CODE:

function h=BreakPlot(x,y,y_break_start,y_break_end,break_type,y_arbitrary_scaling_factor)

% BreakPlot(x,y,y_break_start,y_break_end,break_type)

% Produces a plot who's y-axis skips to avoid unnecessary blank space

%

% INPUT

% x

% y

% y_break_start

% y_break_end

% break_type

%    if break_type='RPatch' the plot will look torn

%       in the broken space

%    if break_type='Patch' the plot will have a more

%       regular, zig-zag tear

%    if break_plot='Line' the plot will merely have

%       some hash marks on the y-axis to denote the

%       break

%

% EXAMPLE #1:

%

% NEW = 1;

% sampleTimes = [1:200];

% RPM = [600+rand(1,100)*500, 4500+rand(1,100)*2500];

% figure;

% % BreakPlot

% str = {'','Line','Patch','RPatch'};

% for i=1:4

%    subplot(2,2,i);

%    if i==1

%        plot(sampleTimes,RPM,'r.')

%        title('Plot');

%    else

%        if ~NEW

%            breakplot_old(sampleTimes,RPM,2000,4000,str{i});

%        else

%            breakplot(sampleTimes,RPM,2000,4000,str{i},40);

%        end;

%        title(sprintf('Breakplot %s',str{i}));

%    end;

% end;

%

%

% EXAMPLE #2:

%

% figure;

% subplot(4,4,[1:2 5:6]);

% BreakPlot(rand(1,21),[1:10,40:50],10,40,'Line');

% subplot(4,4,[3:4 7:8]);

% BreakPlot(rand(1,21),[1:10,40:50],10,40,'Patch');

% subplot(4,4,[9:10 13:14]);

% BreakPlot(rand(1,21),[1:10,40:50],10,40,'RPatch');

% x=rand(1,21);y=[1:10,40:50];

% subplot(4,4,11:12);plot(x(y>=40),y(y>=40),'.');

% set(gca,'XTickLabel',[]);

% subplot(4,4,15:16);plot(x(y<=20),y(y<=20),'.');

%

%

% IT'S NOT FANCY, BUT IT WORKS.

% Michael Robbins

% michaelrobbinsusenet@yahoo.com

% TEST DATA

if nargin<6 y_arbitrary_scaling_factor = 100.0; end;

if nargin<5 break_type='RPatch'; end;

if nargin<4 y_break_end=39; end;

if nargin<3 y_break_start=11; end;

if nargin<2 y=[1:10,40:50]; end;

if nargin<1 x=rand(1,21); end;

% SOME DFINITIONS

y_break_width = y_break_end - y_break_start;

y_break_mid   = y_break_width./2 + y_break_start;

y_range       = range(y);

% LOSE THE DATA IN THE BREAK, WE DON'T NEED IT ANYMORE

i =  y>y_break_start & y

x(i)=[];

y(i)=[];

% MAP THE DATA

i = y >= y_break_end;

y2 = y - i.*y_break_width;

% PLOT THE MAPPED DATA

h    = plot(x,y,'.');

ylim = get(gca,'ylim');

h    = plot(x,y2,'.');

set(gca,'ylim',ylim-[0 y_break_width]);

% CREATE THE "BREAK" EFFECT

xlim = get(gca,'xlim');

xtick      = get(gca,'XTick');

ytick      = get(gca,'YTick');

yticklabel = get(gca,'yticklabel');

y_gap_width = y_range ./ y_arbitrary_scaling_factor;

y_half_gap = y_gap_width./2;

y_gap_mid  = y_break_start + y_half_gap;

switch break_type

case 'Patch', i =  10.0;

case 'RPatch',i = 100.0;

case 'Line',  i =   2.0;

end;

x_half_tick = diff(xlim(1:2))./i;

switch break_type

case {'Patch','RPatch'},

xx = xlim(1) + x_half_tick.*[0:i];

switch break_type

case 'Patch',yy = repmat( ...

[y_gap_mid+y_half_gap y_gap_mid-y_half_gap],1,floor(i./2));

if length(yy)

case 'RPatch',yy = y_gap_mid + rand(101,1).*y_gap_width - y_half_gap;

end;

patch([xx(;flipud(xx()], ...

[yy(+y_half_gap ; flipud(yy(-y_half_gap)], ...

[.8 .8 .8])

case 'Line',

x_half_tick = diff(xtick(1:2))./2;

xx = [xlim(1) xlim(1)+x_half_tick];

for i=0:2:2

line(xx,y_gap_mid+([-1 2]+i).*y_gap_width./2);

end;

end;

set(gca,'xlim',xlim);

% MAP TICKS BACK

i_wrong_ticks = ytick > y_break_start;

ytick = ytick + i_wrong_ticks.*y_break_width;

integer_ticks = all(floor(ytick) == ytick);

label_width = size(yticklabel,2);

if integer_ticks

format_string = sprintf('%%%dd\n',label_width);

else

left_side = ceil(log10(max(ytick)));

right_side = label_width-left_side-1;

format_string = sprintf('%%%d.%df\n',label_width,right_side);

end;

set(gca, 'yticklabel', num2str(ytick'));