x-axis on plot has cushion to left and right (i.e. plot doesn't start at beginning, and ends early with remaining space in the chart

Here is my code:

startDate=datenum(num2str(tday(1)),'yyyymmdd');
endDate=datenum(num2str(tday(end)),'yyyymmdd');
cumret=cumprod(1+combinedRet)-1;
x=linspace(startDate,endDate,length(cumret));
plot(x,cumret);
ax=gca;
datetick('x',2,'keepticks');
ax.XTickLabelRotation=45;

My start date and end date are 8/24/12 - 5/29/15. So why does the x-axis start at 5/11/12 and end at 8/24/15?

Also, how can I increase the number of dates shown on the x-axis?

Many thanks, I am very grateful.

Answer 1

[dpb]

datetick unless told differently via keeplimits uses an internal rounding alogrithm to pick the axes limits to make what it considers "nice" intervals and number of ticks.

If you want something specific for start and end then use

xlim([datenum(firstDate) datenum(lastDate)])

to set those limits specifically before calling datetick

You can set the tick marks as desired with

set(gca,'xtick',_datenumSequence_)

where datenumSequence is a series of datenums at the spacing you wish beginning and ending with the above axes limits.

[Cary]

Thanks this is great! I spent a lot of time trying to figure it out.