histc

(Not recommended) Histogram bin counts

histc is not recommended. Use histcounts instead.

For more information, including suggestions on updating code, see Replace Discouraged Instances of hist and histc.

Syntax

bincounts = histc(x,binranges)

bincounts = histc(x,binranges,dim)

[bincounts,ind] = histc(___)

Description

bincounts = histc(x,binranges) counts the number of values in x that are within each specified bin range. The input, binranges, determines the endpoints for each bin. The output, bincounts, contains the number of elements from x in each bin.

• If x is a vector, then histc returns bincounts as a vector of histogram bin counts.

• If x is a matrix, then histc operates along each column of x and returns bincounts as a matrix of histogram bin counts for each column.

To plot the histogram, use bar(binranges,bincounts,'histc').

bincounts = histc(x,binranges,dim) operates along the dimension dim.

[bincounts,ind] = histc(___) returns ind, an array the same size as x indicating the bin number that each entry in x sorts into. Use this syntax with any of the previous input argument combinations.

Examples

Create Histogram Plot

Initialize the random number generator to make the output of randn repeatable.

rng(0,'twister')

Define x as 100 normally distributed random numbers. Define bin ranges between -4 and 4. Determine the number of values in x that are within each specified bin range. Return the number of elements in each bin in bincounts.

x = randn(100,1);
binranges = -4:4;
[bincounts] = histc(x,binranges)

bincounts = 9×1

     0
     2
    17
    28
    32
    16
     3
     2
     0

To plot the histogram, use the bar function.

figure
bar(binranges,bincounts,'histc')

Return Bin Numbers for Histogram

Defined ages as a vector of ages. Sort ages into bins with varying ranges between 0 and 75.

ages = [3,12,24,15,5,74,23,54,31,23,64,75];
binranges = [0,10,25,50,75];

[bincounts,ind] = histc(ages,binranges)

bincounts = 1×5

     2     5     1     3     1

ind = 1×12

     1     2     2     2     1     4     2     4     3     2     4     5

bincounts contains the number of values in each bin. ind indicates the bin numbers.

Input Arguments

x — Values to be sorted

vector | matrix

Values to be sorted, specified as a vector or a matrix. The bin counts do not include values in x that are NaN or that lie outside the specified bin ranges. If x contains complex values, then histc ignores the imaginary parts and uses only the real parts.

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32

binranges — Bin ranges

vector | matrix

Bin ranges, specified as a vector of monotonically nondecreasing values or a matrix of monotonically nondecreasing values running down each successive column. The values in binranges determine the left and right endpoints for each bin. If binranges contains complex values, then histc ignores the imaginary parts and uses only the real parts.

If binranges is a matrix, then histc determines the bin ranges by using values running down successive columns. Each bin includes the left endpoint, but does not include the right endpoint. The last bin consists of the scalar value equal to last value in binranges.

For example, if binranges equals the vector [0,5,10,13], then histc creates four bins. The first bin includes values greater than or equal to 0 and strictly less than 5. The second bin includes values greater than or equal to 5 and less than 10, and so on. The last bin contains the scalar value 13.

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32

dim — Dimension along which to operate

scalar

Dimension along which to operate, specified as a scalar.

Output Arguments

bincounts — Number of elements in each bin

vector | matrix

Number of elements in each bin, returned as a vector or a matrix. The last entry in bincounts is the number of values in x that equal the last entry in binranges.

ind — Bin index numbers

vector | matrix

Bin index numbers, returned as a vector or a matrix that is the same size as x.

Tips

• If values in x lie outside the specified bin ranges, then histc does not include these values in the bin counts. Start and end the binranges vector with -inf and inf to ensure that all values in x are included in the bin counts.

Extended Capabilities

C/C++ Code Generation

Generate C and C++ code using MATLAB® Coder™.

Usage notes and limitations:

• The output of a variable-size array that becomes a column vector at run time is a column-vector, not a row-vector.

• If supplied, dim must be a constant.

• See Variable-Sizing Restrictions for Code Generation of Toolbox Functions (MATLAB Coder).

Thread-Based Environment

Run code in the background using MATLAB® backgroundPool or accelerate code with Parallel Computing Toolbox™ ThreadPool.

This function fully supports thread-based environments. For more information, see Run MATLAB Functions in Thread-Based Environment.

Distributed Arrays

Partition large arrays across the combined memory of your cluster using Parallel Computing Toolbox™.

This function fully supports distributed arrays. For more information, see Run MATLAB Functions with Distributed Arrays (Parallel Computing Toolbox).

Version History

Introduced before R2006a