How do I extract data from MATLAB figures?

Subject:

How do I extract data from MATLAB figures?

Problem Description:

I have a few MATLAB figures, but no MATLAB code associated with it. I want to extract the data from the curves in the figures.

Solution: Below is a step by step example to extract data from the curve in a MATLAB figure : Assume that the figure is stored in a file called 'example.fig'. <step 1> Open the figure file: open('example.fig'); %or figure; plot(1:10) <step 2> Get a handle to the current figure: h = gcf; <step 3> The data that is plotted is usually a 'child' of the Axes object. The axes objects are themselves children of the figure. You can go down their hierarchy as follows: axesObjs = get(h, 'Children'); dataObjs = get(axesObjs, 'Children');  <step 4> Extract values from the dataObjs of your choice. You can check their type by typing: objTypes = get(dataObjs, 'Type'); * NOTE : Different objects like 'Line' and 'Surface' will store data differently. Based on the 'Type', you can search the documentation for how each type stores its data. <step 5> Lines of code similar to the following would be required to bring the data to MATLAB Workspace: xdata = get(dataObjs, 'XData'); ydata = get(dataObjs, 'YData'); zdata = get(dataObjs, 'ZData');