Web Map Migration Strategies

Web maps, including functions such as webmap, wmmarker, and wmline, will be removed in a future release. Use geographic axes instead. This topic provides strategies for updating your code to use geographic axes.

Benefits of Geographic Axes

Unlike web maps, geographic axes enable you to:

Display data using additional plot types, including density plots and bubble charts. For examples, see Create Maps Using Latitude and Longitude Data.
Customize your maps using MATLAB^® graphics functions. For examples, see Add Labels and Annotations to Geographic Axes and Customize Appearance of Geographic Axes.
Build apps using App Designer. For an example, see Create Geographic Axes in App.

Replacement Functions

These web map functions will be removed in a future release. To update your code, replace uses of the web map functions with geographic axes functions.

To Be Removed	Recommended
`webmap`	Use a geographic axes object. In most cases, create a geographic axes object by using a plotting function such as `geoplot` or `geobasemap`. When you want advanced control of the geographic axes object, create the object by using the `geoaxes` function. For detailed replacement patterns, see the Version History section of the `webmap` page.
`wmmarker`	Use the `geoiconchart` function. For detailed replacement patterns, see the Version History section of the `wmmarker` page.
`wmline`	Use the `geoplot` function. For detailed replacement patterns, see the Version History section of the `wmline` page.
`wmpolygon`	Use a `geopolyshape` object and the `geoplot` function. For detailed replacement patterns, see the Version History section of the `wmpolygon` page.
`wmremove`	Use the `delete` function. For detailed replacement patterns, see the Version History section of the `wmremove` page.
`wmcenter`	Use the `MapCenter` property of the geographic axes object. For detailed replacement patterns, see the Version History section of the `wmcenter` page.
`wmzoom`	Use the `ZoomLevel` property of the geographic axes object. For detailed replacement patterns, see the Version History section of the `wmzoom` page.
`wmlimits`	Use the `geolimits` function instead. For detailed replacement patterns, see the Version History section of the `wmlimits` page.
`wmclose`	Use the `close` function. For detailed replacement patterns, see the Version History section of the `wmclose` page.
`wmprint`	Use an export option from Compare Ways to Export Graphics from Figures.

Update Code to Use Geographic Axes

In many cases, you can update your code to use geographic axes by following these steps:

Add base layers that are not available as predefined basemaps by using the addCustomBasemap function.
Replace uses of the webmap function with a function that creates a geographic axes object. For example, you can create a geographic axes object with a specified basemap by using the geobasemap function.
If you want to display multiple graphics objects in the same geographic axes object, set the hold state to on by using the hold function.
Replace uses of the wmmarker function with the geoiconchart function.
Replace uses of the wmline function with the geoplot function.
Replace uses of the wmpolygon function with a geopolyshape object and the geoplot function.
Replace uses of the wmlimits function with the geolimits function.

The steps in this table create similar maps using web map functions and geographic axes functions.

Step	Web Map (To Be Removed)	Geographic Axes (Recommended)
Add base layers that are not available as predefined basemaps.	Not applicable.	Add a custom basemap from OpenStreetMap^® by using the `addCustomBasemap` function. basemapName = "openstreetmap"; url = "a.tile.openstreetmap.org/${z}/${x}/${y}.png"; attribution = char(uint8(169)) + "OpenStreetMap contributors"; addCustomBasemap(basemapName,url,Attribution=attribution)
Create a map that uses a specified basemap.	Create a web map that uses the OpenStreetMap basemap by using the `webmap` function. webmap("OpenStreetMap")	Create a geographic axes object that uses the OpenStreetMap basemap by using the `geobasemap` function. figure geobasemap openstreetmap
Prepare to display multiple graphics objects on the same map.	Not applicable.	Prepare to add additional data to the map by setting the hold state of the axes to `on`. hold on
Display a marker on the map.	Display a marker by using the `wmmarker` function. wmmarker(42.3557,-71.0662)	Display an icon by using the `geoiconchart` function. Increase the size of the icon by specifying the `SizeData` argument. geoiconchart(42.3557,-71.0662,SizeData=32)
Display a line on the map.	Specify the coordinates of a line. Display the line by using the `wmline` function. lineLat = [42.3536 42.3548 42.3561 42.3573]; lineLon = [-71.0656 -71.0665 -71.0632 -71.0637]; wmline(lineLat,lineLon)	Specify the coordinates of a line. Display the line by using the `geoplot` function. Specify the line width and color by using the `LineWidth` and `Color` arguments. lineLat = [42.3536 42.3548 42.3561 42.3573]; lineLon = [-71.0656 -71.0665 -71.0632 -71.0637]; geoplot(lineLat,lineLon,LineWidth=2,Color="k")
Display a polygon on the map.	Specify the latitude and longitude coordinates of the polygon. Display the polygon by using the `wmpolygon` function. polyLat = [42.3554 42.3560 42.3527 42.3520 42.3554]; polyLon = [-71.0722 -71.0695 -71.0678 -71.0707 -71.0722]; wmpolygon(polyLat,polyLon,FaceAlpha=0.35)	Create a polygon shape from latitude and longitude coordinates by using the `geopolyshape` function. Display the polygon by using the `geoplot` function. polyLat = [42.3554 42.3560 42.3527 42.3520 42.3554]; polyLon = [-71.0722 -71.0695 -71.0678 -71.0707 -71.0722]; shape = geopolyshape(polyLat,polyLon); geoplot(shape,FaceColor=[0 0 0])
Change the geographic limits of the map.	Specify new latitude and longitude limits. Change the limits of the map by using the `wmlimits` function. latlim = [42.3518 42.3577]; lonlim = [-71.0735 -71.0609]; wmlimits(latlim,lonlim)	Specify new latitude and longitude limits. Change the limits of the map by using the `geolimits` function. latlim = [42.3518 42.3577]; lonlim = [-71.0735 -71.0609]; geolimits(latlim,lonlim)
View the map.

Interact with Geographic Axes

Like web maps, you can interactively explore geographic axes by panning and zooming. Pan by dragging or by using the arrow keys. Zoom by scrolling or by using the Plus and Minus keys. For more information about controlling the interactivity of axes objects, see Control Chart Interactivity.

By default, geographic axes do not include interactive controls for selecting a basemap, navigating the map, or identifying the coordinates of the pointer. For an example that shows how to add interactive controls to geographic axes, see Add Interactive Controls to Geographic Axes.