function [nstages] = dotpattern(mat,name);
%dot pattern

nstages=size(mat,1);
clear yvalues ytick;
for i=1:nstages
yvalues(i,:)=[num2str(i)]; %string labels
ytick(i)=i; %numeric values
stagelegend(i,:)=[num2str(i)];
end ;

dotsize=[100 85 70 55 40 25 10 5 1]; %defines dot sizes 
dotsize=dotsize;% could be used to rescale for multiple figures on page

% get the structure of the matrix by  magnitudes of a(ij) 
mats=zeros(nstages,nstages,length(dotsize));

mat=mat;
mats(:,:,1) =  mat>=1;
mats(:,:,2) = (mat>=.75 & mat<1);
mats(:,:,3) = (mat>=.50 & mat<.75);
mats(:,:,4) = (mat>=.25 & mat<.5);
mats(:,:,5) = (mat>=.1 & mat<.25);
mats(:,:,6) = (mat>=0.01 & mat<.1);
mats(:,:,7) = (mat>=0.001 & mat<.01);
mats(:,:,8) = (mat>=0.0001 & mat<.001);
mats(:,:,9) = (mat<0.0001 & mat>0);

matdiag = eye(nstages);


figure% 
for i=1:length(dotsize)
spy(mats(:,:,i),dotsize(i)); %makes the dots black
hold on;
end;

%spy(matdiag,30); %mark the diagonal with white plus
text(nstages-1,0.5,name,'FontSize',12); 
%xvalues=yvalues;
set(gca,'XTick',ytick);
set(gca,'XTickLabel',{yvalues},'FontName','Helvetica','FontSize',10)
set(gca,'YTick',ytick);
set(gca,'YTickLabel',{yvalues},'FontName','Helvetica','FontSize',10)
xlabel('Stage at time t','FontSize',12)
ylabel('Stage at time t+1','FontSize',12)
hold off;