Axescheck: [exclusive]

: If the first argument is an axes handle, axescheck strips it from the argument list. It returns the handle in one variable ( ax ) and the remaining data in another ( args ).

: It reduces "boilerplate" code. Instead of writing complex if-else blocks to figure out what the user passed, one line of axescheck handles the heavy lifting. Anatomy of a Function Using axescheck

In MATLAB, it is a standard convention that plotting functions should allow the user to specify where the plot should go. For example: plot(y) — Plots in the current axes ( gca ). axescheck

: Manually checking isa(varargin{1}, 'matlab.graphics.axis.Axes') is tedious and error-prone, especially when dealing with empty inputs or different types of containers.

: Users expect to be able to pass an axes handle as the first argument. : If the first argument is an axes

Here is a simplified look at how a professional MATLAB function might be structured:

function myCustomPlot(varargin) % 1. Extract the axes if provided [ax, args, nargs] = axescheck(varargin{:}); % 2. If no axes was provided, use the current one (gca) if isempty(ax) ax = gca; end % 3. Extract your data from 'args' x = args{1}; y = args{2}; % 4. Perform the plot on the specific axes line(x, y, 'Parent', ax); end Use code with caution. Modern Context: Beyond the Command Line Instead of writing complex if-else blocks to figure

: If the first argument is not an axes handle (e.g., it's just your data

The challenge for the developer is that ax is just a variable. Without a specialized check, your code might confuse an axes handle for a data vector. This is where axescheck saves the day. How It Works: The Logic of Input Parsing

plot(ax, y) — Plots specifically in the axes defined by the handle ax .