legend — Show and configure plot legends for labeled series, display names, and MATLAB legend workflows.

legend creates or updates the legend attached to the current axes, or to an explicit axes handle when one is passed. In RunMat, legends are subplot-local and participate in the plotting object system: the builtin returns a legend handle, display names from plotted objects are used automatically, and legend styling can be inspected or updated through get and set.

How legend works in RunMat

• Calling legend with no label arguments uses plotted object display names when they are available.
• Labels can be passed as separate strings, string arrays, or cell arrays, following common MATLAB legend workflows.
• Legend visibility and style are axes-local, so enabling or hiding a legend in one subplot does not mutate every axes in the figure.
• The returned handle can be used with get and set to inspect or update location, orientation, box visibility, font styling, and related legend properties.

Examples

Build a legend from display names

x = linspace(0, 2*pi, 200);
h1 = plot(x, sin(x));
set(h1, 'DisplayName', 'sin(x)');
hold on;
h2 = plot(x, cos(x));
set(h2, 'DisplayName', 'cos(x)');
legend;

Pass labels explicitly and position the legend

plot(1:5, [1 2 3 4 5]);
hold on;
plot(1:5, [5 4 3 2 1]);
lg = legend('rising', 'falling', 'Location', 'southwest');
get(lg, 'Type')

Expected output:

ans =
    'legend'

Keep legends subplot-local

subplot(1, 2, 1);
plot(1:5, 1:5);
legend('left');
subplot(1, 2, 2);
plot(1:5, [5 4 3 2 1]);

Expected output:

% Only the left subplot shows a legend

Related functions to explore

These functions work well alongside legend. Each page has runnable examples you can try in the browser.

subplot, get, set, plot

Open-source implementation

Unlike proprietary runtimes, every RunMat function is open-source. Read exactly how legend works, line by line, in Rust.

• View legend.rs on GitHub
• Learn how the runtime works
• Found a bug? Open an issue with a minimal reproduction.

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