textm

Project text onto axesm-based map

Syntax

textm(lat,lon,txt)

textm(lat,lon,z,txt)

textm(___,Name,Value)

t = textm(___)

Description

textm(lat,lon,txt) projects the text in txt onto the current axesm-based map at the latitude-longitude locations specified by lat and lon. To add text to one point, specify lat and lon as scalars. To add text to multiple points, specify lat and lon as vectors of equal length.

To add text to geographic axes, use the text function instead.

textm(lat,lon,z,txt) positions the text at the altitudes in z.

textm(___,Name,Value) specifies options for the text using one or more name-value arguments, in addition to any combination of arguments from previous syntaxes.. For example, "FontSize",14 sets the font size to 14 points.

t = textm(___) returns one or more Text objects, in addition to any combination of arguments from previous syntaxes. Use t to modify properties of the Text objects after creation. For a list of properties and descriptions, see Text Properties.

Examples

Add Text Description to Map

Import a shapefile containing USA state polygons into the workspace as a geospatial table. Create a map of Texas.

GT = readgeotable("usastatehi.shp");
usamap texas
geoshow(GT)

Label the city of Austin by adding a star marker and a text description.

lat = 30.2672;
lon = -97.7431;
geoshow(lat,lon,"Marker","*")
textm(lat,lon,"  Austin, TX")

Add Text to Multiple Data Points

Import a shapefile containing USA state polygons into the workspace as a geospatial table. Create a map of Oregon, Idaho, and Washington.

GT = readgeotable("usastatehi.shp");
usamap(["OR" "ID" "WA"])
geoshow(GT)

Label the states by adding text.

lat = [43.86 44.01 47.59];
lon = [-121.56 -115.12 -121.42];
txt = ["Oregon" "Idaho" "Washington"];
textm(lat,lon,txt)

Display Multiline Text

Import a shapefile containing world land areas into the workspace as a geospatial table. Create a map.

GT = readgeotable("landareas.shp");
worldmap world
geoshow(GT)

Add one text description to the map. Display multiline text by specifying txt as a string array.

txt = ["A map of" "the world"];
textm(-40,60,txt)

Specify Text Color and Size

Import a shapefile containing USA state polygons into the workspace as a geospatial table. Create a map of Oregon, Idaho, and Washington.

GT = readgeotable("usastatehi.shp");
usamap(["OR" "ID" "WA"])
geoshow(GT)

Label the states by adding text. Use red, size 14 font.

lat = [43.86 44.01 47.25];
lon = [-121.56 -115.12 -122.15];
txt = ["Oregon" "Idaho" "Washington"];
textm(lat,lon,txt,"Color","red","FontSize",14)

Modify Existing Text

Import a shapefile containing USA state polygons into the workspace as a geospatial table. Create a map of Oregon, Idaho, and Washington.

GT = readgeotable("usastatehi.shp");
usamap(["OR" "ID" "WA"])
geoshow(GT)

Label the states by adding text. Return the text objects in t.

lat = [43.86 44.01 47.25];
lon = [-121.56 -115.12 -122.15];
txt = ["Oregon" "Idaho" "Washington"];
t = textm(lat,lon,txt)

t = 
  3x1 Text array:

  Text    (Oregon)
  Text    (Idaho)
  Text    (Washington)

The textm function creates one text object for each text description. Thus, t contains three text objects.

Change the color and font size for the first text object using t(1).

t(1).Color = "red";
t(1).FontSize = 14;

Input Arguments

lat — Latitude coordinates

numeric scalar | numeric vector

Latitude coordinates, specified in one of these forms:

• Numeric scalar — Add text to a single point.

• Numeric vector — Add text to multiple points.

The units of lat must match the AngleUnits property of the axesm-based map. The sizes of lat and lon must match.

To control the placement of the text with relation to the specified point, use the HorizontalAlignment, VerticalAlignment, and Extent properties of the Text object.

Data Types: single | double

lon — Longitude coordinates

numeric scalar | numeric vector

Longitude coordinates, specified in one of these forms:

• Numeric scalar — Add text to a single point.

• Numeric vector — Add text to multiple points.

The units of lon must match the AngleUnits property of the axesm-based map. The sizes of lat and lon must match.

To control the placement of the text with relation to the specified point, use the HorizontalAlignment, VerticalAlignment, and Extent properties of the Text object.

Data Types: single | double

z — Altitudes

0 (default) | numeric scalar | numeric vector

Altitudes, specified in one of these forms:

• Numeric scalar — Add text to a single point.

• Numeric vector — Add text to multiple points.

When the MapProjection property of the axesm-based map is 'globe', z is referenced to the ellipsoid.

The sizes of lat, lon, and z must match.

To control the placement of the text with relation to the specified point, use the HorizontalAlignment, VerticalAlignment, and Extent properties of the Text object.

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64 | categorical | datetime | duration

txt — Text to display

character vector | string scalar | string array | cell array of character vectors

Text to display, specified as a character vector, string scalar, string array, or cell array of character vectors.

Text for Single Data Point

To add one line of text to a single point, specify txt as a character vector or string scalar. For example, textm(0.5,0.5,'my text').

For multiline text:

• Use a cell array, where each cell contains a line of text. For example, textm(0.5,0.5,{'first','second'}).

• Use a string array, where each element is a line of text. For example, textm(0.5,0.5,["first","second"]).

• Use sprintf to create a new line character. For example, textm(0.5,0.5,sprintf('first \nsecond')).

Text for Multiple Data Points

To display different text at each location, use a cell array. For example, textm([0 1],[0 1],{'first','second'}).

For multiline text, use nested cell arrays. For example, textm([0 3],[0 3],{{'first','new line'},'second'}).

Greek Letters, Special Characters, and Numeric Variables

To include special characters, such as superscripts, subscripts, Greek letters, or mathematical symbols, use TeX markup. For a list of supported markup, see the Interpreter property of the Text object.

To include numeric variables in the text, use the num2str function.

v = 42;
txt = ['The value is ',num2str(v)];

Data Types: char | string | cell

Name-Value Arguments

Specify optional pairs of arguments as Name1=Value1,...,NameN=ValueN, where Name is the argument name and Value is the corresponding value. Name-value arguments must appear after other arguments, but the order of the pairs does not matter.

Before R2021a, use commas to separate each name and value, and enclose Name in quotes.

Example: textm(0.5,0.5,"my text","FontSize",14,"Color","red") displays my text with a font size of 14 and a font color of red.

Note

Use name-value arguments to specify values for the properties of the Text objects created by this function. The properties listed here are only a subset. For a full list, see Text Properties.

FontSize — Font size

scalar value greater than zero

Font size, specified as a scalar value greater than zero in point units. The default font size depends on the specific operating system and locale. One point equals 1/72 inch. To change the font units, use the FontUnits property.

Example: 12

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

FontWeight — Character thickness

'normal' (default) | 'bold'

Character thickness, specified as 'normal' or 'bold'.

MATLAB^® uses the FontWeight property to select a font from those available on your system. Not all fonts have a bold weight. Therefore, specifying a bold font weight can still result in the normal font weight.

FontName — Font name

supported font name | 'FixedWidth'

Font name, specified as a supported font name or 'FixedWidth'. To display and print text properly, you must choose a font that your system supports. The default font depends on your operating system and locale.

To use a fixed-width font that looks good in any locale, use 'FixedWidth'. The fixed-width font relies on the root FixedWidthFontName property. Setting the root FixedWidthFontName property causes an immediate update of the display to use the new font.

Color — Text color

[0 0 0] (default) | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | 'r' | 'g' | 'b' | ...

Text color, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The default value of [0 0 0] corresponds to black.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

• An RGB triplet is a three-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0,1], for example, [0.4 0.6 0.7].

• A hexadecimal color code is a character vector or a string scalar that starts with a hash symbol (#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from 0 to F. The values are not case sensitive. Therefore, the color codes "#FF8800", "#ff8800", "#F80", and "#f80" are equivalent.

Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.

Color Name	Short Name	RGB Triplet	Hexadecimal Color Code	Appearance
"red"	"r"	[1 0 0]	"#FF0000"
"green"	"g"	[0 1 0]	"#00FF00"
"blue"	"b"	[0 0 1]	"#0000FF"
"cyan"	"c"	[0 1 1]	"#00FFFF"
"magenta"	"m"	[1 0 1]	"#FF00FF"
"yellow"	"y"	[1 1 0]	"#FFFF00"
"black"	"k"	[0 0 0]	"#000000"
"white"	"w"	[1 1 1]	"#FFFFFF"
"none"	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	No color

Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

RGB Triplet	Hexadecimal Color Code	Appearance
[0 0.4470 0.7410]	"#0072BD"
[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]	"#D95319"
[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]	"#EDB120"
[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]	"#7E2F8E"
[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]	"#77AC30"
[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]	"#4DBEEE"
[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]	"#A2142F"

Example: 'blue'

Example: [0 0 1]

Example: '#0000FF'

Output Arguments

t — Text objects

Text objects

Text objects. Use the elements of t to modify a specific Text object after creation. For a list of properties, see Text Properties.

To change the position of a Text object by specifying geographic coordinates, use the setm function.

Tips

The words "default", "remove", and "factory" are reserved words in MATLAB. To create text using one of these words, append a backslash (\) before the word. For example, textm(0.5,0.5,"\default").

Version History

Introduced before R2006a