MATLAB Function Reference

stem

Plot discrete sequence data

Syntax

• stem(Y)
  stem(X,Y)
  stem(...,'fill')
  stem(...,LineSpec)
  h = stem(...)
  

Description

A two-dimensional stem plot displays data as lines extending from a baseline along the x-axis. A circle (the default) or other marker whose y-position represents the data value terminates each stem.

stem(Y) plots the data sequence Y as stems that extend from equally spaced and automatically generated values along the x-axis. When Y is a matrix, stem plots all elements in a row against the same x value.

stem(X,Y) plots X versus the columns of Y. X and Y are vectors or matrices of the same size. Additionally, X can be a row or a column vector and Y a matrix with length(X) rows.

stem(...,'fill') specifies whether to color the circle at the end of the stem.

stem(...,LineSpec) specifies the line style, marker symbol, and color for the stem and top marker (the base line is not affected). See LineSpec for more information.

h = stem(...) returns handles to three line graphics objects:

• h(1) - the marker symbol at the top of each stem
• h(2) - the stem line
• h(3) - the base line

Examples

Create a stem plot of a circular function.

• y = linspace(0,2*pi,10);
  h = stem(cos(y),'fill','-.');
  set(h(3),'Color','r','LineWidth',2) % Set base line properties
  axis ([0 11 -1 1])
  
  
  

See Also

bar, plot, stairs, stem3

Discrete Data Plots for related functions.

See Two Dimensional Stem Plots for more examples using the stem function.

std

stem3