Cuboid

Cuboidal region of interest

Description

A Cuboid object specifies the shape and position of a 3-D cuboidal region of interest (ROI). You can customize the appearance and interactive behavior of the ROI.

For more information about using this ROI, including keyboard shortcuts and a right-click context menu, see Tips.

Creation

There are two ways to create a Cuboid object. For more information, see Create ROI Shapes.

• Use the drawcuboid function. Use this function when you want to create the ROI and set the appearance in a single command. You can specify the shape and position of the ROI interactively by drawing the ROI over an image using the mouse, or programmatically by using name-value arguments.

• Use the images.roi.Cuboid function described here. Use this function when you want to specify the appearance and behavior of the ROI before you specify the shape and position of the ROI. After creating the object, you can specify the shape and position interactively by using the draw function or programmatically by modifying properties of the object.

Syntax

roi = images.roi.Cuboid

roi = images.roi.Cuboid(ax)

roi = images.roi.Cuboid(___,Name,Value)

Description

roi = images.roi.Cuboid creates a Cuboid object with default properties.

roi = images.roi.Cuboid(ax) creates an ROI in the axes specified by ax.

roi = images.roi.Cuboid(___,Name,Value) sets properties using name-value arguments. You can specify multiple name-value arguments. Enclose each property name in single quotes.

Example: images.roi.Cuboid('Color','y') creates a yellow colored Cuboid object.

Input Arguments

ax — Parent of ROI

gca (default) | Axes object | UIAxes object

Parent of ROI, specified as an Axes object or a UIAxes object. For information about using an ROI in a UIAxes, including important limitations, see Using ROIs in Apps Created with App Designer.

Properties

Color — ROI color

[0 0.4470 0.7410] (default) | RGB triplet | color name | short color name

ROI color, specified as an RGB triplet, a color name, or a short color name.

You can specify any color using an RGB triplet. An RGB triplet is a 3-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0,1].

You can specify some common colors by name as a string scalar or character vector. This table lists the named color options and the equivalent RGB triplets.

Color Name	Short Name	RGB Triplet	Appearance
'red'	'r'	[1 0 0]
'green'	'g'	[0 1 0]
'blue'	'b'	[0 0 1]
'cyan'	'c'	[0 1 1]
'magenta'	'm'	[1 0 1]
'yellow'	'y'	[1 1 0]
'black'	'k'	[0 0 0]
'white'	'w'	[1 1 1]

Here are the RGB triplets for the default colors that MATLAB^® uses in many types of plots.

RGB Triplet	Appearance
[0 0.4470 0.7410]
[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]
[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]
[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]
[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]
[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]
[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]

Example: 'Color','r'

Example: 'Color','green'

Example: 'Color',[0 0.4470 0.7410]

ContextMenu — Context menu

ContextMenu object

Context menu that displays when you right-click the ROI, specified as a ContextMenu object. You can create a custom context menu by using the uicontextmenu function and then configuring context menu properties.

Deletable — Context menu provides option to delete the ROI

true or 1 (default) | false or 0

Context menu provides an option to delete the ROI, specified as a numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). When the value is true, you can delete the ROI interactively using the context menu. When the value is false, the context menu option to delete the ROI is disabled.

In both cases, you can delete the ROI outside of the context menu by using the delete function.

DrawingArea — Area of axes in which you can interactively place ROI

'auto' (default) | 'unlimited' | 1-by-6 numeric array

Area of the axes in which you can interactively place the ROI, specified as one of the values in this table.

Value	Description
'auto'	The drawing area is a superset of the current axes limits and a bounding box that surrounds the ROI (default).
'unlimited'	The drawing area has no boundary and ROIs can be drawn or dragged to extend beyond the axes limits.
[x,y,z,w,h,d]	The drawing area is restricted to a region beginning at (x,y,z), with width w, height h, and depth d.

EdgeAlpha — Transparency of ROI edge

1 (default) | number in the range [0, 1]

Transparency of ROI edge, specified as a number in the range [0, 1]. When set to 1, the ROI edge is completely opaque. When set to 0, the ROI edge is completely transparent.

FaceAlpha — Transparency of ROI faces

0.2 (default) | number in the range [0, 1]

Transparency of the ROI faces, specified as a number in the range [0, 1]. When the value is 1, the ROI faces are completely opaque. When the value is 0, the ROI faces are completely transparent.

FaceAlphaOnHover — Transparency of ROI face directly underneath mouse pointer

0.4 (default) | number in the range [0, 1] | 'none'

Transparency of ROI face directly underneath the mouse pointer, specified as a number in the range [0, 1] or 'none', to indicate no change to face transparency. When set to 1, the face under the mouse pointer is completely opaque. When set to 0, the face is completely transparent.

FaceColorOnHover — Color of ROI face directly underneath mouse pointer

'none' (default) | RGB triplet | color name | short color name

Color of the ROI face directly underneath the mouse pointer, specified as an RGB triplet, a color name, a short color name, or 'none'. If you specify 'none', then the face color does not when the mouse hovers over the face. When you are not hovering over a face of the ROI, the value of the ROI Color property determines the face color.

You can specify any color using an RGB triplet. An RGB triplet is a 3-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0,1].

You can specify some common colors by name as a string scalar or character vector. This table lists the named color options and the equivalent RGB triplets.

Color Name	Short Name	RGB Triplet	Appearance
'red'	'r'	[1 0 0]
'green'	'g'	[0 1 0]
'blue'	'b'	[0 0 1]
'cyan'	'c'	[0 1 1]
'magenta'	'm'	[1 0 1]
'yellow'	'y'	[1 1 0]
'black'	'k'	[0 0 0]
'white'	'w'	[1 1 1]

Here are the RGB triplets for the default colors that MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

RGB Triplet	Appearance
[0 0.4470 0.7410]
[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]
[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]
[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]
[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]
[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]
[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]

Example: 'FaceColorOnHover','r'

Example: 'FaceColorOnHover','green'

Example: 'FaceColorOnHover',[0 0.4470 0.7410]

HandleVisibility — Visibility of ROI handle in Children property of parent

'on' (default) | 'off' | 'callback'

Visibility of the ROI handle in the Children property of the parent, specified as one of the values in this table.

Value	Description
'on'	The object handle is always visible (default).
'off'	The object handle is hidden at all times.
'callback'	The object handle is visible from within callbacks or functions invoked by callbacks, but not from within functions invoked from the command line.

InteractionsAllowed — Interactivity of ROI

'all' (default) | 'none' | 'translate'

Interactivity of the ROI, specified as one of the values in this table.

Value	Description
'all'	The ROI is fully interactable.
'none'	The ROI is not interactable, and no drag points are visible.
'translate'	The ROI can be translated (moved) within the drawing area.

Label — ROI label

'' (default) | character vector | string scalar

ROI label, specified as a character vector or string scalar. By default, the ROI has no label ('').

LabelAlpha — Transparency of text background

1 (default) | number in the range [0, 1]

Transparency of the text background, specified as a number in the range [0, 1]. When set to 1, the text background is completely opaque. When set to 0, the text background is completely transparent.

LabelTextColor — Label text color

'black' (default) | RGB triplet | color name | short color name

Label text color, specified as an RGB triplet, a color name, or a short color name.

You can specify any color using an RGB triplet. An RGB triplet is a 3-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0,1].

You can specify some common colors by name as a string scalar or character vector. This table lists the named color options and the equivalent RGB triplets.

Color Name	Short Name	RGB Triplet	Appearance
'red'	'r'	[1 0 0]
'green'	'g'	[0 1 0]
'blue'	'b'	[0 0 1]
'cyan'	'c'	[0 1 1]
'magenta'	'm'	[1 0 1]
'yellow'	'y'	[1 1 0]
'black'	'k'	[0 0 0]
'white'	'w'	[1 1 1]

Here are the RGB triplets for the default colors that MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

RGB Triplet	Appearance
[0 0.4470 0.7410]
[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]
[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]
[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]
[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]
[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]
[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]

Example: 'LabelTextColor','r'

Example: 'LabelTextColor','green'

Example: 'LabelTextColor',[0 0.4470 0.7410]

LabelVisible — Label visibility

'on' (default) | 'off' | 'hover'

Label visibility, specified as one of these values.

Value	Description
'on'	Label is visible when the ROI is visible.
'hover'	Label is visible only when the mouse is hovering over the ROI.
'off'	Label is not visible.

LineWidth — Width of ROI edge

1 (default) | positive number

Width of the ROI edge, specified as a positive number in points.

Parent — ROI parent

Axes object | UIAxes object

ROI parent, specified as an Axes or UIAxes object. For information about using an ROI in a UIAxes, including important limitations, see Using ROIs in Apps Created with App Designer.

Position — Position of cuboid

1-by-6 numeric vector

Position of the cuboid, specified as a 1-by-6 numeric vector of the form [xmin, ymin, zmin, width, height, depth]. This property updates automatically when you draw or move the cuboid.

Rotatable — Ability of cuboid to be rotated

'none' (default) | 'x' | 'y' | 'z' | 'all'

Ability of the cuboid to be rotated, specified as one of these values.

Value	Description
'all'	ROI is fully rotatable.
'x'	ROI can only be rotated about the x axis.
'y'	ROI can only be rotated about the y axis.
'z'	ROI can only be rotated about the z axis.
'none'	ROI is not rotatable.

RotationAngle — Angle of ROI rotation

[0 0 0] (default) | 1-by-3 numeric vector

Angle of ROI rotation, specified as a 1-by-3 numeric vector of rotation angles, measured in degrees. The rotation angles array is of the form [x_angle y_angle z_angle], measured about the x-, y-, and z-axis, respectively. Rotation is applied about the ROI centroid in order z, then y, then x.

The value of RotationAngle does not impact the values in the Position property. Position represents the cuboid prior to any rotation. When you rotate the cuboid, use the Vertices property to determine the location of the rotated cuboid.

ScrollWheelDuringDraw — Ability of scroll wheel to adjust size

'all' (default) | xresize | yresize | zresize | 'none'

Ability of the scroll wheel to adjust the size of the cuboid during interactive placement, specified as one of these values.

Value	Description
'allresize'	Scroll wheel impacts all ROI dimensions.
'xresize'	Scroll wheel impacts only the x dimension.
'yresize'	Scroll wheel impacts only the y dimension.
'zresize'	Scroll wheel impacts only the z dimension.
'none'	Scroll wheel has no effect.

Selected — Selection state of ROI

false or 0 (default) | true or 1

Selection state of the ROI, specified as a numeric or logical 0 (false) or 1 (true). You can also set this property interactively. For example, clicking on the ROI selects the ROI and sets this property to true. Similarly, pressing the Ctrl key and clicking the ROI deselects the ROI and sets the value of this property to false.

SelectedColor — Color of ROI when selected

'none' (default) | RGB triplet | color name | short color name

Color of the ROI when selected, specified as an RGB triplet, a color name, a short color name, or 'none'. If you specify 'none', then the value of Color defines the color of the ROI for all states, selected or not.

You can specify any color using an RGB triplet. An RGB triplet is a 3-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0,1].

You can specify some common colors by name as a string scalar or character vector. This table lists the named color options and the equivalent RGB triplets.

Color Name	Short Name	RGB Triplet	Appearance
'red'	'r'	[1 0 0]
'green'	'g'	[0 1 0]
'blue'	'b'	[0 0 1]
'cyan'	'c'	[0 1 1]
'magenta'	'm'	[1 0 1]
'yellow'	'y'	[1 1 0]
'black'	'k'	[0 0 0]
'white'	'w'	[1 1 1]

Here are the RGB triplets for the default colors that MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

RGB Triplet	Appearance
[0 0.4470 0.7410]
[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]
[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]
[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]
[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]
[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]
[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]

Example: 'SelectedColor','r'

Example: 'SelectedColor','green'

Example: 'SelectedColor',[0 0.4470 0.7410]

StripeColor — Color of ROI stripe

'none' (default) | RGB triplet | color name | short color name

Color of the ROI stripe, specified as an RGB triplet, a color name, a short color name, or 'none'. If you specify 'none', then the ROI edge is a solid color specified by Color. Otherwise, the edge of the ROI is striped, with colors alternating between the colors specified by Color and StripeColor.

You can specify any color using an RGB triplet. An RGB triplet is a 3-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0,1].

You can specify some common colors by name as a string scalar or character vector. This table lists the named color options and the equivalent RGB triplets.

Color Name	Short Name	RGB Triplet	Appearance
'red'	'r'	[1 0 0]
'green'	'g'	[0 1 0]
'blue'	'b'	[0 0 1]
'cyan'	'c'	[0 1 1]
'magenta'	'm'	[1 0 1]
'yellow'	'y'	[1 1 0]
'black'	'k'	[0 0 0]
'white'	'w'	[1 1 1]

Here are the RGB triplets for the default colors that MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

RGB Triplet	Appearance
[0 0.4470 0.7410]
[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]
[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]
[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]
[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]
[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]
[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]

Example: 'StripeColor','r'

Example: 'StripeColor','green'

Example: 'StripeColor',[0 0.4470 0.7410]

Tag — Tag to associate with ROI

'' (default) | character vector | string scalar

Tag to associate with the ROI, specified as a character vector or string scalar. Use the tag value to find the ROI object in a hierarchy of objects using the findobj function.

UserData — Data to associate with ROI

any MATLAB data

Data to associate with the ROI, specified as any MATLAB data. For example, you can specify a scalar, vector, matrix, cell array, string, character array, table, or structure. The Cuboid object does not use this data.

Vertices — Locations of corners of cuboid

8-by-3 numeric matrix

This property is read-only.

Locations of the corners of the cuboid, returned as an 8-by-3 numeric matrix.

Visible — ROI visibility

'on' (default) | 'off' | on/off logical value

ROI visibility, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as a numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type OnOffSwitchState.

Value	Description
'on'	Display the ROI.
'off'	Hide the ROI without deleting it. You still can access the properties of an invisible ROI.

Object Functions

addlistener	Create event listener bound to event source
beginDrawingFromPoint	Begin drawing ROI from specified point
bringToFront	Bring ROI to front of Axes stacking order
draw	Begin drawing ROI interactively
inROI	Query if points are located in ROI
wait	Block MATLAB command line until ROI operation is finished

Examples

Create Cuboid ROI on Scatter Plot

Define vectors for 3-D scatter data.

[x,y,z] = sphere(16);
X = [x(:)*.5 x(:)*.75 x(:)];
Y = [y(:)*.5 y(:)*.75 y(:)];
Z = [z(:)*.5 z(:)*.75 z(:)];

Specify the size and color of each marker.

S = repmat([1 .75 .5]*10,numel(x),1);
C = repmat([1 2 3],numel(x),1);

Create a 3-D scatter plot and use view to the change the angle of the axes in the figure.

figure
hScatter = scatter3(X(:),Y(:),Z(:),S(:),C(:),'filled'); 
view(-60,60);

Begin placing a cuboid in the axes that snaps to the nearest point from the scatter plot. Adjust the size of the cuboid during interactive placement by using the scroll wheel.

ax = gca;
h = images.roi.Cuboid(ax);
draw(h)

Set Up Listeners for Cuboid ROI Events

Define vectors for 3-D scattered data.

[x,y,z] = sphere(16);
X = [x(:)*.5 x(:)*.75 x(:)];
Y = [y(:)*.5 y(:)*.75 y(:)];
Z = [z(:)*.5 z(:)*.75 z(:)];

Specify the size and color of each marker.

S = repmat([1 .75 .5]*10,numel(x),1);
C = repmat([1 2 3],numel(x),1);

Create a 3-D scatter plot and use view to change the angle of the axes in the figure.

figure
hScatter = scatter3(X(:),Y(:),Z(:),S(:),C(:),'filled'); 
view(-60,60);

Create a Cuboid ROI object, specifying the color. Call the draw object function to enable interactive drawing of the cuboid shape.

roi = images.roi.Cuboid(gca,'Color','r');
draw(roi)

Set up listeners for ROI moving events. When you move it, the ROI sends notifications of these events and executes the callback function you specify.

addlistener(roi,'MovingROI',@allevents);
addlistener(roi,'ROIMoved',@allevents);

The allevents callback function displays the previous position and the current position of the ROI.

function allevents(src,evt)
    evname = evt.EventName;
    switch(evname)
        case{'MovingROI'}
            disp(['ROI moving previous position: ' mat2str(evt.PreviousPosition)]);
            disp(['ROI moving current position: ' mat2str(evt.CurrentPosition)]);
        case{'ROIMoved'}
            disp(['ROI moved previous position: ' mat2str(evt.PreviousPosition)]);
            disp(['ROI moved current position: ' mat2str(evt.CurrentPosition)]);
    end
end

More About

Events

To receive notification from the ROI when certain events happen, set up listeners for these events. You can specify a callback function that executes when one of these events occurs. When the ROI notifies your application through the listener, it returns data specific to the event. Look at the event class for the specific event to see what is returned.

For an example, see Set Up Listeners for Cuboid ROI Events.

Event Name	Trigger	Event Data	Event Attributes
DeletingROI	ROI is about to be interactively deleted.	event.EventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public
DrawingStarted	ROI is about to be interactively drawn.	event.EventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public
DrawingFinished	ROI has been interactively drawn.	event.EventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public
MovingROI	ROI shape or location is being interactively changed.	images.roi.CuboidMovingEventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public
ROIMoved	ROI shape or location has been interactively changed.	images.roi.CuboidMovingEventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public
ROIClicked	ROI has been clicked.	images.roi.ROIClickedEventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public

Tips

• To draw the ROI interactively using the draw or drawcuboid function, position the cursor on the ROI and click and drag to move or change the size of the shape. To finish the ROI, release the mouse button.

• The ROI supports the following interactivity, including keyboard shortcuts.

  Behavior	Keyboard shortcut
  Cancel drawing the ROI.	Press Esc. The function returns a valid ROI object with an empty Position property.
  Fine-tune size of ROI as you are drawing.	As you draw the ROI, use the scroll wheel to make small changes to its size.
  Resize (reshape) the ROI.	Position the pointer over a surface of the ROI that is visible from your point of view and then click and drag.
  Move the ROI.	Position the pointer over a surface of the ROI that is visible from your point of view. Press Shift as you click and drag to move the ROI.
  Delete the ROI.	Position the pointer over the ROI, right-click, and select Delete Cuboid from the context menu. You can also delete the ROI programmatically using the delete function.

• For information about using an ROI in an app created with App Designer, see Using ROIs in Apps Created with App Designer.

Version History

Introduced in R2019a

R2020a: UIContextMenu property is not recommended

Not recommended starting in R2020a

Starting in R2020a, using the UIContextMenu property to assign a context menu to a graphics object or UI component is not recommended. Use the ContextMenu property instead. The property values are the same.

There are no plans to remove support for the UIContextMenu property at this time. However, the UIContextMenu property no longer appears in the list returned by calling the get function on a graphics object or UI component.