how to set figure handles in a for loop?

Hello! I have a for loop that uses two different tables to simultaneously create two figures (multiple curves are plotted on each figure with each iteration - so we use hold on). hold on is that it continues plotting on the same figure (multiple curves - multiple year time series).

It worked with one of my for loops but not on the first. I`m not sure what i`m missing. Below is an extract of the for loop...

          %defining data sets
          py_yr =PSD_avg(k,4:25);
          py_stdyr=PSD_std(k,4:25);
          figure(figa)
          plotpsd=semilogx(psd_x,py_yr,'-o','Color',col);
          title({['PSD at ',stn,' (', yrtitle,')']});
          set(gca,'Fontsize',12);
          ylabel('dV/dlnr');
          hold on 
          figure(figb)
         plotstd=semilogx(psd_x,py_stdyr,'-o','Color',col);
          title({['Standard deviation at ',stn,' (', yrtitle,')']});
          set(gca,'Fontsize',12);
          ylabel('dV/dlnr');
          hold on

Answer 1

[Erin Richards]

Hi! If I understand correctly, I was able to make this work by setting figure handles before the for loop, toggling between the figures inside the for loop, and using hold on to plot data on the same figure in each loop.

% SET THE FIGURE HANDLES.
f1 = figure;
f2 = figure;

% SET UP SOME STUFF OUTSIDE THE FOR LOOP.
% Put in your x values here. I just made a list of logarithmic values.
psd_x = [1, 10, 100, 1000]; 
% Put in your y values here. I just made a matrix of random numbers less than 100.
PSD_avg = rand(100,10,4); 
% Put in your y error here. I just made a matrix of random numbers less than 10.
PSD_std = rand(10,10,4); 

% START THE FOR LOOP.
for k = 1:10 % Put in how many iterations you want here. I just used 10.
    py_yr =PSD_avg(k,1:4); % I'm using the first four columns. You should change this to fit yours.
    py_stdyr=PSD_std(k,1:4);
    
    % Plot stuff on the first graph.
    set(0, 'CurrentFigure', f1) % Select the first graph
    hold on % To keep all of the current data on the graph.
    plotpsd=semilogx(psd_x,py_yr,'-o'); % Plot the stuff.
    
    % Plot stuff on the second graph.
    set(0, 'CurrentFigure', f2)
    hold on
    plotstd=semilogx(psd_x,py_stdyr,'-o');
end

% MAKE THE GRAPHS LOOK NICE.
% Make the first graph look good.
set(0, 'CurrentFigure', f1)
title('PSD at year');
set(gca,'Fontsize',12);
ylabel('dV/dlnr');
hold off % Finish the first graph.

%Make the second graph look good.
set(0, 'CurrentFigure', f2)
title('Standard deviation at year');
set(gca,'Fontsize',12);
ylabel('dV/dlnr');
hold off % Finish the second graph.

I wasn't totally sure what you were trying to do with the titles, but I'm sure you can figure that part out!

Hope this helps! Good luck!