need better grid solution for labeled data

Situation:

MATLAB Version: 2007a

I am writing a report with many similar plots. (not similar enough for copy-and-paste) I would like to present a grid of information using imagesc. Each row and column has an integer label, and the numbers are all sequential. *Problems: *

I can either have the gridlines I like, or the label placement I like:

grid solution:

set(gca,'Xtick',[0.5:1:numel(x)]);
set(gca,'Ytick',[0.5:1:numel(y)]);
grid;

This puts the grid in the right place, but the lables are off of the data.

label solution:

set(gca,'Xtick',[0:numel(x)]);
set(gca,'Ytick',[0:numel(y)]);

This has the right labels, but the gridlines bisect the data cells.

failed solutions:

grid minor solution

adding the minor grid to the screen adds several lines that run through the cells on one axis.

line() solution: I tried using line(), but it doesn't accept the typical plot arguments like '--' or color modifications to make the grid black;

possible (but painful) solutions:

plot() solution:

I could hold the plot and use plot() to scatter plot all of the grid lines I would like.

text() solution:

What I will likely do is use the code from the grid solution, turn the axis off, then place the labels using text() and a for loop.

Ynum = TBD;  % number required to put   text in correct location
Xnum = TBD;  % number required to put   text in correct location
Ysep = TBD;  % separation between Y   values
Xsep = TBD;  % separation between X   values
set(gca,'Xtick',[0.5:1:numel(x)]);
set(gca,'Ytick',[0.5:1:numel(y)]);
grid;
axis off;
for n = 1:Ysep:numel(x)
   text(n,-Ynum,num2str(n))
end
for n = 1:Xsep:numel(y)
   text(n,-Xnum,num2str(n))
end

The problem with this is then that different lengths of label will change the alignment of text to the cells.

Request:

I'm looking for a more elegant way to do this that will not require lots of tweaking to get the right alignment of data and labels.

if there isn't a solution right now, I'll go ahead and ask for a new function called GRIDHOLD that leaves the grid in place when you change XTick or YTick.

Thank you.

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