uitable and use within a figure created with the function figure

I have been attempting to use the function uitable to print a table on a figure generated with the "figure" command.

The table data is within the variable tableData and the function call is

figID = figure;
uitable( figID_Comb, 'Data', tableData, 'Position', [300, 400, 200, 300]);

When I use this call, I get the message

Error using uitable

Functionality not supported with figures created with the figure function. For more information, see Graphics

Support in App Designer.

The help information on the uitable functions states: uit = uitable creates a table user interface component in the current figure and returns the Table UI component object. If there is no figure available, MATLAB® calls the figure function to create one.

The error message and the help information are contradictory - I believe.

Answer 1

[Sahithi Kanumarlapudi]

Hi,

As the error message suggests, 'uitable' cannot be used with figures created using 'figure' function.

I have brought the issue related to the help function on uitable to the notice of our developers. They will investigate the matter further.

[Frank]

I concur with Jeffrey. The documentation and implementation are contradictory and even the examples have been difficult to emulate. As of right now, uitable use in normal work (i.e. not constructing an app but just generating figures for publication and such) is not an option for me and I simply do not try to use it anymore. It would be nice if it was easier to use.

Answer 2

[Walter Roberson]

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/uitable.html#namevaluepairarguments

There is no contradiction. The bit about creating a figure if none is available only applies if no parent is specified. You are supplying a parent.

After that you need to look at the details for the Data option, which says,

• Table array (uifigure-based apps only) — Displays any combination of data types that table arrays support, such as datetime, duration, and categorical.

You are not using a uifigure as the parent.

If there is a fault in the documentation it would be that in the case

uit = uitable(Name,Value) specifies property values of the table UI component using one or more name-value pair arguments.

that it does not explicitly repeat the bit about looking for a parent... in the syntax summary list.

[Frank]

OK. The end result is that with the current documentation/feature set, I just don't use it. But I am just focusing on presenting my specialty area, physics, not programming. I have been using matlab since before it was matlab, just gestating in eisspack, linpack, or minpack. From this user's perspective, it is easier to put tables elsewhere in my work products.

[Walter Roberson]

uitable() for traditional figures accepts a cell array. You can use table2cell() to convert a table object to a cell array. You would not get features like the ability to sort by clicking on table headers, but that should not matter for publication purposes.

Custom color of cells inside uitable() for uifigure() is a much nicer interface than what is available with cell arrays in uitable() for traditional figures, and that does make a difference for publication.