When enabled (typically via a compiler flag or runtime environment variable), AxesCheck performs the following:

For now, as a general review of the concept of checking axes in data visualization or engineering:

Let me know the exact context!

AxesCheck error: array 'temperature' (declared 1:100,1:50)  
index out of bounds at line 42 of 'climate.f90'  
attempted access: temperature(101,20)  
Execution aborted.

  • Y-axis present — Pass/Fail: Pass

  • Both axes labeled — Pass/Fail: Fail

  • Tick marks reasonable — Pass/Fail: Pass

  • Axis scales appropriate — Pass/Fail: Pass

  • Axis ranges include data — Pass/Fail: Fail

  • Grid alignment with ticks — Pass/Fail: Pass

  • Log-scale validity (if used) — Pass/Fail: N/A

  • Axis fonts readable — Pass/Fail: Pass

  • No overlapping labels — Pass/Fail: Fail

    • IDL has an AXESCHECK procedure (in some astronomy/user-contributed libraries) that checks and fixes axis labeling or ranges in plots.

    AxesCheck was most prominent in the 1980s and 1990s on Cray systems running the UNICOS operating system. It was part of a suite of debugging tools including assist and lint. Today, its direct use has faded, as modern compilers (e.g., GCC with -fbounds-check, Intel Fortran with -check bounds) and runtime sanitizers (e.g., AddressSanitizer) offer similar or superior functionality.

    However, the conceptual legacy of AxesCheck lives on. Its focus on dimensional integrity in numerical code remains critical in fields like computational fluid dynamics, climate modeling, and finite element analysis—where array shape mismatches can introduce subtle physics errors.

    An MRI reconstruction software flips the X and Y axes due to a header parsing error. Without a thorough Axescheck, a surgeon views a mirrored image. Result: A wrong-site surgery risk.