datetick (MATLAB Functions)

Label tick lines using dates

Syntax

datetick(tickaxis)
datetick(tickaxis,dateform)
datetick(...,'keeplimits')
datetick(...,'keepticks')
datetick(axes_handle,...)

Description

datetick(tickaxis) labels the tick lines of an axis using dates, replacing the default numeric labels. tickaxis is the string 'x', 'y', or 'z'. The default is 'x'. datetick selects a label format based on the minimum and maximum limits of the specified axis.

datetick(tickaxis,dateform) formats the labels according to the integer dateform (see table). To produce correct results, the data for the specified axis must be serial date numbers (as produced by datenum).

dateform (number)
dateform (string)
Example

0
'dd-mmm-yyyy HH:MM:SS'
01-Mar-2000 15:45:17

1
'dd-mmm-yyyy'
01-Mar-2000

2
'mm/dd/yy'
03/01/00

3
'mmm'
Mar

4
'm'
M

5
'mm'
03

6
'mm/dd'
03/01

7
'dd'
01

8
'ddd'
Wed

9
'd'
W

10
'yyyy'
2000

11
'yy'
00

12
'mmmyy'
Mar00

13
'HH:MM:SS'
15:45:17

14
'HH:MM:SS PM'
3:45:17 PM

15
'HH:MM'
15:45

16
'HH:MM PM'
3:45 PM

17
'QQ-YY'
Q1-01

18
'QQ'
Q1

19
'dd/mm'
01/03

20
'dd/mm/yy'
01/03/00

21
'mmm.dd.yyyy HH:MM:SS'
Mar.01,2000 15:45:17

22
'mmm.dd.yyyy'
Mar.01.2000

23
'mm/dd/yyyy'
03/01/2000

24
'dd/mm/yyyy'
01/03/2000

25
'yy/mm/dd'
00/03/01

26
'yyyy/mm/dd'
2000/03/01

27
'QQ-YYYY'
Q1-2001

28
'mmmyyyy'
Mar2000

dateform (number)	`dateform` (string)	Example
`0`	`'dd-mmm-yyyy HH:MM:SS'`	`01-Mar-2000 15:45:17`
`1`	`'dd-mmm-yyyy'`	`01-Mar-2000`
`2`	`'mm/dd/yy'`	`03/01/00`
`3`	`'mmm'`	`Mar`
`4`	`'m'`	`M`
`5`	`'mm'`	`03`
`6`	`'mm/dd'`	`03/01`
`7`	`'dd'`	`01`
`8`	`'ddd'`	`Wed`
`9`	`'d'`	`W`
`10`	`'yyyy'`	`2000`
`11`	`'yy'`	`00`
`12`	`'mmmyy'`	`Mar00`
`13`	`'HH:MM:SS'`	`15:45:17`
`14`	`'HH:MM:SS PM'`	`3:45:17 PM`
`15`	`'HH:MM'`	`15:45`
`16`	`'HH:MM PM'`	`3:45 PM`
`17`	`'QQ-YY'`	`Q1-01`
`18`	`'QQ'`	`Q1`
`19`	`'dd/mm'`	`01/03`
`20`	`'dd/mm/yy'`	`01/03/00`
`21`	`'mmm.dd.yyyy HH:MM:SS'`	`Mar.01,2000 15:45:17`
`22`	`'mmm.dd.yyyy'`	`Mar.01.2000`
`23`	`'mm/dd/yyyy'`	`03/01/2000`
`24`	`'dd/mm/yyyy'`	`01/03/2000`
`25`	`'yy/mm/dd'`	`00/03/01`
`26`	`'yyyy/mm/dd'`	`2000/03/01`
`27`	`'QQ-YYYY'`	`Q1-2001`
`28`	`'mmmyyyy'`	`Mar2000`

datetick(...,'keeplimits') changes the tick labels to date-based labels while preserving the axis limits.

datetick(...,'keepticks') changes the tick labels to date-based labels without changing their locations.

You can use both keeplimits and keepticks in the same call to datetick.

datetick(axes_handle,...) uses the axes specified by the handle ax instead of the current axes.

Remarks

datetick calls datestr to convert date numbers to date strings.

To change the tick spacing and locations, set the appropriate axes property (i.e., XTick, YTick, or ZTick) before calling datetick.

Example

Consider graphing population data based on the 1990 U.S. census:

t = (1900:10:1990)';     % Time interval
p = [75.995 91.972 105.711 123.203 131.669 ...
    150.697 179.323 203.212 226.505 249.633]';  % Population
plot(datenum(t,1,1),p)   % Convert years to date numbers and plot
grid on
datetick('x',11)     % Replace x-axis ticks with 2-digit year 
labels

See Also

The axes properties XTick, YTick, and ZTick

datenum, datestr

Annotating Plots for related functions

datestr datevec