########################################################################
##
## Copyright (C) 2005-2025 The Octave Project Developers
##
## See the file COPYRIGHT.md in the top-level directory of this
## distribution or <https://octave.org/copyright/>.
##
## This file is part of Octave.
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## under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
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########################################################################

## -*- texinfo -*-
## @deftypefn {} {@var{h} =} gca ()
## Return a handle to the current axes object.
##
## The current axes is the default target for graphics output.  In the case
## of a figure with multiple axes, @code{gca} returns the last created axes
## or the last axes that was clicked on with the mouse.
##
## If no current axes object exists, create one and return its handle.  The
## handle may then be used to examine or set properties of the axes.  For
## example,
##
## @example
## @group
## ax = gca ();
## set (ax, "position", [0.5, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5]);
## @end group
## @end example
##
## @noindent
## creates an empty axes object and then changes its location and size in the
## figure window.
##
## Note: To find the current axes without creating a new axes object if it
## does not exist, query the @qcode{"CurrentAxes"} property of a figure.
##
## @example
## get (gcf, "currentaxes");
## @end example
## @seealso{gcf, gco, gcbf, gcbo, get, set}
## @end deftypefn

function h = gca ()

  h = get (gcf (), "currentaxes");
  if (isempty (h))
    h = axes ();
  endif

endfunction


%!test
%! hf = figure ("visible", "off");
%! ax = axes ();
%! unwind_protect
%!   assert (gca, ax);
%! unwind_protect_cleanup
%!   close (hf);
%! end_unwind_protect
