Search code examples
matlabmatlab-figure

Why can't MATLAB plot the word "factory"?

Consider the following MATLAB code:

text(0, 0, 'factory');
xlim([-1, 1]);
ylim([-1, 1]);

The intended goal is to have a figure with the word "factory" in it. No word appears. Now replace the word "factory" by any other word and the above code works as intended. This has been tested with MATLAB 2017b and 2015b

Does anyone know what's going on here?

Solution

  • Problem Explained

    According to MATLAB title function documentation:

    The words default, factory, and remove are reserved words that will not appear in a title when quoted as a normal character vector. To display any of these words individually, precede them with a backslash, such as '\default' or '\remove'.

    This logic apply for text function as well. The Default Property Values page supplies more details about the role of factory keyword and why we can't use it as a parameter for graphic functions.

    Solution

    The following code works fine:

    text(0, 0, '\factory');
xlim([-1, 1]);
ylim([-1, 1]);