How to determine if an axes already has a colorbar?

I would like to determine if an axes already has a colorbar. I have code which plots many objects on the same axes, but I only want to create and define the colorbar once to make things more efficient. I've tried looking for a ColorBar object as a child of the figure handle, but I have multiple subplots in the same figure, and each may or may not need their own colorbar. Is there a way to determine if a particular axes has a colorbar associated with it?

Answer 1

[Voss]

There is a hidden axes property called 'Colorbar', which you can use.

% two axes, one with colorbar, one without
ax = subplot(2,1,1);
plot(1:10)
colorbar()
ax(2) = subplot(2,1,2);
plot(1:10)

ax1_has_colorbar = ~isempty(ax(1).Colorbar)

ax1_has_colorbar = logical
   1

ax2_has_colorbar = ~isempty(ax(2).Colorbar)

ax2_has_colorbar = logical
   0

Reference: https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/234652-how-do-i-find-the-handle-to-the-colorbar-for-a-specific-axes