Bypass uigetdir in function

Hello everyone,

I am trying to run a script (i.e. script.m) inside my main script (i.e. main_script.m) and there is a uigetdir at the beginning of the script.m to select the folder in which it will work.

The problem is the following, I have to run script.m twice in my main_script.m and I do not want to choose the folder everytime. I also want to specify that I cannot change and/or modify any line in the script.m.

Here is an example of the main_script.m

% main_script.m
cd(dir1)
script % This is the script in which the uigetdir is
cd(dir2)
script % 2nd time but with a different directory

And an example for the script.m

% script.m
uigetdir
...

Is it possible to bypass the uigetdir function in a way that I do not have to click to select the folder ?

I noticed that if I use cd before starting the script, I just have to click "select folder" and it works. Is it possible, then, to automatically click on the "select folder" button without actually clicking ?

Thank you for your answers.

Sincerely

TM

[Stephen23]

You are starting to discover the disadvantages of how beginners write code: repeatedly asking the user for input, cd to every directory, repeated code, uncontrollable scripts....

The best solution is to write better code, e.g.:

1. write functions where any parameters are input arguments, then trivially define that folder once and pass it as an input argument to as many functions as you want.
2. avoid slow and hard-to-debug cd by using efficient absolute/relative filenames.

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/function-basics.html

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_env/specify-file-names.html

[Adam]

If you can't edit the code that does the thing you don't want then No, I can't think of a way to change its behaviour otherwise! You can play around with java.Robot to take control of mouse movements, but that is a vastly overblown solution.

Ideally you would simply edit the script, which should instead be a function rather than a script, too.

[thibault]

Thank you for your answers.

I know the script should have been a function but this script has been the main function for many years and many people, and it is shared between all these people and me. This is why I cannot really modifiy this code...

[Guillaume]

"it is shared between all these people and me. This is why I cannot really modifiy this code..."

For me that's all the more reasons to actually modify it and make it better for everyone. You can bet that you're not the only one who's having to work around that badly designed interface.

Answer 1

[Guillaume]

The proper way to go about this is to separate the processing code into a function, completely independent of user input/output. That's what should have been done in the first place. Then you can have separation functions/scripts to deal with UI exclusively and the input can come from any sources you wish (uigetdir, complex UI, prompts, hard coded paths, database, config files, etc.)

That's really what you should do even though you said you don't want to modify the original code. In the long run, that's the only maintainable option. Anything else involves hacks that will break at some point.

The simplest way to hack this without editing the original code, is to have your local uigetdir function that shadows matlab one. Assuming the code does not cd, having an uigetdir in your code directory would do. Within that function, you can do what you want. E.g:

function selpath = uigetdir(varargin{1})
    %This function completely ignores the inputs normally passed to uigetdir 
    %It also does not display a dialog. Instead it return the preset path
    %to set the path, call the function with
    %    uigetdir(0, pathtoset)
    persistent path;
    if isempty(path)
        path = userpath;  %use default folder
    end
    if nargin > 1 && isnumeric(varargin{1}) && varargin{1} == 0
        path = varargin{2};
    end
    selpath = path;
end

With that example above, you'd call the function in your script to set the path:

uigetdir(0, 'C:\somewhere\some\folder');

The sub-script would then get this folder back each time it calls uigetdir.

However, I must emphasise again that it is a hack that will most likely cause you problems one day (usually, just before an important deadline).

[thibault]

Thank you for your answer.

I get that creating my own uigetdir function would be a hack so I won't try it. Thank you for the proposition.

I will mark that question as answered as I get that there is no simple solution to my problem. Thank you all for your help.