UItabgroup does not save position within UIfigure using saveas or savefig

I am having issues using saveas with UItabgroups. It seems the position of the uitabgroup is not saved when using saveas, and defaults to a smaller portion of the figure when opened again. I have seen a few similar questions with no concrete answers, a few users had suggested it's a "bug" but all other UIfigure properties I add save fine.

%initialize figure
hfig1 = uifigure;
hfig1.WindowState = 'maximized';
htabgroup = uitabgroup(hfig1,"SelectionChangedFcn",@displaySelection);
htabgroup.Position = [0 0 1600 800];

%% Button for save
save_btn = uibutton(hfig1,"Text","Save Figure","Position",[1610 740 75 25]);
save_btn.ButtonPushedFcn = {@saveFig,hfig1};
function saveFig(src,event,hfig)

%Get new file name
prompt2 = {'Would you like to save the figure? If yes, please enter desired name below, otherwise hit okay'};
dlgtitle2 = 'Input';
fieldsize2 = [1 150];
definput2 = {'Figure_file_name'};
fig_file_cell = inputdlg(prompt2,dlgtitle2,fieldsize2,definput2);

%Covnert file name and save
fig_file_save = convertCharsToStrings(char(fig_file_cell));
saveas(hfig,fig_file_save,'fig')
end

[Walter Roberson]

Is there a particular reason you are calling saveas instead of savefig ?

[Madheswaran]

Hi @Bennett

I tried to reproduce the issue with a similar setup but wasn't able to replicate the behavior you're describing. In my testing, both the position and window state were preserved when using 'saveas' function to save the figure and reopening it using 'openfig'.

For debugging I suggest you try the following:

• Check if the issue occurs with a simpler test case (without tabs)
• Check if you are doing any other window manipulations
• Print the figure position and window state before saving and after opening to check what changed in detail

As a workaround, you could also try storing the position and window state explicitly using 'UserData' property of 'UIFigure' in the 'saveFig' function:

fig.UserData.SavedPosition = fig.Position;
fig.UserData.SavedState = fig.WindowState;

While opening the figure, update the 'Position' and 'WindowState' of the figure as per the 'UserData'.

fig = openfig(filename);
if isfield(fig.UserData, 'SavedState')
    fig.WindowState = fig.UserData.SavedState;
end
if isfield(fig.UserData, 'SavedPosition')
    fig.Position = fig.UserData.SavedPosition;
end 

Let me know if this resolves the issue you are facing!

[Bennett]

Hi Walter and Madheswaran, I apologize as I had incorrect wording of what the actual issue is. I have attached an images of what I have seen when I reopen the uifigure, the uifigure does keep it's position but the uitabgroup does not.

[Bennett]

Here is image of uifigure wiht uitabgroup sized correctly

[Walter Roberson]

@Bennett

You did not answer the question of why you are using saveas() instead of savefig() ?

[Bennett]

Hi @Walter Roberson, apologies for missing that. No particular reason, after your intial comment I tried using savefig and it did not work either.

Answer 1

[Madheswaran]

Hello @Bennett

The problem you're experiencing with saving figures appears to be resolved in Update 6 of MATLAB R2022a. I recommend updating your MATLAB to the latest version. You can find the MathWorks documentation on updating an existing installation here: https://mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_env/check-for-software-updates.html

Hope this helps!

[Bennett]

Hi @Madheswaran this fixed all the issues I had. Thanks for the update advice!