Figure Properties

Control appearance and behavior of figure window

Figures are containers for graphics or user interface components. Figure properties control the appearance and behavior of a particular instance of a figure. To modify aspects of a figure, change property values. Use dot notation to query and set properties.

f = figure;
u = f.Units;
f.Units = 'inches';

For figures created with the uifigure function, see UI Figure Properties instead.

Window Appearance

MenuBar — Figure menu bar display

'figure' (default) | 'none'

Figure menu bar display, specified as 'figure' or 'none'. The MenuBar property enables you to display or hide the default menus at the top of a figure window. Specify 'figure' to display the menu bar. Specify 'none' to hide it.

This property affects only default menus, and does not affect menus defined with the uimenu command.

Menu bars do not appear in figures whose WindowStyle property is set to 'Modal'. If a figure containing uimenu children is changed to 'Modal', the menu children still exist in the Children property of the figure. However, the menus do not display while WindowStyle is set to 'Modal'.

Note

If you do not want to display the default menus in the figure, then set this property to 'none' when you create the figure.

ToolBar — Figure toolbar display

'auto' (default) | 'figure' | 'none'

Figure toolbar display, specified as one of the following:

• 'auto' — Uses the same value as the MenuBar property.

• 'figure' — Toolbar displays.

• 'none' — Toolbar does not display.

This property affects only the default toolbar. It does not affect other toolbars such as, the Camera Toolbar or Plot Edit Toolbar. Selecting Figure Toolbar from the figure View menu sets this property to 'figure'.

Toolbars do not appear in figures whose WindowStyle property is set to 'Modal'. If a figure containing a toolbar is changed to 'Modal', the tool bar children still exist in the Children property of the figure. However, the toolbar does not display while WindowStyle is set to 'Modal'.

Note

If you want to hide the default tool bar, then set this property to 'none' when you create the figure.

DockControls — Interactive figure docking

'on' (default) | 'off'

Interactive figure docking, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

• 'on' — Figure can be docked in the MATLAB^® desktop. The Desktop > Dock Figure menu item and the Dock Figure button in the menu bar are enabled.

• 'off' — MATLAB disables the Desktop > Dock Figure menu item and does not display the figure dock button.

  You cannot set the DockControls property to 'off' if the WindowStyle is set to 'docked'.

Setting the DockControls property is not supported in MATLAB Online™.

Color — Background color

RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | 'r' | 'g' | 'b' | ...

Background color, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. If you specify 'none', the background color appears black on screen, but if you print the figure, the background prints as though the figure window is transparent.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

• An RGB triplet is a three-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], for example, [0.4 0.6 0.7].

• A hexadecimal color code is a string scalar or character vector that starts with a hash symbol (#) followed by three or six hexadecimal digits, which can range from 0 to F. The values are not case sensitive. Therefore, the color codes "#FF8800", "#ff8800", "#F80", and "#f80" are equivalent.

Alternatively, you can specify some common colors by name. This table lists the named color options, the equivalent RGB triplets, and hexadecimal color codes.

Color Name	Short Name	RGB Triplet	Hexadecimal Color Code	Appearance
"red"	"r"	[1 0 0]	"#FF0000"
"green"	"g"	[0 1 0]	"#00FF00"
"blue"	"b"	[0 0 1]	"#0000FF"
"cyan"	"c"	[0 1 1]	"#00FFFF"
"magenta"	"m"	[1 0 1]	"#FF00FF"
"yellow"	"y"	[1 1 0]	"#FFFF00"
"black"	"k"	[0 0 0]	"#000000"
"white"	"w"	[1 1 1]	"#FFFFFF"
"none"	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	No color

Here are the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for the default colors MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

RGB Triplet	Hexadecimal Color Code	Appearance
[0 0.4470 0.7410]	"#0072BD"
[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]	"#D95319"
[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]	"#EDB120"
[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]	"#7E2F8E"
[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]	"#77AC30"
[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]	"#4DBEEE"
[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]	"#A2142F"

Data Types: double | char

WindowStyle — Window style

'normal' (default) | 'modal' | 'docked'

Window style, specified as one of the following:

• 'normal' — The figure window is independent of other windows, and the other windows are accessible while the figure is displaying.

• 'modal' — The figure displays on top of all existing figure windows, making them inaccessible as long as the top figure exists and remains modal. However, any new figures created after a modal figure will display.

  When multiple modal windows exist, the most recently created window keeps focus and stays above all other windows until it becomes invisible, or is returned to a normal window style, or is deleted. At that time, focus reverts to the window that last had focus.

• 'docked' — The figure displays in the desktop or a document window. When the WindowStyle property is set to 'docked', you cannot set the DockControls property to 'off'. The 'docked' option is not supported in MATLAB Online.

Note

These are some important characteristics of the WindowStyle property and some recommended best practices:

• When you create UI windows, always specify the WindowStyle property. If you also want to set the Resize, Position, or OuterPosition properties of the figure, then set the WindowStyle property first.

• You can change the WindowStyle property of a figure at any time, including when the figure is visible and contains children. However on some systems, setting this property might cause the figure to flash or disappear and reappear, depending on the system's implementation of normal and modal windows. For best visual results, set the WindowStyle property at creation time or when the figure is invisible.

• Calling reset on a figure does not change the value of the WindowStyle property.

Modal Window Style Behavior

When WindowStyle is set to 'modal', the figure window traps all keyboard and mouse actions over all MATLAB windows as long as the windows are visible. Windows belonging to applications other than MATLAB are unaffected.

Typing Ctrl+C when a modal figure has focus causes that figure to revert to a 'normal' WindowStyle property setting. This allows the user to type at the command line.

Figures with the WindowStyle property set to 'modal' and the Visible property set to 'off' do not behave modally until MATLAB makes them visible. Therefore, you can hide a modal window for later reuse, instead of destroying it.

Modal figures do not display menu children, built-in menus, or toolbars. But, it is not an error to create menus in a modal figure or to change the WindowStyle property setting to 'modal' on a figure with menu children. The Menu objects exist and the figure retains them. If you reset the figure's WindowStyle property to 'normal', the menus display.

WindowState — Window state

'normal' (default) | 'minimized' | 'maximized' | 'fullscreen'

Window state, specified as one of these values:

• 'normal' — The window displays in a normal state.

• 'minimized' — The window is collapsed, but you can still execute commands to get or set its properties, to add children, or to create plots in the window.

• 'maximized' — The window fills the screen. The minimize, restore, and close buttons provided by the operating system appear in the corner of the window. If the window has menus and tool bars in the normal state, they are present in this state.

• 'fullscreen' — The window fills the screen. However, the minimize, restore, and close buttons provided by the operating system are hidden. If the window has menus and tool bars in the normal state, they are present in this state.

Clicking the minimize, maximize, or restore button provided by the operating system sets the WindowState property accordingly. Pressing Ctrl+F11 (Windows^® and Linux^®) or Ctrl+Command+f (macOS) toggles the 'fullscreen' state.

Setting the WindowState property on a docked figure or in MATLAB Online is not supported.

Position and Size

Position — Location and size of drawable area

[left bottom width height]

Location and size of the drawable area, specified as a vector of the form [left bottom width height]. This area excludes the figure borders, title bar, menu bar, and tool bars.

This table describes each element in the Position vector.

Element	Description
left	Distance from the left edge of the primary display to the inner left edge of the window. This value can be negative on systems that have more than one monitor. If the figure is docked, then this value is relative to the Figure panel within the MATLAB desktop.
bottom	Distance from the bottom edge of the primary display to the inner bottom edge of the window. This value can be negative on systems that have more than one monitor. If the figure is docked, then this value is relative to the Figure panel within the MATLAB desktop.
width	Distance between the right and left inner edges of the figure.
height	Distance between the top and bottom inner edges of the window.

All measurements are in units specified by the Units property.

You cannot specify the figure Position property when the figure is docked.

In MATLAB Online, the bottom and left elements of the Position vector are ignored.

To place the full window, including the borders, title bar, menu bar, tool bars, use the OuterPosition property.

Note

The Windows operating system enforces a minimum window width and a maximum window size. If you specify a figure size outside of those limits, the displayed figure will conform to the limits instead of the size you specified.

Units — Units of measurement

'pixels' (default) | 'normalized' | 'inches' | 'centimeters' | 'points' | 'characters'

Units of measurement, specified as one of the values from this table.

Units Value	Description
'pixels' (default)	Pixels. Starting in R2015b, distances in pixels are independent of your system resolution on Windows and Macintosh systems: On Windows systems, a pixel is 1/96th of an inch. On Macintosh systems, a pixel is 1/72nd of an inch. On Linux systems, the size of a pixel is determined by your system resolution.
'normalized'	These units are normalized with respect to the parent container. The lower-left corner of the container maps to (0,0) and the upper-right corner maps to (1,1).
'inches'	Inches.
'centimeters'	Centimeters.
'points'	Points. One point equals 1/72nd of an inch.
'characters'	These units are based on the default uicontrol font of the graphics root object: Character width = width of the letter x. Character height = distance between the baselines of two lines of text. To access the default uicontrol font, use get(groot,'defaultuicontrolFontName') or set(groot,'defaultuicontrolFontName').

MATLAB measures all units from the lower left corner of the parent object.

This property affects the Position property. If you change the Units property, consider returning its value to the default value after completing your computation to avoid affecting other functions that assume the default value.

The order in which you specify the Units and Position properties has these effects:

• If you specify the Units before the Position property, then MATLAB sets Position using the units you specify.

• If you specify the Units property after the Position property, MATLAB sets the position using the default Units. Then, MATLAB converts the Position value to the equivalent value in the units you specify.

InnerPosition — Location and size of drawable area

[left bottom width height]

Location and size of the drawable area, specified as a vector of the form [left bottom width height]. This area excludes the figure borders, title bar, menu bar, and tool bars. All measurements are in units specified by the Units property.

This property value is identical to the Position property value.

OuterPosition — Location and size of outer bounds

[left bottom width height]

Location and size of the outer bounds, specified as a vector of the form [left bottom width height]. This property defines the region enclosed by the figure’s outer bounds (which includes the borders, title bar, menu bar, and tool bars).

This table describes each element in the vector.

Element	Description
left	Distance from the left edge of the primary display to the outer left edge of the figure window. This value can be negative on systems that have more than one monitor. If the figure is docked, then this value is relative to the Figure panel within the MATLAB desktop.
bottom	Distance from the bottom edge of the primary display to the outer bottom edge of the figure window. This value can be negative on systems that have more than one monitor. If the figure is docked, then this value is relative to the Figure panel within the MATLAB desktop.
width	Distance between the right and left outer edges of the figure.
height	Distance between the top and bottom outer edges of the figure.

All measurements are in units specified by the Units property.

You cannot specify the figure OuterPosition property when the figure is docked.

Note

The Windows operating system enforces a minimum window width and a maximum window size. If you specify a figure size outside of those limits, the displayed figure will conform to the limits instead of the size you specified.

Clipping — Clipping of child components (not recommended)

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

This property has no effect on figures.

Resize — Resizable figure

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

Resizable figure, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

When this property is set to 'on', the figure is resizable. Otherwise, it is not resizable.

Plotting

Colormap — Color map for axes content of figure

parula (default) | m-by-3 array of RGB triplets

Color map for axes content of a figure, specified as an m-by-3 array of RGB (red, green, blue) triplets that define m individual colors.

Example: figure('Colormap',[1 0 1; 0 0 1; 1 1 0]) sets the color map to three colors: magenta, blue, and yellow.

MATLAB accesses these colors by their row number.

Color maps affect the rendering of objects created with the surface, image, and patch functions, but generally do not affect other graphics objects.

When you set the Colormap property of the figure, then axes and charts in the figure use the same colormap.

Alphamap — Transparency map for Axes content

array of 64 values from 0 to 1 (default) | array of finite alpha values from 0 to 1

Transparency map for Axes content, specified as an array of finite alpha values that progress linearly from 0 to 1. The size of the array can be m-by-1 or 1-by-m. MATLAB accesses alpha values by their index in the array. Alphamaps can be any length.

Alphamaps affect the rendering of objects created with the surface, image, and patch functions, but do not affect other graphics objects.

When you set the Alphamap property of the figure, then axes and charts in the figure use the same alpha map.

NextPlot — Directive on how to add next plot

'add' (default) | 'new' | 'replace' | 'replacechildren'

Directive on how to add next plot, specified as 'add', 'new', 'replace', or 'replacechildren'.

This table describes the effects of each value.

Property Value	Effect
'new'	Creates a new figure and uses it as the current figure.
'add'	Adds new graphics objects without clearing or resetting the current figure.
'replacechildren'	Removes all axes objects who are not hidden before adding new objects. Does not reset figure properties. Equivalent to using the clf command.
'replace'	Removes all axes objects and resets figure properties to their defaults before adding new graphics objects. Equivalent to using the clf reset command.

Consider using the newplot function to handle the NextPlot property. For more information, see the axes NextPlot property and Prepare Figures and Axes for Graphs.

Renderer — Renderer

'opengl' (default) | 'painters'

Renderer for screen display and printing, specified as one of these values:

• 'opengl' — OpenGL^® renderer. This option enables MATLAB to access graphics hardware if it is available on your system. The OpenGL renderer displays objects sorted in front to back order, as seen on the monitor. Lines always draw in front of faces when at the same location on the plane of the monitor.

• 'painters' — Painters renderer. This option works well for axes in a 2-D view. In 2-D, the Painters renderer sorts graphics objects by child order (order specified). In 3-D, the Painters renderer sorts objects in front to back order. However, it might not correctly draw intersecting polygons in 3-D.

Note

The Renderer property will be removed in a future release. For more information, see Version History.

Setting the Renderer property is not supported in MATLAB Online.

OpenGL Hardware and Software Implementations

OpenGL is available on all computers that run MATLAB since a software version of OpenGL is built-into MATLAB. However, if you have graphics hardware that supports a hardware-accelerated version of OpenGL, then MATLAB automatically uses the hardware-accelerated version to increase performance.

In some cases, MATLAB automatically uses software OpenGL even if a hardware version is available. For example, MATLAB uses the software version if it detects graphics hardware with known driver issues or detects that you are using a virtual machine or remote desktop on Windows.

MATLAB issues a warning if it cannot find a usable OpenGL library.

Software OpenGL Selection

To switch from hardware to software OpenGL, do the following:

• On Linux systems, start MATLAB with the command matlab -softwareopengl.

• On Windows systems, execute the command opengl software in MATLAB or start MATLAB with the command matlab -softwareopengl.

• On Macintosh systems, software OpenGL is not supported.

The following software versions are available:

• On Linux systems, MATLAB uses the software implementation of OpenGL that is included in the MATLAB distribution.

• On Windows, OpenGL is available as part of the operating system. If you experience problems with OpenGL, contact your graphics driver vendor to obtain the latest qualified version of OpenGL.

• On Macintosh systems, software OpenGL is not available.

Determine OpenGL Library Version

To determine the version and vendor of the OpenGL library that MATLAB is using on your system, call the rendererinfo function. For example, this command gets the information for the current axes and stores it in a structure called info.

info = rendererinfo(gca)

This structure also provides the name of the graphics renderer in the GraphicsRenderer field. For example, if MATLAB is using hardware-accelerated OpenGL, the field returns 'OpenGL Hardware'. If MATLAB is using software OpenGL, the field returns 'OpenGL Software'.

XServer Connection Lost

When using Linux, if there is a break in the connection to the XServer, MATLAB can crash with a segmentation violation. If this happens, ensure that the system has the latest XServer installed.

On a Linux system, you also can try upgrading the OpenGL driver or starting MATLAB with software OpenGL using this command:

 matlab -softwareopengl

RendererMode — Renderer selection

'auto' (default) | 'manual'

Renderer selection, specified as:

• 'auto' — MATLAB selects the rendering method for printing and screen display based on the size and complexity of the graphics objects in the figure.

• 'manual' — MATLAB uses the renderer specified with the Renderer property.

MATLAB sets the RendererMode property to 'manual' if you explicitly set the Renderer property to 'painters' or 'opengl'.

Note

The RendererMode property will be removed in a future release. For more information, see Version History.

GraphicsSmoothing — Axes graphics smoothing

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

Axes graphics smoothing, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

Smoothing reduces the appearance of jagged lines in an axes graphic. MATLAB applies a smoothing technique to an axes graphic (and the axes rulers) if GraphicsSmoothing is set to 'on', and either of these conditions is true:

• The Renderer property is set to 'painters'.

• The Renderer property is set to 'opengl' and your hardware card supports OpenGL.

Graphics Smoothing	No Graphics Smoothing
(Zoomed-in view)	(Zoomed-in view)

If your axes graphic contains mostly vertical or horizontal lines, consider setting the GraphicsSmoothing property to 'on' and the line or lines AlignVertexCenters property to 'on'. The smoothing technique sacrifices some sharpness for smoothness, which might be particularly noticeable in such graphics.

Graphics smoothing has no affect on text. MATLAB smooths text regardless of the value of the GraphicsSmoothing property.

Setting the GraphicsSmoothing property is not supported in MATLAB Online.

Note

The GraphicsSmoothing property will be removed in a future release. All graphics will be smooth when the property is removed.

Printing and Exporting

PaperPosition — Figure size and location on page when printing or saving

four-element vector of the form [left bottom width height]

Figure size and location on page when printing or saving, specified as a four-element vector of the form [left bottom width height].

• left and bottom values — Control the distance from the lower left corner of the page to the lower left corner of the figure. These values are ignored when saving a figure to a nonpage format, such as a PNG or EPS format.

• width and height values — Control the figure size. If the width and height values are too large, then the figure might not reach the specified size. If the figure does not reach the specific size, then any UI components on the figure, such as a UI control or a UI table, might not save or print as expected.

The PaperUnits property determines the units of measurement of the PaperPosition values. Consider setting the PaperUnits property to 'normalized'. This setting enables MATLAB to automatically size the figure to occupy the same relative amount of the printed page, regardless of the page size.

Example: figure('PaperPosition',[.25 .25 8 6]) set the figure’s size and location for printing to [.25 .25 8 6].

PaperPositionMode — Directive to use displayed figure size when printing or saving

'auto' (default) | 'manual'

Directive to use displayed figure size when printing or saving, specified as either 'auto' or 'manual'.

• 'auto' — Printed or saved figure size matches the displayed figure size. The width and height values of the PaperPosition property equal the figure size on the display. The left and bottom values center the figure. If the figure size changes on the display, the PaperPosition property automatically updates to the appropriate size and location values.

• 'manual' — Printed or saved figure size might not match the displayed figure size. Use this option if you want to print or save the figure using a size that differs from the display, or if you do not want the figure centered on the printed or saved page. Set the PaperPosition property to the desired size and location. If the figure size changes on the display, the PaperPosition property does not automatically update.

To generate output that has the same size and resolution (DPI) as the displayed figure, set the PaperPositionMode property of the figure to 'auto' and save the figure using print with the -r0 option. The -r0 option ensures that the output resolution is the same as the display resolution. If the resolutions are different, then the generated output size matches the displayed figure size in measured units (inches, centimeters, points), but not in pixels. For example, if the display resolution is 100 DPI, then a 4-by-5 inch figure is 400-by-500 pixels. If the output resolution is 200 DPI, then the printed or saved figure is the same size in inches, but 800-by-1000 pixels.

PaperSize — Custom page size

two-element vector of the form [width height]

Custom page size when printing the figure or saving it to a paged format (PDF and PostScript^® formats), specified as a two-element vector of the form [width height]. In the United States, the default value is [8.5 11]. In Europe and Asia, the default value is [21 29.7].

Note

If you are saving the figure to a file, the PaperSize property only affects PDF and PostScript file formats. Other file formats ignore this property. Use the PaperPosition property to control the size of the saved figure.

The PaperUnits property determines the units of measurement for the PaperSize property. You cannot set the PaperSize property if the PaperUnits property is set to 'normalized'. Attempting to do so results in an error.

Specifying the PaperSize property sets the PaperType property to the corresponding type, if one exists, or to 'custom' otherwise.

PaperUnits — Units used for PaperSize and PaperPosition

'inches' | 'centimeters' | 'normalized' | 'points'

Units used for PaperSize and PaperPosition, specified as one of these values:

• 'inches' — Value in inches. This is the default when the locale is the United States.

• 'normalized' — Normalized units. The lower left corner of the page maps to (0,0) and the upper right corner maps to (1,1).

• 'centimeters' — Value in centimeters. This is the default when the locale is Europe or Asia.

• 'points' — Value in points. One point equals 1/72 of an inch.

Note

If you change the value of the PaperUnits property, it is good practice to return the property to its original value after completing your computation so as not to affect other functions that assume the PaperUnits property has not changed.

PaperOrientation — Orientation of page

'portrait' (default) | 'landscape'

Orientation of page when printing figure or saving it to a paged format (PDF and PostScript formats), specified as one of these values:

• 'portrait' — Orient the longest page dimension vertically.

• 'landscape' — Orient the longest page dimension horizontally.

See the orient function for more information.

Note

When using File > Save As, only PDF and full-page PS formats use the PaperOrientation property. Other formats ignore these values.

PaperType — Standard page sizes

'usletter' | 'uslegal' | 'tabloid' | 'a0' | 'a1' | 'a2' | 'a3' | ...

Standard page sizes when printing the figure or saving it to a paged format (PDF and PostScript formats), specified as one of the values in this table. Specifying the PaperType property sets the PaperSize property to the corresponding page size.

Value	Page Size (Width x Height)
'usletter'	8.5-by-11 in (default in US)
'uslegal'	8.5-by-14 in
'tabloid'	11-by-17 in
'a0'	84.1-by-118.9 cm
'a1'	59.4-by-84.1 cm
'a2'	42-by-59.4 cm
'a3'	29.7-by-42 cm
'a4'	21-by-29.7 cm (default in Europe and Asia)
'a5'	14.8-by-21 cm
'b0'	102.9-by-145.6 cm
'b1	72.8-by-102.8 cm
'b2'	51.4-by-72.8 cm
'b3'	36.4-by-51.4 cm
'b4'	25.7-by-36.4 cm
'b5'	18.2-by-25.7 cm
'arch-a'	9-by-12 in
'arch-b'	12-by-18 in
'arch-c'	18-by-24 in
'arch-d'	24-by-36 in
'arch-e'	36-by-48 in
'a'	8.5-by-11 in
'b'	11-by-17 in
'c'	17-by-22 in
'd'	22-by-34 in
'e'	34-by-43 in
'<custom>'	Custom page size. Specifying a non-standard page size using the PaperSize property sets PaperType to this value.

InvertHardcopy — Figure background color when printing or saving

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

Figure background color when saving or printing, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

• 'on' — Change the figure background and axes background colors to white. Text and other aspects of the figure also might change color to improve the appearance of the generated output.

• 'off' — Use the same colors as the colors on the display. To change the figure background color on the display, use the Color property of the figure. To change the axes background color, use the Color property of the axes.

Mouse Pointer

Pointer — Pointer symbol

'arrow' (default) | 'ibeam' | 'crosshair' | 'watch' | 'topl' | 'custom' | ...

Pointer symbol, specified as one of the values in the following table or as 'custom'. The appearance of the symbol is operating-system dependent.

Value	Resulting Symbol (System Dependent)
'arrow'
'ibeam'
'crosshair'
'watch' (busy system)
'topl' or 'botr'
'topr' or 'botl'
'circle'
'cross'
'fleur'
'left' or 'right'
'top' or 'bottom'
'hand'

Custom Pointer Symbol

To create a custom pointer symbol, programmatically set the Pointer property to 'custom' and use the PointerShapeCData property to define the symbol. See the PointerShapeCData property for more information.

Limitations

Pointer symbols specified by the Pointer property do not display over HTML UI components created with the uihtml function.

PointerShapeCData — Custom pointer symbol

16-by-16 matrix (default) | 32-by-32 matrix

Custom pointer symbol, specified as a 16-by-16 matrix (for a 16-by-16 pixel pointer), or as a 32-by-32 matrix (for a 32-by-32 pixel pointer). The figure uses this pointer symbol when you set the Pointer property to 'custom'.

Each element in the matrix defines the brightness level for 1 pixel in the pointer, where the element can have one of these values:

• 1 — Black pixel.

• 2 — White pixel.

• NaN — Transparent pixel, such that underlying screen shows through.

Element (1,1) of the matrix corresponds to the pixel in the upper left corner in the pointer.

PointerShapeHotSpot — Active pixel of pointer

[1 1] (default) | two-element vector

Active pixel of the pointer, specified as a two-element vector. The vector contains the row and column indices of a particular element in the PointerShapeCData matrix that corresponds to the desired active pixel. The default value of [1 1] corresponds to the pixel in the upper left corner of the pointer.

If you specify a value outside the range of the PointerShapeCData matrix, then the pointer uses the default active pixel of [1 1] instead.

This property applies only when the Pointer property is set to 'custom'.

Interactivity

Visible — State of visibility

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

State of visibility, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

• 'on' — Display the object.

• 'off' — Hide the object without deleting it. You still can access the properties of an invisible UI component.

To make your app start faster, set the Visible property to 'off' for all components that do not need to appear at startup.

Changing the size of an invisible container triggers the SizeChangedFcn callback when it becomes visible.

Changing the Visible property of a container does not change the values of the Visible properties of child components. This is true even though hiding the container causes the child components to be hidden.

CurrentAxes — Target axes in current figure

Axes object | PolarAxes object | graphics object

Target axes in the current figure, specified as an Axes object, a PolarAxes object, or a graphics object such as a HeatmapChart.

In all figures for which axes children exist, there is always a current axes. The current axes does not have to be the topmost axes, and setting an axes to be the current axes does not restack it above all other axes. If a figure contains no axes, the get(gcf,'CurrentAxes') command returns an empty array.

Query the CurrentAxes property to get the current axes object without forcing the creation of an axes if one does not exist.

CurrentObject — Current object

child object of figure

Current object, returned as a child object of the figure. MATLAB sets the CurrentObject property to the last object clicked in the figure. This object is the front-most object in the view.

The HitTest property of the child object controls whether that object can become the CurrentObject.

Clicking an object whose HandleVisibility property is 'off' sets the CurrentObject property to an empty GraphicsPlaceholder array. To avoid returning the empty array when users click a hidden object, set HitTest property of the hidden object to 'off'.

Use the gco command as an alternative for getting the value of this property.

CurrentPoint — Current point

two-element vector

Current point, returned as a two-element vector. The vector contains the (x, y) coordinates of the mouse pointer, measured from the lower-left corner of the figure. The values are in units specified by the Units property.

The coordinates update when you do any of the following:

• Press the mouse button within the figure.

• Release the mouse button after pressing it within the figure.

• Press the mouse button within the figure, and then release it outside the figure.

• Rotate the scroll wheel within the figure.

• Move the mouse within the figure (without pressing any buttons), provided that the WindowButtonMotionFcn property is not empty.

If the figure has a callback that responds to mouse interactions, and you trigger that callback faster than the system can execute the code, the coordinates might not reflect the actual location of the pointer. Instead, they are the location when the callback began execution.

If you use the CurrentPoint property to plot points, the coordinate values might contain rounding error.

CurrentCharacter — Current character

'' (default) | character

Current character, returned as the character of the last key pressed. This property updates when the figure has focus while the user presses a key.

Selected — Selection state (not recommended)

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

Note

The behavior of the Selected property changed in R2014b, and it is not recommended. It no longer has any effect on objects of this type. This property might be removed in a future release.

SelectionHighlight — Display of selection handles (not recommended)

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

Note

Use of the SelectionHighlight property is not recommended. This property has no effect on figures. This property might be removed in a future release.

SelectionType — Mouse selection type

'normal' (default) | 'extend' | 'alt' | 'open'

Mouse selection type, returned as 'normal', 'extend', 'alt', or 'open'. This property provides information about the last mouse button press that occurred in the figure.

This table lists the possible SelectionType values and the user actions that produce those values.

Value	Corresponding Action
'normal'	Click the left mouse button.
'extend'	Any of the following: Shift-click the left mouse button. Click the middle mouse button. Click both left and right mouse buttons.
'alt'	Either of the following: Control-click the left mouse button. Click the right mouse button.
'open'	Double-click any mouse button.

ContextMenu — Context menu

empty GraphicsPlaceholder array (default) | ContextMenu object

Context menu, specified as a ContextMenu object created using the uicontextmenu function. Use this property to display a context menu when you right-click on a component.

Common Callbacks

ButtonDownFcn — Button down callback

'' (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector

Button down callback, specified as one of these values:

• A function handle.

• A cell array in which the first element is a function handle. Subsequent elements in the cell array are the arguments to pass to the callback function.

• A character vector containing a valid MATLAB expression (not recommended). MATLAB evaluates this expression in the base workspace.

This callback executes whenever the user clicks a blank area of the figure.

For more information about specifying a callback property value as a function handle, cell array, or character vector, see Specify a Callback Function.

Use the SelectionType property to determine whether the user pressed modifier keys.

CreateFcn — Component creation function

'' (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector

Component creation function, specified as one of these values:

• A function handle.

• A cell array in which the first element is a function handle. Subsequent elements in the cell array are the arguments to pass to the callback function.

• A character vector containing a valid MATLAB expression (not recommended). MATLAB evaluates this expression in the base workspace.

For more information about specifying a callback property value as a function handle, cell array, or character vector, see Specify a Callback Function.

This property specifies a callback function to execute when MATLAB creates the component. MATLAB initializes all component property values before executing the CreateFcn callback. If you do not specify the CreateFcn property, then MATLAB executes a default creation function.

Use the gcbo function in your CreateFcn code to get the component object that is being created.

Setting the CreateFcn property on an existing component object has no effect.

DeleteFcn — Component deletion function

'' (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector

Component deletion function, specified as one of these values:

• A function handle.

• A cell array in which the first element is a function handle. Subsequent elements in the cell array are the arguments to pass to the callback function.

• A character vector containing a valid MATLAB expression (not recommended). MATLAB evaluates this expression in the base workspace.

For more information about specifying a callback property value as a function handle, cell array, or character vector, see Specify a Callback Function.

The DeleteFcn property specifies a callback function to execute when MATLAB deletes the component (for example, when the user closes the window). MATLAB executes the DeleteFcn callback before destroying the properties of the component object. If you do not specify the DeleteFcn property, then MATLAB executes a default deletion function.

Use the gcbo function in your DeleteFcn code to get the component object that is being deleted.

Keyboard Callbacks

KeyPressFcn — Key-press callback

'' (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector

Key-press callback, specified as one of these values:

• A function handle.

• A cell array in which the first element is a function handle. Subsequent elements in the cell array are the arguments to pass to the callback function.

• A character vector containing a valid MATLAB expression (not recommended). MATLAB evaluates this expression in the base workspace.

This callback function executes when the user presses a key while the figure has focus. If the user presses a key on a UIControl or Table component, the callback does not execute unless the Enable property is set to 'off' or 'inactive'.

If the user presses multiple keys at approximately the same time, MATLAB detects all the keys.

The KeyPressFcn callback can access specific information about the user’s interaction with the keyboard. MATLAB passes this information in a KeyData object as the second argument to your callback function. This table lists the properties of this object.

Property	Description	Examples:
		a	=	Shift	Shift-a
Character	The character that appears as a result of pressing the key or keys. Pressing certain keys or modifying keys with the Ctrl key might return unprintable characters in this property. Pressing certain keys alone (such as Ctrl, Alt, Shift) does not generate Character data.	'a'	'='	''	'A'
Modifier	A cell array containing the names of the modifier keys pressed, such as 'control', 'alt', or 'shift'. If no modifier keys are pressed, the cell array is empty.	{1x0 cell}	{1x0 cell}	{'shift'}	{'shift'}
Key	The key pressed, identified by the lowercase label on the key (such as 'pageup'), or a descriptive word (such as 'space').	'a'	'equal'	'shift'	'a'
Source	The object that has focus when the key is pressed.	Figure object	Figure object	Figure object	Figure object
EventName	The action that caused the callback function to execute.	'KeyPress'	'KeyPress'	'KeyPress'	'KeyPress'

The KeyPressFcn callback is not supported in the Live Editor.

For more information about specifying callback property values and using callback arguments, see Specify a Callback Function.

The CurrentCharacter property also returns character information.

KeyReleaseFcn — Key-release callback

'' (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector

Key-release callback, specified as one of these values

• A function handle.

• A cell array in which the first element is a function handle. Subsequent elements in the cell array are the arguments to pass to the callback function.

• A character vector containing a valid MATLAB expression (not recommended). MATLAB evaluates this expression in the base workspace.

This callback function executes when the user releases a key while the figure has focus. If the user releases a key on a UIControl or Table component, the callback does not execute unless the Enable property is set to 'off' or 'inactive'.

The KeyReleaseFcn callback can access specific information about the user’s interaction with the keyboard. MATLAB passes this information in a KeyData object as the second argument to your callback function. This table lists the properties of this object.

Property	Description	Examples:
		a	=	Shift	Shift-a
Character	The character that corresponds to the key or keys that are released. Pressing certain keys or modifying keys with the Ctrl key might return unprintable characters in this property. Pressing and releasing certain keys alone (such as Ctrl, Alt, Shift) does not generate Character data.	'a'	'='	''	'A'
Modifier	A cell array containing the names of the modifier keys pressed, such as 'control', 'alt', or 'shift'. If no modifier keys are released, the cell array is empty.	{1x0 cell}	{1x0 cell}	{'shift'}	{'shift'}
Key	The key released, identified by the lowercase label on the key (such as 'pageup'), or a descriptive word (such as 'space').	'a'	'equal'	'shift'	'a'
Source	The object that has focus when the key is released.	Figure object	Figure object	Figure object	Figure object
EventName	The action that caused the callback function to execute.	'KeyRelease'	'KeyRelease'	'KeyRelease'	'KeyRelease'

The KeyReleaseFcn callback is not supported in the Live Editor.

For more information about specifying callback property values and using callback arguments, see Specify a Callback Function.

Window Callbacks

CloseRequestFcn — Close request callback

'closereq' (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector

Close request callback, specified as one of these values:

• A function handle.

• A cell array in which the first element is a function handle. Subsequent elements in the cell array are the arguments to pass to the callback function.

• A character vector containing a valid MATLAB expression (not recommended). MATLAB evaluates this expression in the base workspace.

For more information about specifying a callback property value as a function handle, cell array, or character vector, see Specify a Callback Function.

This callback executes whenever a user attempts to close a figure window. You can, for example, display a dialog box to ask a user to confirm or cancel the close operation or to prevent users from closing a figure that contains a UI.

The basic mechanism is:

1. A user issues the close or close all command from the command line, closes the figure from the computer window manager menu, or closes the figure by quitting MATLAB.

2. The close operation executes the function defined by the figure CloseRequestFcn property. The default value is 'closereq'. The 'closereq' operation unconditionally deletes the figure, destroying the window.

Unless the close request function calls the delete or close function, MATLAB never closes the figure. (You can call delete(f) from the command line if you have created a window with a nondestructive close request function.)

Example: Code CloseRequestFcn to Display Dialog Box

This example shows how to code the close request function to display a question dialog box asking the user to confirm the close operation. Save the code to a writable folder on your system.

function my_closereq(src,event)
% Close request function 
% to display a question dialog box 
selection = questdlg('Close This Figure?', ...
    'Close Request Function', ...
    'Yes','No','Yes'); 
switch selection 
    case 'Yes'
        delete(gcf)
    case 'No'
        return 
end
end

Now, create a figure specifying my_closereq for the CloseRequestFcn. Notice that the function handle does not explicitly refer to any input arguments, but the function declaration includes two input arguments. MATLAB passes these arguments automatically when the callback executes. The first argument is the UI component that triggered the callback, and the second argument provides event data to the callback function.

figure('CloseRequestFcn',@my_closereq)

Close the figure window and the question dialog box displays.

SizeChangedFcn — Size changed callback

'' (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector

Size changed callback, specified as one of these values:

• A function handle.

• A cell array in which the first element is a function handle. Subsequent elements in the cell array are the arguments to pass to the callback function.

• A character vector containing a valid MATLAB expression (not recommended). MATLAB evaluates this expression in the base workspace.

Define this callback to customize the app layout when the size of this container changes (e.g., when the user resizes the window).

The SizeChangedFcn callback executes when:

• This container becomes visible for the first time.

• This container is visible while its size changes.

• This container becomes visible for the first time after its size changes. This situation occurs when the size changes while the container is invisible, and then it becomes visible later.

Other important points to consider when defining a SizeChangedFcn callback:

• Consider delaying the display of this container until after all the variables that the SizeChangedFcn uses are defined. This practice can prevent the SizeChangedFcn callback from returning an error. To delay the display of the container, set its Visible property to 'off'. Then, set the Visible property to 'on' after you define the variables that your SizeChangedFcn callback uses.

• If your app contains nested containers, they resize from the inside out.

• To access the container that is resizing from within the SizeChangedFcn, refer to the source object (the first input argument in the callback) or use the gcbo function.

Tip

As an easy alternative to specifying a SizeChangedFcn callback, you can set the Units property of all the objects you put inside a container to 'normalized'. Doing so makes those components scale proportionally with the container.

Example: Edit Field With Constant Height

Use the SizeChangedFcn callback to constrain the size of UI components. For instance, the following code creates a UI that has an edit field at the top of the window. As the user resizes the window, the sbar function restricts its height to 20 pixels. The function also sets the edit field’s width to the width of the figure. Use dot notation to set and query properties.

function myui
f = figure('Visible','off','SizeChangedFcn',@sbar); 
u = uicontrol('Style','edit','Tag','StatusBar');
f.Visible = 'on';

    function sbar(src,event)
       old_units = src.Units;
       src.Units = 'pixels';
       sbar_units = u.Units;
       u.Units = 'pixels';
       fpos = src.Position;
       upos = [1 fpos(4) - 20 fpos(3) 20];
       u.Position = upos;
       u.Units = sbar_units;
       src.Units = old_units;
       u.Visible = 'on';
    end
end

Notice that the function handle for sbar does not explicitly refer to any input arguments, but the function declaration includes two input arguments. MATLAB passes these arguments automatically when the callback executes. The first argument is the UI component that triggered the callback, and the second argument provides event data to the callback function.

WindowButtonDownFcn — Window button down callback

'' (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector

Window button down callback, specified as one of these values:

• A function handle.

• A cell array in which the first element is a function handle. Subsequent elements in the cell array are the arguments to pass to the callback function.

• A character vector containing a valid MATLAB expression (not recommended). MATLAB evaluates this expression in the base workspace.

This callback executes when the user clicks anywhere in the figure or one of its child objects. If the user clicks a UIControl or Table component, the callback does not execute unless the Enable property is set to 'off' or 'inactive'.

For more information about specifying a callback property value as a function handle, cell array, or character vector, see Specify a Callback Function.

WindowButtonMotionFcn — Window button motion callback

'' (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector

Window button motion callback, specified as one of these values:

• A function handle.

• A cell array in which the first element is a function handle. Subsequent elements in the cell array are the arguments to pass to the callback function.

• A character vector containing a valid MATLAB expression (not recommended). MATLAB evaluates this expression in the base workspace.

Typically, this callback function executes whenever the user moves the pointer within the figure. However, if the user clicks and holds the mouse button and moves the pointer outside the figure, the WindowButtonMotionFcn callback executes while the pointer is outside the figure.

For more information about specifying a callback property value as a function handle, cell array, or character vector, see Specify a Callback Function.

Example: Simple Drawing App

This example shows how to create a drawing app that uses the WindowButtonMotionFcn callback. Copy and paste the following code into the editor and run it. Then use the mouse to draw a set of connected line segments:

• Click and drag inside the axes to draw the first line segment.

• Click again to define an anchor point for the line segment.

• Move the mouse to add another line segment.

• Right-click to end drawing mode.

function drawing_app
figure('WindowButtonDownFcn',@wbdcb)
ah = axes('SortMethod','childorder');
axis ([1 10 1 10])
title('Click and drag')
   function wbdcb(src,event)
     seltype = src.SelectionType;
     if strcmp(seltype,'normal')
        src.Pointer = 'circle';
        cp = ah.CurrentPoint;
        xinit = cp(1,1);
        yinit = cp(1,2);
        hl = line('XData',xinit,'YData',yinit,...
        'Marker','p','color','b');
        src.WindowButtonMotionFcn = @wbmcb;
        src.WindowButtonUpFcn = @wbucb;
     end    
 
        function wbmcb(src,event)
           cp = ah.CurrentPoint;
           xdat = [xinit,cp(1,1)];
           ydat = [yinit,cp(1,2)];
           hl.XData = xdat;
           hl.YData = ydat;
           drawnow
        end
   
        function wbucb(src,event)
           last_seltype = src.SelectionType;
           if strcmp(last_seltype,'alt')
              src.Pointer = 'arrow';
              src.WindowButtonMotionFcn = '';
              src.WindowButtonUpFcn = '';
           else
              return
           end
        end
  end
end

Notice that the callback function handles do not explicitly refer to any input arguments, but the function declarations include two input arguments. MATLAB passes these arguments automatically when the callbacks execute. The first argument is the UI component that triggered the callback, and the second argument provides event data to the callback function.

WindowButtonUpFcn — Window button-up callback

'' (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector

Window button-up callback, specified as one of these values:

• A function handle.

• A cell array in which the first element is a function handle. Subsequent elements in the cell array are the arguments to pass to the callback function.

• A character vector containing a valid MATLAB expression (not recommended). MATLAB evaluates this expression in the base workspace.

This callback executes when the user releases the mouse button anywhere in the figure or one of its child objects. If the user releases the mouse button on a UIControl or Table component, the callback does not execute unless the Enable property is set to 'off' or 'inactive'.

The button-up actions are associated with button-down actions in the figure. The mouse pointer must be inside the figure when the button-down action occurs, but it can be outside the figure when the button-up action occurs.

For more information about specifying a callback property value as a function handle, cell array, or character vector, see Specify a Callback Function.

WindowKeyPressFcn — Window key-press callback

'' (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector

Window key-press callback, specified as one of these values

• A function handle.

• A cell array in which the first element is a function handle. Subsequent elements in the cell array are the arguments to pass to the callback function.

• A character vector containing a valid MATLAB expression (not recommended). MATLAB evaluates this expression in the base workspace.

This callback function executes when the user presses a key while the figure or a child object has focus.

This callback function can access specific information about the user’s interaction with the keyboard. MATLAB passes this information in a KeyData object as the second argument to your callback function. This table lists the properties of this object.

Property	Description	Examples:
		a	=	Shift	Shift-a
Character	The character that appears as a result of pressing the key or keys. Pressing certain keys or modifying keys with the Ctrl key might return unprintable characters in this property. Pressing certain keys alone (such as Ctrl, Alt, Shift) does not generate Character data.	'a'	'='	''	'A'
Modifier	A cell array containing the names of the modifier keys pressed, such as 'control', 'alt', or 'shift'. If no modifier keys are pressed, the cell array is empty.	{1x0 cell}	{1x0 cell}	{'shift'}	{'shift'}
Key	The key pressed, identified by the lowercase label on the key (such as 'pageup'), or a descriptive word (such as 'space').	'a'	'equal'	'shift'	'a'
Source	The object that has focus when the key is pressed.	Figure object	Figure object	Figure object	Figure object
EventName	The action that caused the callback function to execute.	'WindowKeyPress'	'WindowKeyPress'	'WindowKeyPress'	'WindowKeyPress'

The WindowKeyPressFcn callback is not supported in the Live Editor.

For more information about specifying callback property values and using callback arguments, see Specify a Callback Function.

WindowKeyReleaseFcn — Window key-release callback

'' (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector

Window key-release callback, specified as one of these values

• A function handle.

• A cell array in which the first element is a function handle. Subsequent elements in the cell array are the arguments to pass to the callback function.

• A character vector containing a valid MATLAB expression (not recommended). MATLAB evaluates this expression in the base workspace.

This callback function executes when the user releases a key while the figure or a child object has focus.

This callback function can access specific information about the user’s interaction with the keyboard. MATLAB passes this information in a KeyData object as the second argument to your callback function. This table lists the properties of this object.

Property	Description	Examples:
		a	=	Shift	Shift-a
Character	The character that corresponds to the key or keys that are released. Pressing certain keys or modifying keys with the Ctrl key might return unprintable characters in this property. Pressing and releasing certain keys alone (such as Ctrl, Alt, Shift) does not generate Character data.	'a'	'='	''	'A'
Modifier	A cell array containing the names of the modifier keys pressed, such as 'control', 'alt', or 'shift'. If no modifier keys are released, the cell array is empty.	{1x0 cell}	{1x0 cell}	{'shift'}	{'shift'}
Key	The key released, identified by the lowercase label on the key (such as 'pageup'), or a descriptive word (such as 'space').	'a'	'equal'	'shift'	'a'
Source	The object that has focus when the key is released.	Figure object	Figure object	Figure object	Figure object
EventName	The action that caused the callback function to execute.	'WindowKeyRelease'	'WindowKeyRelease'	'WindowKeyRelease'	'WindowKeyRelease'

The WindowKeyReleaseFcn callback is not supported in the Live Editor.

For more information about specifying callback property values and using callback arguments, see Specify a Callback Function.

WindowScrollWheelFcn — Window scroll wheel callback

'' (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector

Window scroll wheel callback, specified as one of these values:

• A function handle.

• A cell array in which the first element is a function handle. Subsequent elements in the cell array are the arguments to pass to the callback function.

• A character vector containing a valid MATLAB expression (not recommended). MATLAB evaluates this expression in the base workspace.

This callback executes when the user moves the scroll wheel while the figure or any if its children have focus. However, other objects can capture scroll wheel movement and interfere with the execution of this callback.

Executing this callback has no effect on the CurrentObject and SelectionType properties.

The WindowScrollWheelFcn callback can access specific information when the user rotates the scroll wheel. MATLAB passes this information in a ScrollWheelData object as the second argument to your callback function. This table lists the properties of the ScrollWheelData object.

Property	Contents
VerticalScrollCount	A positive or negative number that indicates the direction and number of scroll wheel clicks. Scrolling down returns a positive value. Scrolling up returns a negative value. The vertical scroll count is the sum of all scroll wheel clicks that occurred since the last time the callback executed. Typically, the value is 1 or -1. However, the scroll count can have a larger magnitude if the WindowScrollWheelFcn callback takes a long time to return, or if the user spins the scroll wheel very fast.
VerticalScrollAmount	The number of lines scrolled for each click of the scroll wheel. Typically, the value is 3, but some systems might return a different value depending on how the mouse is configured.
Source	Object that executes the callback.
EventName	'WindowScrollWheel'

The WindowScrollWheelFcn callback is not supported in the Live Editor.

For more information about specifying callback property values and using callback arguments, see Specify a Callback Function.

Example: App for Changing x-Axis Limits

This example shows how to create an app that displays a plot. The user can scroll to change the limits of the x-axis. Copy and paste the following code into the editor and run it.

function scroll_wheel
% Shows how to use WindowScrollWheelFcn property
%
   f = figure('WindowScrollWheelFcn',@figScroll,'Name','Scroll Wheel Demo');
   x = [0:.1:40];
   y = 4.*cos(x)./(x+2);
   a = axes; 
   h = plot(x,y);
   title('Rotate the scroll wheel')

   function figScroll(src,event)
      if event.VerticalScrollCount > 0 
         xd = h.XData;
         inc = xd(end)/20;
         x = [0:.1:xd(end)+inc];
         re_eval(x)
      elseif event.VerticalScrollCount < 0 
         xd = h.XData;
         inc = xd(end)/20;
         x = [0:.1:xd(end)-inc+.1]; % Don't let xd = 0;
         re_eval(x)
      end
   end

   function re_eval(x)
      y = 4.*cos(x)./(x+2);
      h.YData = y;
      h.XData = x;
      a.XLim = [0 x(end)];
      drawnow
   end
end

Notice that the function handle for figScroll does not explicitly refer to any input arguments, but the function declaration includes two input arguments. MATLAB passes these arguments automatically when the callback executes. The first argument is the UI component that triggered the callback, and the second argument provides event data to the callback function.

ResizeFcn — Resize callback function (not recommended)

'' (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector

Resize callback function, specified as one of these values:

• A function handle.

• A cell array in which the first element is a function handle. Subsequent elements in the cell array are the arguments to pass to the callback function.

• A character vector containing a valid MATLAB expression (not recommended). MATLAB evaluates this expression in the base workspace.

The ResizeFcn callback is not supported in the Live Editor.

Note

Use of the ResizeFcn property is not recommended. It might be removed in a future release. Use SizeChangedFcn instead.

Data Types: function_handle | cell | char

Callback Execution Control

Interruptible — Callback interruption

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

Callback interruption, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

The Interruptible property determines if a running callback can be interrupted. There are two callback states to consider:

• The running callback is the currently executing callback.

• The interrupting callback is a callback that tries to interrupt the running callback.

Whenever MATLAB invokes a callback, that callback attempts to interrupt the running callback (if one exists). The Interruptible property of the object owning the running callback determines if interruption is allowed:

• A value of 'on' allows other callbacks to interrupt the object's callbacks. The interruption occurs at the next point where MATLAB processes the queue, such as when there is a drawnow, figure, getframe, waitfor, or pause.

  • If the running callback contains one of these commands, then MATLAB stops the execution of the callback at this point and executes the interrupting callback. MATLAB resumes executing the running callback when the interrupting callback completes.

  • If the running callback does not contain one of these commands, then MATLAB finishes executing the callback without interruption.

• A value of 'off' blocks all interruption attempts. The BusyAction property of the object owning the interrupting callback determines if the interrupting callback is discarded or put into a queue.

Note

Callback interruption and execution behave differently in these situations:

• If the interrupting callback is a DeleteFcn, CloseRequestFcn, or SizeChangedFcn callback, then the interruption occurs regardless of the Interruptible property value.

• If the running callback is currently executing the waitfor function, then the interruption occurs regardless of the Interruptible property value.

• Timer objects execute according to schedule regardless of the Interruptible property value.

• MATLAB does not save the state of properties or the display when an interruption occurs. For example, the object returned by the gca or gcf command might change when another callback executes.

See Interrupt Callback Execution for an example that shows how the Interruptible and BusyAction properties affect the behavior of a program.

BusyAction — Callback queuing

'queue' (default) | 'cancel'

Callback queuing specified as 'queue' (default) or 'cancel'. The BusyAction property determines how MATLAB handles the execution of interrupting callbacks. There are two callback states to consider:

• The running callback is the currently executing callback.

• The interrupting callback is a callback that tries to interrupt the running callback.

The BusyAction property of the source of the interrupting callback determines how MATLAB handles its execution. The BusyAction property has these values:

• 'queue' — Put the interrupting callback in a queue to be processed after the running callback finishes execution.

• 'cancel' — Do not execute the interrupting callback.

Whenever MATLAB invokes a callback, that callback always attempts to interrupt an executing callback. The Interruptible property of the object whose callback is running determines if interruption is allowed. If Interruptible is set to:

• on — Interruption occurs at the next point where MATLAB processes the queue. This is the default.

• off — The BusyAction property (of the object owning the interrupting callback) determines if MATLAB enqueues or ignores the interrupting callback.

See Interrupt Callback Execution for an example that shows how the BusyAction and Interruptible properties affect the behavior of a program.

HitTest — Ability to become current object

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

Ability to become current object, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

• 'on' — Sets the current object to the Figure when the user clicks the component in the running app. Both the CurrentObject property of the Figure and the gco function return the Figure as the current object.

• 'off' — The current object does not update when the user clicks the figure in the running app.

BeingDeleted — Deletion status

on/off logical value

This property is read-only.

Deletion status, returned as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

MATLAB sets the BeingDeleted property to 'on' when the DeleteFcn callback begins execution. The BeingDeleted property remains set to 'on' until the component object no longer exists.

Check the value of the BeingDeleted property to verify that the object is not about to be deleted before querying or modifying it.

Parent/Child

Parent — Figure parent

root object

Figure parent, returned as a root object.

Children — Children of figure

empty GraphicsPlaceholder array (default) | 1-D array of objects

Children of the Figure, returned as an empty GraphicsPlaceholder or a 1-D array of objects.

You cannot add or remove children using the Children property. Use this property to view the list of children or to reorder the children. The order of the children reflects the front-to-back order (stacking order) of the components on the screen. MATLAB might not allow you to change the order of certain objects. For example, UIControl and Legend objects are always in front of Axes objects.

To add a child to this list, set the Parent property of the child component to the Figure object.

Objects with the HandleVisibility property set to 'off' are not listed in the Children property.

HandleVisibility — Visibility of figure object

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

Visibility of figure object, specified as 'on', 'callback', or 'off'.

This property determines whether a figure is in its parent’s (the root’s) list of children. HandleVisibility is useful for preventing command-line users from accidentally drawing into, or deleting a figure that contains only user interface components (such as a dialog box).

If an object is not in its parent's list of children, functions that find objects by searching the object hierarchy or querying properties cannot return that object. Such functions include get, findobj, gca, gcf, gco, newplot, cla, clf, and close.

When the HandleVisibility property value is restricted using the 'callback' or 'off' settings, the object does not appear in the parent object Children property, figures do not appear in the root CurrentFigure property, objects do not appear in the root CallbackObject property or in the figure CurrentObject property, and axes do not appear in their parent CurrentAxes property.

Set the root ShowHiddenHandles property to 'on' to make all objects visible, regardless of their HandleVisibility settings (this does not affect the values of the HandleVisibility properties).

Identifiers

Name — Name

'' (default) | character vector | string scalar

Name of the figure, specified as a character vector or a string scalar.

Example: figure('Name','Results') sets the name of the figure to 'Results'.

By default, the name is 'Figure n', where n is an integer. When you specify the Name property, the title of the figure becomes 'Figure n: name'. If you want only the Name value to appear, set IntegerHandle or NumberTitle to 'off'.

Number — Number

integer | []

This property is read-only.

Number of the figure, returned as an integer or empty array. You can refer to a figure using this value. For example, figure(2) makes the figure with a Number property value of 2 the current figure.

If the IntegerHandle property is set to 'off', the Number property is empty.

If IntegerHandle is 'on', the Number property is an integer. When you delete the figure, MATLAB reuses the number for the next figure.

NumberTitle — Use number title

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

Number title, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

When you set this property to 'on', the title of the figure includes the phrase 'Figure n', where n is the value of the Number property.

Both the NumberTitle and IntegerHandle must be set to 'on' to show to show the number in the title.

IntegerHandle — Use integer handle

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

Use integer handle, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

If you set the IntegerHandle property to 'on', MATLAB finds the lowest integer value that is not used by an existing figure and sets the Number property to that value. If you delete a figure, MATLAB can reuse its number on a new figure.

If you set the IntegerHandle property to 'off', MATLAB does not assign an integer value to the figure, and it sets the Number property to an empty array.

To show the figure number in the title bar, both IntegerHandle and NumberTitle must be set to 'on'.

FileName — File name

character vector | string scalar

File name for saving the figure, specified as a character vector or a string scalar. GUIDE uses this property to store the name of the UI layout file that it saves.

Example: figure('FileName','myfile.fig') sets the file name to myfile.fig.

Type — Type of Figure object

'figure'

This property is read-only.

Type of Figure object, returned as 'figure'. Use this property to find all objects of a given type within a plotting hierarchy.

Tag — Object identifier

'' (default) | character vector | string scalar

Object identifier, specified as a character vector or string scalar. You can specify a unique Tag value to serve as an identifier for an object. When you need access to the object elsewhere in your code, you can use the findobj function to search for the object based on the Tag value.

UserData — User data

[] (default) | array

User data, specified as any array. Specifying UserData can be useful for sharing data within apps. See Share Data Among Callbacks for more information.

Version History

Introduced before R2006a

R2023b: GraphicsSmoothing property will be removed in a future release

The GraphicsSmoothing property will be removed in a future release. All graphics will be smooth when the property is removed.

R2022a: Renderer and RendererMode properties will have no effect in a future release

The Renderer and RendererMode properties of figures will have no effect in a future release. It will no longer be necessary to change the renderer when these properties are disabled.

R2020a: UIContextMenu property is not recommended

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.

R2016a: PaperPositionMode default value changed to 'auto'

The default value of the PaperPositionMode property has changed to 'auto'. Previously, the default value was 'manual'.

To change the default value, set the default value of the root object. Setting this value affects only new figures in the current MATLAB session, for example:

set(groot,'defaultFigurePaperPositionMode','manual')