function fig=FindOrCreateFigure(FigureName,Position,Nx,Ny)

Creates a new figure if a figure with the FigureName has not already been defined, otherwise finds the figure with the given name and makes that figure the current active figure.

If no Position is given, or left empty, new figure will be put on somewhere on a Nx times Ny grid (default: Nx=4, Ny=3)

Very usefull utility with a proven negative grumpiness impact.

Example:

FindOrCreateFigure("TestingMapping",[100 100 1000 1000]);

fig=FindOrCreateFigure("ThisIsMyFigureAndIWantToFindItAgainLaterAndReuse")  ;

Note:  To keep the figure frame but to clear everything else use

     clf(fig)

    persistent nFigs


    if isempty(nFigs)
        nFigs=0;
    end



    if nargin<1 || isempty(FigureName)
        error("FindOrCreateFigure:NoFigureNameGiven","FigureName is a required input")
    end


    if nargin< 3 || isempty(Nx) || isempty(Ny)
        Nx=4;
        Ny=3;
    end

    screensize = get( groot, 'Screensize' ) ;

    fig=findobj(0,'name',FigureName);

    if isempty(fig)
        fig=figure('name',FigureName);
        if nargin>1 && ~isempty(Position)
            fig.Position=Position;
        else


            figWidth=screensize(3)/Nx;
            figHeight=screensize(4)/Ny;
            nx=mod(floor(nFigs/Ny),Nx) ;
            ny=mod(mod(nFigs,Nx*Ny),Ny);



            fig.OuterPosition=[nx*figWidth ny*figHeight figWidth figHeight];
            nFigs=nFigs+1;
        end
    else
        fig=figure(fig);
        Position=fig.Position;

        fig.Position=Position;
        hold off
    end


    if nargout==0
        clear fig
    end

end

Published with MATLAB® R2021a