Polyline

Polyline region of interest

Description

A Polyline object specifies the shape and position of a polyline 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, see Tips.

Creation

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

• Use the drawpolyline 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.Polyline 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.Polyline

roi = images.roi.Polyline(ax,___)

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

Description

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

roi = images.roi.Polyline(ax,___) creates the ROI in the axes specified by ax.

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

Example: images.roi.Polyline('Color','y') creates a yellow colored Polyline 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' | [x,y,w,h]

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 the current axes limits (default).
'unlimited'	The drawing area has no boundary and ROIs can be drawn or dragged to extend beyond the axes limits.
[x,y,w,h]	The drawing area is restricted to a rectangular region beginning at (x,y), and extending to width w and height h.

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' | 'reshape' | 'translate'

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

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

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 border

positive number

Width of the ROI border, specified as a positive number in points. The default value is three times the number of points per screen pixel, such that the border is three pixels wide.

MarkerSize — Marker size

positive number

Marker size, specified as a positive number in points. The default value is eight times the number of points per screen pixel, such that markers are eight pixels in size.

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 ROI

[] (default) | n-by-2 numeric matrix

Position of the ROI, specified as an n-by-2 numeric matrix where n is the number of vertices or points defining the ROI. Each row represents the [x y] coordinates of a vertex or point. The Polyline object generates these points as you draw the ROI shape interactively. To work with fewer points, use the reduce function.

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 Polyline object does not use this data.

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
createMask	Create binary mask image from ROI
draw	Begin drawing ROI interactively
reduce	Reduce density of points in ROI
wait	Block MATLAB command line until ROI operation is finished

Examples

Create Polyline ROI Non-interactively

Read an image into the workspace and display it.

I = imread('baby.jpg');
figure;
imshow(I)

Create a polyline ROI on the image, using properties to specify the location of vertices. For programmatically created ROIs, if you want the ROI drawn in a specific axes, you must specify that axes as an input argument. Otherwise, an instance of the images.roi.Polyline class is created but not displayed. In this example, specify the current axes (gca) to draw the ROI on the image in that axes.

h = images.roi.Polyline(gca,'Position',[100 150; 200 250; 300 350; 150 450]);

Set Up Listeners for Polyline ROI Events

Read an image into the workspace.

I = imread('cameraman.tif');

Display the image.

imshow(I);

Draw a Polyline ROI on the image. Because this example specifies the length and location of the ROI, you do not have to call the draw method to enable interactive drawing.

roi = images.roi.Polyline(gca,'Position',[115 30; 80 45; 80 80; 115 90; 145 65]);

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 at the command line 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 Polyline 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.ROIMovingEventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public
ROIMoved	ROI shape or location has been interactively changed.	images.roi.ROIMovingEventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public
ROIClicked	ROI has been clicked.	images.roi.ROIClickedEventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public
AddingVertex	A vertex is about to be interactively added to the ROI.	event.EventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public
VertexAdded	A vertex has been interactively added to the ROI.	event.EventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public
DeletingVertex	A vertex is about to be interactively deleted from the ROI.	event.EventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public
VertexDeleted	A vertex has been interactively deleted from the ROI.	event.EventData	NotifyAccess: private ListenAccess: public

Tips

• To draw the ROI interactively using the draw or drawpolyline function, position the cursor on the axes and click and drag to create the shape. As you draw, click to place vertices along the line. Double-click to finish drawing the polyline.

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

  Behavior	Keyboard shortcut
  Make drawn line snap at 15 degree angles.	Hold the Shift key while drawing.
  Finish drawing the ROI.	Double-click, which adds a final new vertex at the pointer position. Right-click, which adds a final new vertex at the pointer position. Press Enter, which adds a final new vertex at the pointer position..
  Cancel drawing the ROI.	Press Esc. The function returns a valid ROI object with an empty Position property.
  Add a new vertex to the ROI.	Position the pointer over the polygon and double-click. You can also position the pointer over the ROI, right-click, and choose Add Vertex.
  Remove a vertex from the ROI.	Position the pointer over the ROI, right-click, and choose Delete Vertex.
  Remove the most recently added vertex but keep drawing.	Press Backspace. The function redraws the line from the previous vertex to the current position of the pointer. You can only back up to the first vertex you drew.
  Resize (reshape) the ROI.	Position pointer over a vertex and then click and drag. Add a new vertex and then click and drag. Remove a vertex and the shape of the ROI adjusts.
  Move the ROI.	Position the pointer over the line, not on a vertex. The pointer changes to the fleur shape. Click and drag the polygon.
  Delete the ROI.	Position the pointer over the line, right-click, and select Delete Polyline 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 R2018b

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.