Concise way to implement optional plotting in MATLAB - matlab

Question

I like to plot things when I'm testing, but for the full run I would like the plotting to be turned off in an easy and efficient way. Currently I have a variable at the top of the script as follows
plotting = true;
Then, in all the sections with plotting, I have something along the lines of
if plotting
figure;
plot(x,y)
...
end
So of course if I don't want to plot, I simply set plotting = false;
at the top of the script.
Is there a better, more efficient way of doing this? Or does anyone have a method that they use that is different?

Answer 1

As mentioned in the comments, your current method is about as good as it gets... Here is a note on that method and an alternative though.
Keeping the editor warnings tidy
The MATLAB editor will underline the first line in your if statement if you use the syntax you've show, i.e. no comparison operator on a Boolean:
plotting = false;
if plotting
figure % <- this line will be underlined orange
% as the editor "knows" it will never be reached!
% ...
end
A quick fix is to use an equals comparison (==) which the editor doesn't check in the same way. This is also more explicit and slightly clearer for future reference:
plotting = false;
if plotting == true
figure % <- this line is now not highlighted
% ...
end
Using figure-number arrays
You use the word "efficient" in your question. You won't find a more efficient method than the two-liner above, but you might want to play around with arrays of figures. This method allows you to specify certain figures for plotting, and means you can have an array of optional figures:
plotting = [1 3]; % We want to plot figures 1 and 3
if any(plotting == 1)
figure(1); % do stuff with figure 1
end
if any(plotting == 2)
figure(2); % won't enter this condition because plotting = [1 3]
end
if any(plotting == 3)
figure(3); % do stuff with figure 3
end
If you don't want to plot anything, simply set plotting = [];
Note that if you had many similar figures then the 3 above conditionals could be placed in a simple loop, with minor variations (dictated by further if statements) in each plot.

Answer 2

You can add the line:
set(0,'DefaultFigureVisible','off')
At the beginning of your code to keep figures hidden.
Undo this by setting:
set(0,'DefaultFigureVisible','on')
Note that the figures and plots are still created, just hidden.
Example:
set(0,'DefaultFigureVisible','off') % Visible off
figure(6); % This figure will be created but hidden
plot(6:8); % Plot is created but on the hidden figure
set(0,'DefaultFigureVisible','on') % Visible on
figure(6); % The figure will now be shown, with the previous plot.