MATLAB Creating Graphical User Interfaces

14 Examples of UIs Created Programmatically

mPlotTypes is a 5-by-2 cell array that specifies graphing functions and data. The first

column contains the strings that are used to populate the pop-up menu. The second

column contains functions (anonymous functions) for creating the plots.

mPlotTypes = {... % Example plot types shownI

'plot(rand(5))', @(a)plot(a,rand(5));

'plot(sin(1:0.01:25))', @(a)plot(a,sin(1:0.01:25));

'bar(1:.5:10)', @(a)bar(a,1:.5:10);

'plot(membrane)', @(a)plot(a,membrane);

'surf(peaks)', @(a)surf(a,peaks)};

Because these variables are created in the main function, they are accessible from within

the nested callback functions in the same file.

Create the UI and Its Components

Like the mOutputArgs and mPlotTypes variables, the UI components are created inside

the main function, so they are accessible from within the nested callback functions in the

same file.

The Main Figure

This command creates the figure window:

hMainFigure = figure(... % The main figure

'MenuBar','none', ...

'Toolbar','none', ...

'HandleVisibility','callback', ...

'Color', get(groot,...

'defaultuicontrolbackgroundcolor'));

• Setting the MenuBar and Toolbar properties to 'none' prevents the default menus
  from displaying and hides the default toolbar.


• Setting the HandleVisibility property to 'callback' ensures that the figure
  object can be accessed only from within a callback.


• The Color property defines the background color of the figure. In this case, it is set
  to be the same as the default background color of uicontrol objects, such as the
  Update push button. The factory default background color of uicontrol objects is
  the system default and can vary from system to system. This statement ensures that
  the figure's background color matches the background color of the components.

The Axes

This command creates the axes: