MATLAB Creating Graphical User Interfaces

6 Lay Out a UI Using GUIDE

Copy, Paste, and Arrange Components

This topic provides basic information about selecting, copying, pasting, and deleting

components in the layout area.

In this section...

“Select Components” on page 6- 70

“Copy, Cut, and Clear Components” on page 6- 71

“Paste and Duplicate Components” on page 6- 71

“Front-to-Back Positioning” on page 6- 72

Select Components

You can select components in the layout area in the following ways:

• Click a single component to select it.


• Press Ctrl+A to select all child objects of the figure. This does not select components
  that are child objects of panels or button groups.


• Click and drag the cursor to create a rectangle that encloses the components you want
  to select. If the rectangle encloses a panel or button group, only the panel or button
  group is selected, not its children. If the rectangle encloses part of a panel or button
  group, only the components within the rectangle that are child objects of the panel or
  button group are selected.


• Select multiple components using the Shift and Ctrl keys.

In some cases, a component may lie outside its parent's boundary. Such a component is

not visible in the Layout Editor but can be selected by dragging a rectangle that encloses

it or by selecting it in the Object Browser. Such a component is visible in the active UI.

See “View the GUIDE Object Hierarchy” on page 6-119 for information about the

Object Browser.

NoteYou can select multiple components only if they have the same parent. To

determine the child objects of a figure, panel, or button group, use the Object Browser.