inputdlg
Create dialog box to gather user input
Syntax
Description
answer = inputdlg(prompt)
answer = inputdlg(prompt,dlgtitle,dims,definput,opts)opts is set to 'on'. When
opts is a structure, it specifies whether the dialog box is
resizeable in the horizontal direction, whether it is modal, and whether the
prompt text is interpreted.
Examples
Dialog Box to Get User Input
Create a dialog box that contains two text edit fields to get integer and colormap name inputs from users.
prompt = {'Enter matrix size:','Enter colormap name:'};
dlgtitle = 'Input';
dims = [1 35];
definput = {'20','hsv'};
answer = inputdlg(prompt,dlgtitle,dims,definput)
Text Edit Fields of Different Widths
Create an input dialog box titled Customer that
contains three edit fields of different widths.
x = inputdlg({'Name','Telephone','Account'},...
'Customer', [1 50; 1 12; 1 7]); 
Interpret prompt Value with TeX Interpreter
Create a dialog box that uses the options structure to render the prompt using TeX markup.
Define the options for the dialog box by specifying:
A prompt that includes the
\thetacharacter sequenceA dialog title
A default input value of
30An edit field height equal to
1row of text and width equal to40character unitsTeX as the interpreter
Then, create the input dialog by specifying these options.
prompt = {'Enter a value of \theta (in degrees)'};
dlgtitle = 'Theta Value';
definput = {'30'};
dims = [1 40];
opts.Interpreter = 'tex';
answer = inputdlg(prompt,dlgtitle,dims,definput,opts);
Convert Input to Numeric Values
Users can enter scalar or vector values into
inputdlg text edit fields. MATLAB® stores the input as a cell array of character vectors. Convert a
member of the input cell array to a number, using str2num.
Create an input dialog box that asks users to enter numerical data.
answer = inputdlg('Enter space-separated numbers:',... 'Sample', [1 50])
Suppose that the user enters 1 2 3 4 -5 6+7, and then
clicks OK. MATLAB stores the answer as a cell array of character vectors –
{'1 2 3 4 -5 6+7'}
Use str2num to convert the
cell array to numerals.
user_val = str2num(answer{1})
user_val =
1 2 3 4 -5 13Input Arguments
prompt — Text edit field labels
'Input:' (default) | character vector | cell array of character vectors | string array
Text edit field labels, specified as a character vector, cell array of character vectors, or string array. For cell arrays and string arrays, each element specifies an edit field label. Both types of arrays specify a top to bottom sequence of edit fields in the dialog box.
Example: {'First Name','Last Name'}
dlgtitle — Dialog box title
'' (default) | character vector | string scalar
Dialog box title, specified as a character vector or string scalar.
Example: 'Data'
dims — Text edit field height and width
1 (default) | scalar | column vector | row vector | m x 2 array
Text edit field height and width (dimensions), specified as one of these values:
If
dimsis a scalar, then it specifies the height for all edit fields. Height is the distance between the baselines of two lines of text. The width for all edit fields is the maximum that the dialog box allows.If
dimsis a column vector or row vector, then each element specifies the height of each corresponding edit field from the top to the bottom of the dialog box. The width for all edit fields is the maximum that the dialog box allows.If
dimsis an array, then it must be size m-by-2, where m is the number of prompts in the dialog box. Each row refers to the edit field for the corresponding prompt. The first column specifies the height of the edit field in lines of text. The second column specifies the width of that edit field in character units. The width of a character unit equals the width of the letterxwhen using the system font.
Note
With one exception, the height and width of the edit fields do not limit the amount of text that users can enter. When the edit field height is 1, users cannot enter multiple lines of text.
Example: 2 specifies that the height of each edit field
in the dialog box is two lines of text.
Example: [1;2] specifies that the height of the first
(top-most) edit field is one line of text and the height of the second edit
field is two lines of text.
Example: [1 50; 2 10] specifies that the first
(top-most) edit field is one line high and 50 character units wide and that
the second edit field is two lines high and 10 character units
wide.
definput — Default input value or values
{' '} (default) | cell array of character vectors | string array
Default input value or values, specified as a cell array of character vectors or string array.
Example: {'Color','1'}
opts — Dialog box settings
'on' | structure
Dialog box settings specified as 'on' or a structure.
When opts is set to 'on', then users
can resize the dialog box in the horizontal direction. When
opts is a structure, the structure fields specify
the options in the following table.
Field | Values |
|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
Use TeX markup to add
superscripts and subscripts, modify the font type
and color, and include special characters in the
|
Modifiers remain in effect until the end of the text.
Superscripts and subscripts are an exception because they modify only the next character or the
characters within the curly braces. When you set the interpreter to 'tex',
the supported modifiers are as follows.
| Modifier | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
^{ } | Superscript | 'text^{superscript}' |
_{ } | Subscript | 'text_{subscript}' |
\bf | Bold font | '\bf text' |
\it | Italic font | '\it text' |
\sl | Oblique font (usually the same as italic font) | '\sl text' |
\rm | Normal font | '\rm text' |
\fontname{ | Font name — Replace
| '\fontname{Courier} text' |
\fontsize{ | Font size —Replace
| '\fontsize{15} text' |
\color{ | Font color — Replace
red, green,
yellow, magenta,
blue, black,
white, gray,
darkGreen, orange, or
lightBlue. | '\color{magenta} text' |
\color[rgb]{specifier} | Custom font color — Replace
| '\color[rgb]{0,0.5,0.5} text' |
This table lists the supported special characters for the
'tex' interpreter.
| Character Sequence | Symbol | Character Sequence | Symbol | Character Sequence | Symbol |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| α |
| υ |
| ~ |
| ∠ |
|
|
| ≤ |
|
|
| χ |
| ∞ |
| β |
| ψ |
| ♣ |
| γ |
| ω |
| ♦ |
| δ |
| Γ |
| ♥ |
| ϵ |
| Δ |
| ♠ |
| ζ |
| Θ |
| ↔ |
| η |
| Λ |
| ← |
| θ |
| Ξ |
| ⇐ |
| ϑ |
| Π |
| ↑ |
| ι |
| Σ |
| → |
| κ |
| ϒ |
| ⇒ |
| λ |
| Φ |
| ↓ |
| µ |
| Ψ |
| º |
| ν |
| Ω |
| ± |
| ξ |
| ∀ |
| ≥ |
| π |
| ∃ |
| ∝ |
| ρ |
| ∍ |
| ∂ |
| σ |
| ≅ |
| • |
| ς |
| ≈ |
| ÷ |
| τ |
| ℜ |
| ≠ |
| ≡ |
| ⊕ |
| ℵ |
| ℑ |
| ∪ |
| ℘ |
| ⊗ |
| ⊆ |
| ∅ |
| ∩ |
| ∈ |
| ⊇ |
| ⊃ |
| ⌈ |
| ⊂ |
| ∫ |
| · |
| ο |
| ⌋ |
| ¬ |
| ∇ |
| ⌊ |
| x |
| ... |
| ⊥ |
| √ |
| ´ |
| ∧ |
| ϖ |
| ∅ |
| ⌉ |
| 〉 |
| | |
| ∨ |
| 〈 |
| © |
Example: 'on'
Example:
opts.Resize = 'on'
Example:
opts.WindowStyle = 'normal'
Example:
opts.Interpreter = 'tex'
Output Arguments
More About
Tips
MATLAB program execution continues even when a modal input dialog box is active. To block program execution until the user responds, use the
uiwaitfunction.
Users can enter scalar or vector values into Input dialog boxes. Use str2num to convert space-delimited and comma-delimited values into row
vectors and to convert semicolon-delimited values into column vectors. For example, if
answer{1} contains '1 2 3;4 -5 6+7i', the
conversion
produces:
input = str2num(answer{1})
input =
1.0000 2.0000 3.0000
4.0000 -5.0000 6.0000 + 7.0000i