -0.0299 -0.1809 -0.2465 -0.1100 -0.0168 -0.0008 -0.0000
0.0005 0.0089 0.0259 -0.3673 -1.8670 -2.4736 -1.0866 -0.1602 -0.0067 0.0000
0.0004 0.0214 0.1739 -0.3147 -4.0919 -6.4101 -2.7589 -0.2779 0.0131 0.0020
-0.0088 -0.0871 0.0364 1.8559 1.4995 -2.2171 -0.2729 0.8368 0.2016 0.0130
-0.0308 -0.4313 -1.7334 -0.1148 3.0731 0.4444 2.6145 2.4410 0.4877 0.0301
-0.0336 -0.4990 -2.3552 -2.1722 0.8856 -0.0531 2.6416 2.4064 0.4771 0.0294
-0.0137 -0.1967 -0.8083 0.2289 3.3983 3.1955 2.4338 1.2129 0.2108 0.0125
-0.0014 -0.0017 0.3189 2.7414 7.1622 7.1361 3.1242 0.6633 0.0674 0.0030];
subplot(121)
surf(Z);
subplot(122)
surf(Z,'facecol','red','edgecol','blu');
gcf().axes_size = [850 400];
surf(X, Y, Z)
:
X=[-3.0000 -2.3333 -1.6667 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 1.6667 2.3333 3.0000
-3.0000 -2.3333 -1.6667 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 1.6667 2.3333 3.0000
-3.0000 -2.3333 -1.6667 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 1.6667 2.3333 3.0000
-3.0000 -2.3333 -1.6667 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 1.6667 2.3333 3.0000
-3.0000 -2.3333 -1.6667 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 1.6667 2.3333 3.0000
-3.0000 -2.3333 -1.6667 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 1.6667 2.3333 3.0000
-3.0000 -2.3333 -1.6667 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 1.6667 2.3333 3.0000
-3.0000 -2.3333 -1.6667 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 1.6667 2.3333 3.0000
-3.0000 -2.3333 -1.6667 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 1.6667 2.3333 3.0000
-3.0000 -2.3333 -1.6667 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 1.6667 2.3333 3.0000];
Y=[-3.0000 -3.0000 -3.0000 -3.0000 -3.0000 -3.0000 -3.0000 -3.0000 -3.0000 -3.0000
-2.3333 -2.3333 -2.3333 -2.3333 -2.3333 -2.3333 -2.3333 -2.3333 -2.3333 -2.3333
-1.6667 -1.6667 -1.6667 -1.6667 -1.6667 -1.6667 -1.6667 -1.6667 -1.6667 -1.6667
-1.0000 -1.0000 -1.0000 -1.0000 -1.0000 -
1.0000 -1.0000 -1.0000 -1.0000 -1.0000
-0.3333 -0.3333 -0.3333 -0.3333 -0.3333 -0.3333 -0.3333 -0.3333 -0.3333 -0.3333
0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333
1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000
1.6667 1.6667 1.6667 1.6667 1.6667 1.6667 1.6667 1.6667 1.6667 1.6667
2.3333 2.3333 2.3333 2.3333 2.3333 2.3333 2.3333 2.3333 2.3333 2.3333
3.0000 3.0000 3.0000 3.0000 3.0000 3.0000 3.0000 3.0000 3.0000 3.0000];
Z= [0.0001 0.0013 0.0053 -0.0299 -0.1809 -0.2465 -0.1100 -0.0168 -0.0008 -0.0000
0.0005 0.0089 0.0259 -0.3673 -1.8670 -2.4736 -1.0866 -0.1602 -0.0067 0.0000
0.0004 0.0214 0.1739 -0.3147 -4.0919 -6.4101 -2.7589 -0.2779 0.0131 0.0020
-0.0088 -0.0871 0.0364 1.8559 1.4995 -2.2171 -0.2729 0.8368 0.2016 0.0130
-0.0308 -0.4313 -1.7334 -0.1148 3.0731 0.4444 2.6145 2.4410 0.4877 0.0301
-0.0336 -0.4990 -2.3552 -2.1722 0.8856 -0.0531 2.6416 2.4064 0.4771 0.0294
-0.0137 -0.1967 -0.8083 0.2289 3.3983 3.1955 2.4338 1.2129 0.2108 0.0125
-0.0014 -0.0017 0.3189 2.7414 7.1622 7.1361 3.1242 0.6633 0.0674 0.0030
0.0002 0.0104 0.1733 1.0852 2.6741 2.6725 1.1119 0.1973 0.0152 0.0005
0.0000 0.0012 0.0183 0.1099 0.2684 0.2683 0.1107 0.0190 0.0014 0.0000];
scf(3)
surf(X,Y,Z)
surf(X,Y,Z) on a cylindrical grid.
.
Facets are still quadrangular:
theta = 0:15:360;
r = 25:5:100;
[R,T] = ndgrid(r,theta);
X = R.*cosd(T);
Y = R.* sind(T);
Z = sinc(R/8);
surf(X, Y, Z)
gcf().color_map = cool(50);
gca().rotation_angles=[195 -155];
X = [-3.0000 -2.3333 -1.6667 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 1.6667 2.3333 3.0000];
Y = X;
Z =[0.0001 0.0013 0.0053 -0.0299 -0.1809 -0.2465 -0.1100 -0.0168 -0.0008 -0.0000
0.0005 0.0089 0.0259 -0.3673 -1.8670 -2.4736 -1.0866 -0.1602 -0.0067 0.0000
0.0004 0.0214 0.1739 -0.3147 -4.0919 -6.4101 -2.7589 -0.2779 0.0131 0.0020
-0.0088 -0.0871 0.0364 1.8559 1.4995 -2.2171 -0.2729 0.8368 0.2016 0.0130
-0.0308 -0.4313 -1.7334 -0.1148 3.0731 0.4444 2.6145 2.4410 0.4877 0.0301
-0.0336 -0.4990 -2.3552 -2.1722 0.8856 -0.0531 2.6416 2.4064 0.4771 0.0294
-0.0137 -0.1967 -0.8083 0.2289 3.3983 3.1955 2.4338 1.2129
0.2108 0.0125
-0.0014 -0.0017 0.3189 2.7414 7.1622 7.1361 3.1242 0.6633 0.0674 0.0030
0.0002 0.0104 0.1733 1.0852 2.6741 2.6725 1.1119 0.1973 0.0152 0.0005
0.0000 0.0012 0.0183 0.1099 0.2684 0.2683 0.1107 0.0190 0.0014 0.0000];
surf(X,Y,Z)
Z= [ 0.0001 0.0013 0.0053 -0.0299 -0.1809 -0.2465 -0.1100 -0.0168 -0.0008 -0.0000
0.0005 0.0089 0.0259 -0.3673 -1.8670 -2.4736 -1.0866 -0.1602 -0.0067 0.0000
0.0004 0.0214 0.1739 -0.3147 -4.0919 -6.4101 -2.7589 -0.2779 0.0131 0.0020
-0.0088 -0.0871 0.0364 1.8559 1.4995 -2.2171 -0.2729 0.8368 0.2016 0.0130
-0.0308 -0.4313 -1.7334 -0.1148 3.0731 0.4444 2.6145 2.4410 0.4877 0.0301
-0.0336 -0.4990 -2.3552 -2.1722 0.8856 -0.0531 2.6416 2.4064 0.4771 0.0294
-0.0137 -0.1967 -0.8083 0.2289 3.3983 3.1955 2.4338 1.2129 0.2108 0.0125
-0.0014 -0.0017 0.3189 2.7414 7.1622 7.1361 3.1242 0.6633 0.0674 0.0030
0.0002 0.0104 0.1733 1.0852 2.6741 2.6725 1.1119 0.1973 0.0152 0.0005
0.0000 0.0012 0.0183 0.1099 0.2684 0.2683 0.1107 0.0190 0.0014 0.0000];
close(winsid())
e=surf(Z,Z+5)
e.cdata_mapping='direct'
e.color_flag=3;
X = [ -3.0000 -2.3333 -1.6667 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 1.6667 2.3333 3.0000
-3.0000 -2.3333 -1.6667 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 1.6667 2.3333 3.0000
-3.0000 -2.3333 -1.6667 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 1.6667 2.3333 3.0000
-3.0000 -2.3333 -1.6667 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 1.6667 2.3333 3.0000
-3.0000 -2.3333 -1.6667 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 1.6667 2.3333 3.0000
-3.0000 -2.3333 -1.6667 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 1.6667 2.3333 3.0000
-3.0000 -2.3333 -1.6667 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 1.6667 2.3333 3.0000
-3.0000 -2.3333 -1.6667 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 1.6667 2.3333 3.0000
-3.0000 -2.3333 -1.6667 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 1.6667 2.3333 3.0000
-3.0000 -2.3333 -1.6667 -1.0000 -0.3333 0.3333 1.0000 1.6667 2.3333 3.0000];
Y= [ -3.0000 -3.0000 -3.0000 -3.0000 -3.0000 -3.0000 -3.0000 -3.0000 -3.0000 -3.0000
-2.3333 -2.3333 -2.3333 -2.3333 -2.3333 -2.3333 -2.3333 -2.3333 -2.3333 -2.3333
-1.6667 -1.6667 -1.6667 -1.6667 -1.6667 -1.6667 -1.6667 -1.6667 -1.6667 -1.6667
-1.0000 -1.0000 -1.0000 -1.0000 -
1.0000 -1.0000 -1.0000 -1.0000 -1.0000 -1.0000
-0.3333 -0.3333 -0.3333 -0.3333 -0.3333 -0.3333 -0.3333 -0.3333 -0.3333 -0.3333
0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333
1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000
1.6667 1.6667 1.6667 1.6667 1.6667 1.6667 1.6667 1.6667 1.6667 1.6667
2.3333 2.3333 2.3333 2.3333 2.3333 2.3333 2.3333 2.3333 2.3333 2.3333
3.0000 3.0000 3.0000 3.0000 3.0000 3.0000 3.0000 3.0000 3.0000 3.0000];
Z= [ 0.0001 0.0013 0.0053 -0.0299 -0.1809 -0.2465 -0.1100 -0.0168 -0.0008 -0.0000
0.0005 0.0089 0.0259 -0.3673 -1.8670 -2.4736 -1.0866 -0.1602 -0.0067 0.0000
0.0004 0.0214 0.1739 -0.3147 -4.0919 -6.4101 -2.7589 -0.2779 0.0131 0.0020
-0.0088 -0.0871 0.0364 1.8559 1.4995 -2.2171 -0.2729 0.8368 0.2016 0.0130
-0.0308 -0.4313 -1.7334 -0.1148 3.0731 0.4444 2.6145 2.4410 0.4877 0.0301
-0.0336 -0.4990 -2.3552 -2.1722 0.8856 -0.0531 2.6416 2.4064 0.4771 0.0294
-0.0137 -0.1967 -0.8083 0.2289 3.3983 3.1955 2.4338 1.2129 0.2108 0.0125
-0.0014 -0.0017 0.3189 2.7414 7.1622 7.1361 3.1242 0.6633 0.0674 0.0030
0.0002 0.0104 0.1733 1.0852 2.6741 2.6725 1.1119 0.1973 0.0152 0.0005
0.0000 0.0012 0.0183 0.1099 0.2684 0.2683 0.1107 0.0190 0.0014 0.0000];
scf(2)
surf(X,Y,Z,'colorda',ones(10,10),'edgeco','cya','marker','penta','markersiz',20,'markeredg','yel','ydata',56:65)
Z= [ 0.0001 0.0013 0.0053 -0.0299 -0.1809 -0.2465 -0.1100 -0.0168 -0.0008 -0.0000
0.0005 0.0089 0.0259 -0.3673 -1.8670 -2.4736 -1.0866 -0.1602 -0.0067 0.0000
0.0004 0.0214 0.1739 -0.3147 -4.0919 -6.4101 -2.7589 -0.2779 0.0131 0.0020
-0.0088 -0.0871 0.0364 1.8559 1.4995 -2.2171 -0.2729 0.8368 0.2016 0.0130
-0.0308 -0.4313 -1.7334 -0.1148 3.0731 0.4444 2.6145 2.4410 0.4877 0.0301
-0.0336 -0.4990 -2.3552 -2.1722 0.8856 -0.0531 2.6416 2.4064 0.4771 0.0294
-0.0137 -0.1967 -0.8083 0.2289 3.3983 3.1955 2.4338 1.2129 0.2108 0.0125
-0.0014 -0.0017 0.3189 2.7414 7.1622 7.1361 3.1242 0.6633 0.0674 0.0030
0.0002 0.0104 0.1733 1.0852 2.6741 2.6725 1.1119 0.1973 0.0152 0.0005
0.0000 0.0012 0.0183 0.1099 0.2684 0.2683 0.1107 0.0190 0.0014 0.0000];
surf(Z,'cdatamapping','direct')
Z= [ 0.0001 0.0013 0.0053 -0.0299 -0.1809 -0.2465 -0.1100 -0.0168 -0.0008 -0.0000
0.0005 0.0089 0.0259 -0.3673 -1.8670 -2.4736 -1.0866 -0.1602 -0.0067 0.0000
0.0004 0.0214 0.1739 -0.3147 -4.0919 -6.4101 -2.7589 -0.2779 0.0131 0.0020
-0.0088 -0.0871 0.0364 1.8559 1.4995 -2.2171 -0.2729 0.8368 0.2016 0.0130
-0.0308 -0.4313 -1.7334 -0.1148 3.0731 0.4444 2.6145 2.4410 0.4877 0.0301
-0.0336 -0.4990 -2.3552 -2.1722 0.8856 -0.0531 2.6416 2.4064 0.4771 0.0294
-0.0137 -0.1967 -0.8083 0.2289 3.3983 3.1955 2.4338 1.2129 0.2108 0.0125
-0.0014 -0.0017 0.3189 2.7414 7.1622 7.1361 3.1242 0.6633 0.0674 0.0030
0.0002 0.0104 0.1733 1.0852 2.6741 2.6725 1.1119 0.1973 0.0152 0.0005
0.0000 0.0012 0.0183 0.1099 0.2684 0.2683 0.1107 0.0190 0.0014 0.0000];
surf(Z,'facecol','interp')
Z= [ 0.0001 0.0013 0.0053 -0.0299 -0.1809 -0.2465 -0.1100 -0.0168 -0.0008 -0.0000
0.0005 0.0089 0.0259 -0.3673 -1.8670 -2.4736 -1.0866 -0.1602 -0.0067 0.0000
0.0004 0.0214 0.1739 -0.3147 -4.0919 -6.4101 -2.7589 -0.2779 0.0131 0.0020
-0.0088 -0.0871 0.0364 1.8559 1.4995 -2.2171 -0.2729 0.8368 0.2016 0.0130
-0.0308 -0.4313 -1.7334 -0.1148 3.0731 0.4444 2.6145 2.4410 0.4877 0.0301
-0.0336 -0.4990 -2.3552 -2.1722 0.8856 -0.0531 2.6416 2.4064 0.4771 0.0294
-0.0137 -0.1967 -0.8083 0.2289 3.3983 3.1955 2.4338 1.2129 0.2108 0.0125
-0.0014 -0.0017 0.3189 2.7414 7.1622 7.1361 3.1242 0.6633 0.0674 0.0030
0.0002 0.0104 0.1733 1.0852 2.6741 2.6725 1.1119 0.1973 0.0152 0.0005
0.0000 0.0012 0.0183 0.1099 0.2684 0.2683 0.1107 0.0190 0.0014 0.0000];
scf(10)
axfig10=gca();
surf(axfig10,Z,'ydat',[100:109],'marker','d','markerfac','green','markeredg','yel')
See also
-
plot2d
— 2D plot
-
clf
— Clears and resets a figure or a frame uicontrol
-
close
— Closes graphic figures, progression or wait bars, the help browser, xcos,
the variables browser or editor.
-
delete
— delete a graphic entity and its children.
-
LineSpec
— to quickly customize the lines appearance
in a plot
-
GlobalProperty
— customizes the objects appearance (curves, surfaces...) in a plot or surf command
History
|
Version
|
Description
|
|
6.0.2
|
The "Foreground", "markForeground", and "markBackground" global properties
colors can now be specified as named colors chosen in the full predefined
colors list, or by their "#RRGGBB" hexadecimal codes, or by their colormap
indices.
surf(X,Y,fun..) and surf(X,Y,list(fun, params)) syntaxes added.
|
|
2025.0.0
|
Function returns the created handle(s).
|
<< sphere
3d_plot
surface properties >>
Last updated:
Thu May 22 12:51:00 CEST 2025