How to make invisible only a part of an axis?

Hi, I would like to make invisible just a part of an axis. Is it possible? If Yes, how?

(note: figure created by @Adam Danz for this question: How to create a secondary Cartesian coordinate system (three perpendicular coordinate axes) in Matlab?)

Answer 1

[dpb]

Not really any way piecewise, no. The axis color is one property as is 'Visible' either {'on','off'}

Best could do that I can think of builtin would be to set

xticks([0:0.2:0.6])

that would leave the axis line but eliminate the extra tick labels/ticks.

Only way I can think of to get the full effect would be to set 'Visible','off' for the X axis and then draw the line and ticks manually; doable but a pain.

ADDENDUM:

OK, the following does work although you may need to use a slightly heavier line width than default to avoid a few speckles being left...

hold on
xticks([0:0.2:0.6])
hL3=plot3([0.8 1],[0.5 0.5],[0.5 0.5],'w-');

[Sim]

Many thanks @dpb, very insightful answer :)

[dpb]

"Only way I can think of to get the full effect would be to set 'Visible','off' for the X axis and then draw the line and ticks manually; doable but a pain. --@dpb"

Actually, the easier way would be the reverse of the above -- leave the axis visible and turn off the unwanted ticks, then draw a line along the axis in background color from the last tick to xlim to effectively hide the axis line.

[Sim]

Ah yes, it might be a way to do it... a sort of workaround... many thanks @dpb!

[dpb]

Actually, how did you build that set of axes -- attach the code for it. I'm not sure how to get the axis origin at the midpoint of the axis otomh...

[Sim]

here you go :) (it is by @Adam Danz)

figure()
ax1 = nexttile; 
xyz = [.5, .5, .5]; 
plot3(ax1, xyz(1), xyz(2), xyz(3), 'o', 'MarkerSize', 14)
grid(ax1, 'on')
axis(ax1, 'equal')
xlim(ax1, [0,1])
ylim(ax1, [0,1])
zlim(ax1, [0,1])
ax1.XRuler.FirstCrossoverValue = xyz(2);   % y
ax1.XRuler.SecondCrossoverValue  = xyz(3); % z
ax1.YRuler.FirstCrossoverValue = xyz(1);   % x
ax1.YRuler.SecondCrossoverValue  = xyz(3); % z
ax1.ZRuler.FirstCrossoverValue = xyz(1);   % x
ax1.ZRuler.SecondCrossoverValue  = xyz(2); % y

[dpb]

Ah-so! I hadn't been aware of those particular hidden axes properties associated with the new(ish) ruler object. Another case of introducing something quite useful but hiding it and making it unique instead of tying in with the existing axes position that would seem to be far more intuitive.

[Sim]

Oh, cool solution, it works nicely :-) Many many thanks @dpb!

% my figure (code from @Adam Danz)
figure()
ax1 = nexttile; 
xyz = [.5, .5, .5]; 
plot3(ax1, xyz(1), xyz(2), xyz(3), 'o', 'MarkerSize', 14)
grid(ax1, 'on')
axis(ax1, 'equal')
xlim(ax1, [0,1])
ylim(ax1, [0,1])
zlim(ax1, [0,1])
ax1.XRuler.FirstCrossoverValue = xyz(2);   % y
ax1.XRuler.SecondCrossoverValue  = xyz(3); % z
ax1.YRuler.FirstCrossoverValue = xyz(1);   % x
ax1.YRuler.SecondCrossoverValue  = xyz(3); % z
ax1.ZRuler.FirstCrossoverValue = xyz(1);   % x
ax1.ZRuler.SecondCrossoverValue  = xyz(2); % y

% @dpb solution
hold on
xticks([0 0.6])
hL3=plot3([0.8 1],[0.5 0.5],[0.5 0.5],'w-');

[dpb]

OBTW, you'll probably have noticed and fixed up your code but I left out the tick step spacing in typing the xticks line above -- fixed in the Answer to

xticks([0:0.2:0.6])

You can, of course, also set the starting point of the line to anywhere along the x axis you wish to get the apparent length as desired. I just chose 0.8 as a guess as to what your original example would have been.

[Sim]

Yes yes, I adjusted my code with the xticks I needed... Very cool solution, I am very thankful! :)