MATLAB: Plotting with four y-axes in the same figure, with multiple datasets against one of the y-axes

barfigurehisthistogramMATLABmultiple axesploty axisyyaxisyyplot

I have to plot a histogram against one y-axis.
bar(hist(data,n))
I also have three datasets that goes against another y-axis.
plot(w,'g-','LineWidth',1.5) 
plot(r,'c-','LineWidth',1.5) 
plot(g,'m-','LineWidth',1.5)
Then I've got another dataset that has to go against a third y-axis.
plot(x,v,'r--','LineWidth',1.5)
Then atlast I've got a fourth set of data that also needs a seperate y-axis.
plot(x,P,'LineWidth',1.5) % both v and P are plotted against the same x.
In total I therefore need four y-axises. And for atleast one of them I have multiple datasets that has to be plotted.
All, but the first y-axis has to be set like this:
ax = gca;
ax.YColor = 'none';
I have tried to use some functions from the File Exchange, but plotting multiple datasets against one of the extra y-axes has given me a lot of trouble. Any help would be much appreciated.

Best Answer

While there are a lot of FEX options out there, I really think it's easier to manually control things once you start playing around with more than 2 overlapping axes. You just need to be very explicit about which axis each plot command points to. Here's an example:
% Step 1: Create 4 axes, all on top of each other
 
ax(1) = axes('position', [0.2 0.1 0.7 0.8]);
ax(2) = axes('position', ax(1).Position);
ax(3) = axes('position', ax(1).Position);
ax(4) = axes('position', ax(1).Position);
 
% Step 2: plot your data on the appropriate axes
 
bar(ax(1), n, hist(data,n));
 
hold(ax(2), 'on');
plot(ax(2), 1:length(w), w,'g-','LineWidth',1.5); 
plot(ax(2), 1:length(r), r,'c-','LineWidth',1.5);
plot(ax(2), 1:length(g), g,'m-','LineWidth',1.5);
 
plot(ax(3), x,v,'r--','LineWidth',1.5);
plot(ax(4), x,P,'b', 'LineWidth',1.5);
 
% Step 3: match up the x-axis limits for all axes.  Also, remove axes
% background colors.  Make all but one x-axis invisible.
 
set(ax, 'xlim', [0 26], 'color', 'none');
set(ax(2:end), 'xcolor', 'none', 'ycolor', 'none');
You requested to hide all but the first y-axis, which means you don't need to deal with the overlapping axis lines. But if you do, I like to handle this by 1) moving at least 1 y-axis to the opposite side, and 2) offsetting the remaining axes. I do #2 by creating an additional axis that is linked to the original but displaced, with only the y-axis visible (see offsetaxis.m, here).
set(ax, 'ycolor', 'k'); % ... or just don't set to 'none'
set(ax, 'box', 'off'); % Remove extra y-axis on right side
set(ax(2), 'yaxisloc', 'right'); % Move one y-axis to the right
axo(1) = offsetaxis(ax(3), 'y', 0.1); % offset the others
axo(2) = offsetaxis(ax(4), 'y', 0.2);
set(axo(1), 'ycolor', 'r'); % change the colors of the offset axes to match data
set(axo(2), 'ycolor', 'b');
So this final figure includes 6 different axes, but only certain bits of each are visible, creating the desired look.
Related Question