uimenu

Purpose

Create menu objects.

Synopsis

h = uimenu('PropertyName',PropertyValue,...)
hsub = uimenu(h,'PropertyName',PropertyValue,...)

Description

uimenu is a menu object creation function that accepts property name/property value pairs as input arguments. These properties are described under "Object Properties." You can also set and query property values after creating the object by using the set and get functions.

h = uimenu('PropertyName',PropertyValue,...) creates menus that can perform a predefined action. These menus display along the top of the figure on a menu bar. Each menu choice can itself be a menu that displays its submenu when selected. h is the handle of the created menu object.

hsub = uimenu(h,'PropertyName',PropertyValue,...) creates a submenu of the parent menu specified by the handle h. If you do not specify the handle of an existing menu, the current figure becomes the parent and the menu is a top-level menu.

Object Properties

This section lists property names along with the type of values each accepts.

Accelerator
Keyboard equivalent.
A character specifying the keyboard equivalent for the menu item. This allows users to select a particular menu choice by pressing the specified character in conjunction with another key, instead of selecting the menu item with the mouse. The key sequence is platform-specific:
  • For X-Windows and PC based systems, the sequence is Control-Accelerator.
  • For Macintosh systems, the sequence is Command-Accelerator.
    The window focus must be in the figure window when the key sequence is entered.
    • BackGroundColor
    Object color.
    A three-element RGB vector or one of MATLAB's predefined names, specifying the color used to fill the rectangle defined by the menu. The default color is light gray. See the ColorSpec reference page for more information on specifying color.
    ButtonDownFcn
    Callback string, object selection.
    Any legal MATLAB expression, including the name of an M-file or function. When you select the object, the string is passed to the eval function to execute the specified function. Initially the empty matrix.
    CallBack
    Menu action.
    Any legal MATLAB expression, including the name of an M-file or function. When you click on the menu, the string is passed to the eval function to execute the Callback.
    Checked
    Check mark for selected items.
    on Check mark appears next to item, indicating it is selected.
    off (Default.) Check mark is not displayed.
    Children
    Children of uimenu.
    A read-only vector containing the handles of all children of the uimenu object. The children objects of uimenus are other uimenus, which function as submenus.
    Clipping
    Clipping mode.
    on (Default.) Any portion of the menu outside the axes rectangle is not displayed.
    off The menu is not clipped.
    Enable
    Menu enable mode.
    on (Default.) Menu item label appears dimmed, indicating you cannot select it.
    off Menu label does not appear dimmed.
    ForeGroundColor
    Text color.
    A three-element RGB vector or one of MATLAB's predefined names, specifying the color of the text on the menu. The default text color is black. See the ColorSpec reference page for more information on specifying color.
    Interruptible
    Callback interruptibility.
    yes The menu callbacks (ButtonDownFcn and Callback) are interruptible by other callbacks.
    no (Default.) The menu callbacks are not interruptible.
    Label
    Menu label.
    A string specifying the text label on the menu items.
    Parent
    Handle of the uimenu's parent object.
    A read-only property that contains the handle of the uimenu's parent object. The parent of a uimenu is the figure in which it is displayed, or the uimenu of which it is a submenu.
    Position
    Relative menu position.
    Scalar indicating placement on the menu bar or within a menu. Top-level menus are placed from left to right on the menu bar according to the value of their Position property, with 1 representing the left-most position. The individual items within a given menu are placed from top to bottom according to the value of their Position property, with 1 representing the top-most position.
    Separator
    Separator line mode.
    on A dividing line is drawn above the menu item.
    off (Default.) No dividing line is drawn.
    Type
    Type of graphics object.
    A read-only string; always 'uimenu' for a uimenu object.
    UserData
    User-specified data.
    Any matrix you want to associate with the uimenu object. The object does not use this data, but you can retrieve it using the get command.
    Visible
    uimenu visibility.
    on (Default.) uimenu is visible on the screen.
    off uimenu is not visible on the screen.

    Examples

    This example creates a menu labeled Workspace whose choices allow users to create a new figure window, save the variables in the workspace, and exit out of MATLAB.

    f = uimenu('Label','Workspace');
uimenu(f,'Label','Save','Callback','save');
    uimenu(f,'Label','New Figure','Callback','figure');
    uimenu(f,'Label','Save','Callback','save');
    uimenu(f,'Label','Save','Callback','save');
           'Separator','on', 'Accelerator', 'Q');

    See Also

    uicontrol

    (c) Copyright 1994 by The MathWorks, Inc.