vl_tightsubplot.m

function H = vl_tightsubplot(varargin)
% VL_TIGHTSUBPLOT  Tiles axes without wasting space
%   H = VL_TIGHTSUBPLOT(K,P) returns an handle to the P-th axis in a
%   regular grid of K axes. The K axes are numbered from left to right
%   and from top to bottom.  The function operates similarly to
%   SUBPLOT(), but by default it does not put any margin between
%   axes. This is done by tiling the axes inner box rather than the
%   axes outer box.
%
%   H = VL_TIGHTSUBPLOT(M,N,P) retursn an handle to the P-th axes in a
%   regular subdivision with M rows and N columns.
%
%   VL_TIGHTSUBPLOT() accepts the following options:
%
%   Margin:: [0]
%   MarginLeft:: [0]
%   MarginRight:: [0]
%   MarginTop:: [0]
%   MarginBottom:: [0]
%     Set the axes inner box margin, either uniformly in all
%     directions, or specifically to the left, right, top or bottom.
%
%   Box:: [0]
%     If set to 'outer', tile the axes outer box, thus protecting
%     title and labels. Unfortunately this usually produces
%     unnecesarily large margins.
%
%   Spacing:: [0] (legacy option)
%     Set extra spacing between axes.  The space is added between the
%     inner or outer boxes, depending on the setting below.
%
%   REMARK. While SUBPLOT kills any pre-existing axes that overalps a
%   new one, this function does not.
%
%   See also: SUBPLOT(), VL_HELP().

% Copyright (C) 2007-12 Andrea Vedaldi and Brian Fulkerson.
% All rights reserved.
%
% This file is part of the VLFeat library and is made available under
% the terms of the BSD license (see the COPYING file).

% margins
ml = 0 ;
mr = 0 ;
mt = 0 ;
mb = 0 ;

use_outer=0 ;

% --------------------------------------------------------------------
%                                                      Parse arguments
% --------------------------------------------------------------------

K = varargin{1} ;
p = varargin{2} ;
N = ceil(sqrt(K)) ;
M = ceil(K/N) ;

a=3 ;
NA = length(varargin) ;
if NA > 2
  if isa(varargin{3},'char')
    % Called with K and p
  else
    % Called with M,N and p
    a = 4 ;
    M = K ;
    N = p ;
    p = varargin{3} ;
  end
end

for a=a:2:NA
  opt=lower(varargin{a}) ;
  arg=varargin{a+1} ;
  switch opt
    case 'margin'
      mt = arg ;
      mb = arg ;
      ml = arg ;
      mr = arg ;
    case 'marginleft'
      ml = arg ;
    case 'marginright'
      mr = arg ;
    case 'margintop'
      mt = arg ;
    case 'marginbottom'
      mb = arg ;
    case 'spacing'
      mt = arg/2 ;
      mb = arg/2 ;
      ml = arg/2 ;
      mr = arg/2 ;
    case 'box'
      switch lower(arg)
        case 'inner'
          use_outer = 0 ;
        case 'outer'
          use_outer = 1 ;
        otherwise
          error(['Box is either ''inner'' or ''outer''']) ;
      end
    otherwise
      error(['Uknown parameter ''', varargin{a}, '''.']) ;
  end
end

% --------------------------------------------------------------------
%                                                  Check the arguments
% --------------------------------------------------------------------

[j,i]=ind2sub([N M],p) ;
i=i-1 ;
j=j-1 ;

pos = [    j * 1/N       + ml,...
       1 - i * 1/M - 1/M + mb,...
       1/N - ml - mr, ...
       1/M - mt - mb] ;

switch use_outer
  case 0
    H = findobj(gcf, 'Type', 'axes', 'Position', pos) ;
    if(isempty(H))
      H = axes('Position', pos) ;
    else
      axes(H) ;
    end

  case 1
    H = findobj(gcf, 'Type', 'axes', 'OuterPosition', pos) ;
    if(isempty(H))
      H = axes('ActivePositionProperty', 'outerposition',...
               'OuterPosition', pos) ;
    else
      axes(H) ;
    end
end