Control spinner appearance and behavior
Spinners are UI components for selecting numeric values from a finite set. Properties control the appearance and behavior of a spinner. Use dot notation to refer to a particular object and property.
fig = uifigure; s = uispinner(fig); s.Value = 20;
Value
— Spinner valueSpinner value, specified as a double-precision number.
When the app user types a value in the spinner, the value is a character vector. When the app user presses the Enter key or changes focus, MATLAB® converts the app-user-entered value to a double-precision number.
MATLAB rejects the value if:
It cannot convert the character vector to a scalar number.
The value is NaN, blank, or a complex number.
The value is a mathematical expression, such as 1+2
.
The value is less than or greater than the values
specified by the Limits
property.
When MATLAB rejects the app-user-entered value,
a tooltip appears describing the value requirements. The spinner immediately
reverts to its previous value and no ValueChangedFcn
runs.
Example: 10
Limits
— Minimum and maximum spinner valuesMinimum and maximum spinner values, specified as a two-element
numeric array. The first value must be less than the second value.
Set array elements to -Inf
or Inf
to
specify no minimum or no maximum, respectively.
If you change Limits
such that the Value
property
is outside the new limits, MATLAB sets the Value
property
to a value within the new limits. For example, suppose the Limits
property
is [0 100]
and the Value
property
is 20. If the Limits
property changes to [50
100]
, then MATLAB sets the Value
property
to 50 (assuming the LowerLimitInclusive
value
is 'on'
.
Example: [-Inf 200]
Example: [-100
Inf]
Example: [-100 200]
Step
— Quantity by which value is incremented or decremented1
(default) | numeric scalarQuantity by which the Value
property increments
or decrements when the app user presses the up and down arrows, respectively.
RoundFractionalValues
— Rounding of fractional values'off'
(default) | on/off logical valueRounding of fractional values entered by app users, 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'
— MATLAB rounds
the value if it results in a valid value and executes the ValueChangedFcn
callback.
If the resulting value is outside the lower or upper Limits
,
then MATLAB rounds to the nearest value that falls within the Limits
and
then executes the callback.
'off'
— MATLAB does
not round a fractional value to a whole number.
If the RoundFractionalValues
property value
changes from 'off'
to 'on'
programmatically,
then MATLAB applies these rules:
If rounding the existing value yields an integer that
lies inside the limit range specified by the Limits
property,
then MATLAB rounds up the existing value.
If rounding the existing value yields an integer that is less than the lower limit, then MATLAB rounds up the existing value.
If rounding the existing value yields an integer that is greater than the upper limit, then MATLAB rounds down the existing value.
If the limits are configured such that there is no
valid integer in the range, then MATLAB sets the RoundFractionalValues
property
value back to 'off'
and displays an error message.
ValueDisplayFormat
— Value display format'%11.4g'
(default) | character vector | string scalarValue display format, specified as a character vector or string scalar.
MATLAB uses sprintf
to display the value using the specified
format.
You can mix text with format operators. For example:
spin = uispinner('ValueDisplayFormat','%.0f MS/s');
The resulting spinner component looks like this:
When the app user clicks in the spinner field, the field shows the value without the text.
For a complete list of supported format operators, see sprintf
.
LowerLimitInclusive
— Lower limit inclusiveness'on'
(default) | on/off logical valueLower limit inclusiveness, 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'
— Value must be equal to or greater than
the lower limit.
'off'
— Value must be greater than the lower
limit.
UpperLimitInclusive
— Upper limit inclusiveness'on'
(default) | on/off logical valueUpper limit inclusiveness, 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'
— Value must be equal
to or less than the upper limit.
'off'
— Value must be less
than the upper limit.
For example, if you want the numeric input to be between 0 and 1, excluding 0 and 1, do all of the following:
Set the Limits
property value
to [0 1]
.
Set the UpperLimitInclusive
property
to 'off'
.
Set the LowerLimitInclusive
property
to 'off'
.
FontName
— Font nameFont name, specified as a system supported font name. The default font depends on the specific operating system and locale.
If the specified font is not available, then MATLAB uses the best match among the fonts available on the system where the app is running.
Example: 'Arial'
FontSize
— Font sizeFont size, specified as a positive number. The units of measurement are pixels. The default font size depends on the specific operating system and locale.
Example: 14
FontWeight
— Font weight'normal'
(default) | 'bold'
Font weight, specified as one of these values:
'normal'
— Default weight
as defined by the particular font
'bold'
— Thicker character
outlines than 'normal'
Not all fonts have a bold font weight. Therefore, specifying a bold font weight can result in the normal font weight.
FontAngle
— Font angle'normal'
(default) | 'italic'
Font angle, specified as 'normal'
or 'italic'
.
Setting this property to italic
selects a slanted version of the
font, if it is available on the app user’s system.
FontColor
— Font color[0 0 0]
(default) | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | 'r'
| 'g'
| 'b'
| ...Font color, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, or one of the options listed in the table.
RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes are useful for specifying custom colors.
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 character vector or a string scalar 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. Thus, 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' |
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' |
BackgroundColor
— Background color[1 1 1]
(default) | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | 'r'
| 'g'
| 'b'
| ...Background color, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, or one of the color options listed in the table.
RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes are useful for specifying custom colors.
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 character vector or a string scalar 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. Thus, 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' |
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' |
Visible
— State of visibility'on'
(default) | on/off logical valueState 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 UI components that do not need to appear at
startup.
Editable
— Editability of spinner'on'
(default) | on/off logical valueEditability of the spinner, 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
.
Use this property in combination with the Enable
property value to determine if and how the component responds to app user
input:
To make the spinner editable, the arrow buttons operational, and
the associated callback triggerable, set both the
Enable
property and the
Editable
property values to
'on'
.
To make the spinner uneditable, but the arrow buttons operational,
set the Editable
property to
'off'
and the Enable
property to 'on'
.
To make the spinner uneditable and the arrow buttons
unoperational, set the Editable
property to
'off'
and the Enable
property to 'off'
.
Enable
— Operational state of spinner'on'
(default) | on/off logical valueOperational state of the spinner, 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
.
Use this property in combination with the Editable
property value to determine if and how the component responds to app user
input:
To make the spinner editable, the arrow buttons operational, and
the associated callback triggerable, set both the
Enable
property and the
Editable
property values to
'on'
To make the spinner uneditable, but the arrow buttons operational,
set the Editable
property to
'off'
and the Enable
property to 'on'
.
To make the spinner uneditable and the arrow buttons
unoperational, set the Editable
property to
'off'
and the Enable
property to 'off'
.
Tooltip
— Tooltip''
(default) | character vector | cell array of character vectors | string array | 1-D categorical arrayTooltip, specified as a character vector, cell array of character vectors, string array, or 1-D categorical array. Use this property to display a message when the user hovers the pointer over the component at run time. The tooltip displays even when the component is disabled. To display multiple lines of text, specify a cell array of character vectors or a string array. Each element in the array becomes a separate line of text. If you specify this property as a categorical array, MATLAB uses the values in the array, not the full set of categories.
ContextMenu
— Context menuGraphicsPlaceholder
array (default) | ContextMenu
objectContext 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.
Position
— Location and size of spinner[100 100 100 22]
(default) | [left bottom width height]
Location and size of spinner relative to the parent container,
specified as the vector [left bottom width height]
.
This table describes each element in the vector.
Element | Description |
---|---|
left | Distance from the inner left edge of the parent container to the outer left edge of the spinner |
bottom | Distance from the inner bottom edge of the parent container to the outer bottom edge of the spinner |
width | Distance between the right and left outer edges of the spinner |
height | Distance between the top and bottom outer edges of the spinner |
All measurements are in pixel units.
The Position
values are relative to the
drawable area of the parent container. The drawable area is the area
inside the borders of the container and does not include the area occupied by decorations such
as a menu bar or title.
Example: [100 100 100 22]
InnerPosition
— Inner location and size of spinner[100 100 100 22]
(default) | [left bottom width height]
Inner location and size of the spinner, specified as [left bottom
width height]
. Position values are relative to the parent
container. All measurements are in pixel units. This property value is
identical to the Position
property.
OuterPosition
— Outer location and size of spinner[100 100 100 22]]
(default) | [left bottom width height]
This property is read-only.
Outer location and size of spinner, returned as [left bottom
width height]
. Position values are relative to the parent
container. All measurements are in pixel units. This property value is
identical to the Position
property.
HorizontalAlignment
— Horizontal alignment of numbers within spinner'right'
(default) | 'left'
| 'center'
Horizontal alignment of numbers within the spinner, specified as:
'right'
— Numbers align on the right
side of the spinner.
'left'
— Numbers align on the left
side of the spinner.
'center'
— Numbers align in the
center of the spinner.
Layout
— Layout optionsLayoutOptions
array (default) | GridLayoutOptions
objectLayout options, specified as a
GridLayoutOptions
object. This property specifies
options for components that are children of grid layout containers. If the
component is not a child of a grid layout container (for example, it is a
child of a figure or panel), then this property is empty and has no effect.
However, if the component is a child of a grid layout container, you can
place the component in the desired row and column of the grid by setting the
Row
and Column
properties on
the GridLayoutOptions
object.
For example, this code places a spinner in the third row and second column of its parent grid.
g = uigridlayout([4 3]); s = uispinner(g); s.Layout.Row = 3; s.Layout.Column = 2;
To make the spinner span multiple rows or columns, specify the
Row
or Column
property as a
two-element vector. For example, this spinner spans columns
2
through
3
:
s.Layout.Column = [2 3];
ValueChangedFcn
— Value changed callback''
(default) | function handle | cell array | character vectorValue 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.
This callback executes when the user changes focus or presses the Enter key after changing the spinner value. It does not matter whether the user changes the spinner value by typing or by pressing the arrow keys. The callback does not execute if the spinner value changes programmatically.
This callback function can access specific information about the user’s interaction
with the spinner. MATLAB passes this information in a ValueChangedData
object as the second argument to your callback function.
In App Designer, the argument is called event
. You can query the
object properties using dot notation. For example,
event.PreviousValue
returns the previous value of the spinner.
The ValueChangedData
object is not available to
callback functions specified as character vectors.
The following table lists the properties of the ValueChangedData
object.
Property | Value |
---|---|
Value | Value of spinner after app user’s most recent interaction with it |
PreviousValue | Value of spinner before app user’s most recent interaction with it |
Source | Component that executes the callback |
EventName | 'ValueChanged' |
For more information about writing callbacks, see Write Callbacks in App Designer.
ValueChangingFcn
— Value changing callback''
(default) | function handle | cell array | character vectorValue changing 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 as the user clicks and holds the up or down arrow on
the spinner. It does not execute if the Value
property changes
programmatically.
This callback function can access specific information about the user’s interaction
with the spinner. MATLAB passes this information in a ValueChangingData
object as the second argument to your callback
function. In App Designer, the argument is called event
. You can
query the object properties using dot notation. For example,
event.Value
returns the current value of the spinner. The
ValueChangingData
object is not available to
callback functions specified as character vectors.
The following table lists the properties of the ValueChangingData
object.
Property | Value |
---|---|
Value | Current value of the spinner as the app user is interacting with it |
Source | Component that executes the callback |
EventName | 'ValueChanging' |
The Value
property of the Spinner
is not updated until the app user releases the arrow key.
Therefore, to get the values while the arrow key is being pressed, your code must get
the Value
property of the ValueChangingData
object.
The callback executes as follows:
If the app user clicks a spinner up or down arrow, the callback executes
once. For example, suppose that the spinner value is 2, and the
Step
value is 1. If the app user clicks the up arrow,
the callback executes.
If the app user presses and holds a spinner up or down arrow, the callback executes repeatedly. For example, if the app user clicks and holds the up arrow, the callback executes multiple times until the app user releases the up arrow.
For more information about writing callbacks, see Write Callbacks in App Designer.
CreateFcn
— Creation function''
(default) | function handle | cell array | character vectorObject creation function, specified as one of these values:
Function handle.
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.
Character vector containing a valid MATLAB expression (not recommended). MATLAB evaluates this expression in the base workspace.
For more information about specifying a callback as a function handle, cell array, or character vector, see Write Callbacks in App Designer.
This property specifies a callback function to execute when MATLAB creates the object. MATLAB initializes all property values before executing the CreateFcn
callback. If you do not specify the CreateFcn
property, then MATLAB executes a default creation function.
Setting the CreateFcn
property on an existing component has no effect.
If you specify this property as a function handle or cell array, you can access the object that is being created using the first argument of the callback function. Otherwise, use the gcbo
function to access the object.
DeleteFcn
— Deletion function''
(default) | function handle | cell array | character vectorObject deletion function, specified as one of these values:
Function handle.
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.
Character vector containing a valid MATLAB expression (not recommended). MATLAB evaluates this expression in the base workspace.
For more information about specifying a callback as a function handle, cell array, or character vector, see Write Callbacks in App Designer.
This property specifies a callback function to execute when MATLAB deletes the object. MATLAB executes the DeleteFcn
callback before destroying the
properties of the object. If you do not specify the DeleteFcn
property, then MATLAB executes a default deletion function.
If you specify this property as a function handle or cell array, you can access the
object that is being deleted using the first argument of the callback function.
Otherwise, use the gcbo
function to access the
object.
Interruptible
— Callback interruption'on'
(default) | on/off logical valueCallback 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
.
This 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
, uifigure
, getframe
, waitfor
, or pause
command.
If the running callback contains one of those commands, then MATLAB stops the execution of the callback at that 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 those 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.
When an interruption occurs, MATLAB does not save the state of properties or the display. For example, the
object returned by the gca
or gcf
command might change when
another callback executes.
BusyAction
— Callback queuing'queue'
(default) | 'cancel'
Callback queuing, specified as 'queue'
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.
Whenever MATLAB invokes a callback, that callback attempts to interrupt a running callback. The Interruptible
property of the object owning the running callback determines if interruption is permitted. If interruption is not permitted, then the BusyAction
property of the object owning the interrupting callback determines if it is discarded or put in the queue. These are possible values of the BusyAction
property:
'queue'
— Puts the interrupting callback in a queue to be processed after the running callback finishes execution.
'cancel'
— Does not execute the interrupting callback.
BeingDeleted
— Deletion statusThis 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
— Parent containerFigure
object (default) | Panel
object | Tab
object | ButtonGroup
object | GridLayout
objectParent container, specified as a Figure
object
created using the uifigure
function, or one of its child
containers: Tab
, Panel
, ButtonGroup
, or GridLayout
. If no container is specified, MATLAB calls the uifigure
function to create a new Figure
object that serves as the parent container.
HandleVisibility
— Visibility of object handle'on'
(default) | 'callback'
| 'off'
Visibility of the object handle, specified as 'on'
, 'callback'
,
or 'off'
.
This property controls the visibility of the object in its parent's
list of children. When an object is not visible in its parent's list
of children, it is not returned by functions that obtain objects by
searching the object hierarchy or querying properties. These functions
include get
, findobj
, clf
,
and close
. Objects are valid
even if they are not visible. If you can access an object, you can
set and get its properties, and pass it to any function that operates
on objects.
HandleVisibility Value | Description |
---|---|
'on' | The object is always visible. |
'callback' | The object is visible from within callbacks or functions invoked by callbacks, but not from within functions invoked from the command line. This option blocks access to the object at the command-line, but allows callback functions to access it. |
'off' | The object is invisible at all times. This option is useful
for preventing unintended changes to the UI by another function. Set
the HandleVisibility to 'off' to
temporarily hide the object during the execution of that function.
|
Type
— Type of graphics object'uispinner'
This property is read-only.
Type of graphics object, returned as
'uispinner'
.
Tag
— Object identifier''
(default) | character vector | string scalarObject 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) | arrayUser data, specified as any MATLAB array. For example, you can specify a scalar, vector, matrix, cell array, character array, table, or structure. Use this property to store arbitrary data on an object.
If you are working in App Designer, create public or private properties in the app to share data instead of using the UserData
property. For more information, see Share Data Within App Designer Apps.