colororder — Set or query the plotting color order in MATLAB and RunMat.
colororder controls the implicit series colors used by line-style plotting commands. RunMat supports querying the current color order, setting figure-wide or axes-specific palettes, RGB triplet matrices, string and cell string color specifications, hex colors, and common MATLAB palette names.
Syntax
C = colororder()
C = colororder(target)
colororder(colors)
colororder(palettename)
colororder(target, colors)Inputs
| Name | Type | Required | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
target | Any | Yes | — | Target figure or axes handle. |
colors | Any | Yes | — | m-by-3 RGB matrix, color name array, color cellstr, palette name, or default. |
Returns
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
C | NumericArray | Current color order as an m-by-3 RGB triplet matrix. |
Errors
| Identifier | When | Message |
|---|---|---|
RunMat:colororder:InvalidArgument | Target handle, color array, palette name, or color specification is invalid. | colororder: invalid argument |
RunMat:colororder:Internal | Internal plotting state update fails. | colororder: internal operation failed |
How colororder works
colororder()returns the current figure color order as an m-by-3 RGB triplet matrix.colororder(colors)sets the color order for the current figure and applies it to existing axes.colororder(ax, colors)sets the color order for the specified axes without changing the current axes.colororder(fig, colors)sets the color order for every axes in the specified figure.- Numeric color arrays must be m-by-3 RGB triplet matrices with finite values in [0, 1]. A single RGB triplet vector is accepted as one color.
- String and cell string color arrays accept MATLAB color names, short color tokens, and
#RGBor#RRGGBBhex strings. - Palette names include
default,gem,gem12,glow,glow12,sail,reef,meadow,dye, andearth. - Changing the color order recolors existing line/scatter/bar-family series cyclically and controls future implicit plot colors.
Examples
Set a custom RGB color order
x = 0:0.1:1;
plot(x, x, x, x.^2, x, x.^3);
colororder([1 0 0; 0 0.5 0; 0 0 1]);Expected output:
% Existing and future implicit series use red, green, and blue cyclically.Use color names and hex strings
colororder({'red', '#00AAFF', 'black'});
plot(1:5, rand(5,3));Set an axes-specific color order
ax1 = subplot(1,2,1);
plot(rand(5,3));
ax2 = subplot(1,2,2);
plot(rand(5,3));
colororder(ax2, 'gem');Using colororder with coding agents
Open a RunMat example with live inputs, then ask the agent to explain how colororder changes the result.
Run a small colororder example, explain the result, then change one input and compare the output.
FAQ
How is colororder different from colormap?⌄
colororder controls the discrete sequence of implicit colors for plot series such as lines and scatter groups. colormap controls continuous color mapping for image, surface, heatmap, and contour data.
Does colororder gather gpuArray plot data?⌄
No. The builtin only updates axes and figure style metadata plus existing plot object colors. It does not read or materialize plotted numeric data.
Does setting colororder change the current axes?⌄
No. Targeted forms such as colororder(ax, colors) update that axes without selecting it as the current axes.
Related Plotting functions
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area · bar · errorbar · heatmap · hist · histogram · loglog · pie · plot · scatter · semilogx · semilogy · stairs · stem
Other
addpoints · ancestor · animatedline · axes · barh · cla · clf · colorcube · copyobj · daspect · datacursormode · dataTipTextRow · fcontour · figure · fill3 · findobj · fsurf · gobjects · groot · hgload · hgsave · hidden · histogram2 · hold · line · linkaxes · openfig · opengl · pan · parula · patch · plotmatrix · plotyy · polarhistogram · polarplot · polarscatter · print · quiver3 · ribbon · saveas · savefig · sphere · stackedplot · subtitle · suptitle · textscatter · textscatter3 · triplot · waitbar · wordcloud · xline · xscale · xtickangle · xtickformat · xticklabels · xticks · yline · yscale · ytickangle · ytickformat · yticklabels · yticks · zoom
More plotting resources
Open-source implementation
Unlike proprietary runtimes, every RunMat function is open-source. Read exactly how colororder is executed, line by line, in Rust.
- View the source for colororder in Rust on GitHub
- Learn how the RunMat runtime works
- Found a bug? Open an issue with a minimal reproduction.
About RunMat
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