determining number of axes on a figure

how can I determine the number of axes that a figure has?

using get(figure,'Children') works but also gives data on non-axis children, which I don't want

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

Do you only want axes that are immediate children, or do you want all axes, even those that might be several objects down (such as within uipanel) ? And how about if the handles are hidden, do you want them returned or not?

Immediate children only:

findobj( get(gcf,'Children'), '-depth', 1, 'type', 'axes')

All children (including hidden) at all levels:

findall(gcf, 'type', 'axes')

[Daniel Shub]

I much better answer than mine. A little text goes a long way.

[Art]

Thanks, this is close, but on the figures I have this always gives me one more handle than I expect.

Is it also returning a handle to the legend perhaps? what other "axes" possible (1 layer deep) are there on a figure?

[Daniel Shub]

Both legends and colorbars are axes. There maybe other things that show up as axes. You can eliminate them on a case by case basis ...

findobj(gcf, 'type', 'axes', '-not', 'tag', 'legend', '-not', 'tag', 'Colorbar')

[Art]

that works - thanks

[Massimo Ciacci]

Awesome tip, didn't know about '-depth'. Works a charm.

Answer 2

[Daniel Shub]

findobj(gcf, 'type', 'axes')