MATLAB: How to set focus in GUI

guiscreen focus

In a data entry GUI program made in GUIDE I want to control the cursor movement from one Edit Text Box to the next: When the user finishes input in an Edit Text Box and press Enter, the cursor should automatically move to the next Edit Text Box without using the mouse. In the following callback function for the Edit Text Box Input_day I want the cursor to move to the box Input_num_var when the user press Enter (the figure with boxes has the name Figure_temp_02):

function Input_day_Callback(hObject, eventdata, handles) 
  disp(['Input_num_var.Enable   1: ' handles.Input_num_var.Enable]);
  handles.Input_num_var.Enable = 'on';
  disp(['Input_num_var.Enable   2: ' handles.Input_num_var.Enable]);
  disp(['Input_num_var.Selected 1: ' handles.Input_num_var.Selected]);
  handles.Input_num_var.Selected = 'on';
  disp(['Input_num_var.Selected 2: ' handles.Input_num_var.Selected]);
  handles.Figure_temp_02.CurrentObject = handles.Input_num_var;
  disp(['Figure_temp_02.CurrentObject.Tag 2: ' handles.Figure_temp_02.CurrentObject.Tag]);
  guidata(hObject, handles);
  drawnow;
  refresh;

When executed the following is shown in the Command Window, but the cursor does not move to Input_num_var box:

Input_num_var.Enable   1: on
Input_num_var.Enable   2: on
Input_num_var.Selected 1: off
Input_num_var.Selected 2: on
Figure_temp_02.CurrentObject.Tag 2: Input_num_var

Best Answer

Leif - since you are using GUIDE, why not just use the tab key with custom tabbing behaviour to define how focus shifts from one edit control to another? Else you could try using uicontrol.

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MATLAB: GUI – change ‘edit’ or ‘popup’ style by number of mouse clicks

James - I couldn't get the popup menu mouse down callback to respond to single or double clicks (this may be intentional with there being no way to intercept these events for this control) but I was able to interact with it if I listen for a particular key. For example, suppose the user has selected the popup menu list and is navigating through it and doesn't find the name that he or she is looking for. If the user then presses a certain key combination, we can then hide the popup menu and display an edit text control that had been previously hidden behind the menu.

This has been tested with R2014a on a Mac, and so I listen for the combination of command and i to insert a new name into the list. In the KeyPressFcn for the popup menu, we have

 function popupmenu1_KeyPressFcn(hObject, eventdata, handles)
 if ~isempty(eventdata.Modifier) && strcmpi(eventdata.Modifier{1},'command') && ...
      strcmpi(eventdata.Key,'i') 
    set(hObject,'Visible','off');
    set(handles.popupedittext,'Visible','on','String','<enter new name>');
    uicontrol(handles.popupedittext);
 end

So if the user presses command and i then we hide the popup menu (by setting its Visible property to off), show the edit text (by doing the opposite we did for the other control) with some default text, and then we set focus to that control using uicontrol. The user can then type the new name and press a key to indicate when complete. If we use the return key to indicate that the name is ready to be added to the list, then the KeyPressFcn for the edit text box would be

 function popupedittext_KeyPressFcn(hObject, eventdata, handles)
 if strcmpi(eventdata.Key,'return')
    uicontrol(handles.popupmenu1);
    set(hObject,'Visible','off');
    if ~isempty(get(hObject,'String'))
        handles.listOfNames = [handles.listOfNames ; get(hObject,'String')];
        set(handles.popupmenu1,'String',handles.listOfNames);
        guidata(hObject,handles);
    end
    set(handles.popupmenu1,'Visible','on','Value',length(handles.listOfNames));
    uicontrol(handles.popupmenu1);
 end

In the above, we wait for the return key to be pressed and then set focus to the popup menu (this it to ensure that focus leaves the edit text control and the complete string that the user typed is available to us). We then do something very similar to before, hiding one control and showing the other. Only if there is a non-empty string in the edit text control do we then take that name and add it to our existing list of names. We then set index to the last item in the popup menu (so that the new name, if exists, is selected). I found that setting focus (using uicontrol) a second time was necessary to ensure that focus remains with the popup menu.

Try the above and see what happens! (And see the attached for an example.)

MATLAB: Respond to the left mouse click button in GUI

there is a problem with what you're trying to accomplish. here is a quick demo you can run. copy and paste into a mfile called clicktest. Here you can see the text field on the lower right updates the X and Y location of a mouse click but doesn't update when you click on a GUI interface (button, either edit boxes, and even the text field).

function clicktest()
    fig = figure
    hax = axes('Units','pixels');
    surf(peaks)
    uicontrol('Style', 'pushbutton', 'String', 'Clear',...
        'Position', [20 20 50 20],...
        'Callback', 'surf(randi(5,49,49)*peaks)');        
% The pushbutton string callback
% calls a MATLAB function
      ustring = uicontrol('Style','text',...
          'Position',[400 45 120 20],...
          'String','clicked objectt')
      edit1= uicontrol('Style','edit',...
          'Position',[400 95 120 20],...
          'String','clicked object')
      edit2= uicontrol('Style','edit',...
          'Position',[400 115 120 20],...
          'String','clicked object')
       set(fig,'WindowButtonDownFcn',{@position,ustring});
end
function position(hobject,event,ustring)
C = get(hobject,'CurrentPoint');
set(ustring,'String',num2str(C));
end

I would go with a radio button group that you put next to each text box.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

MATLAB: GUI – change ‘edit’ or ‘popup’ style by number of mouse clicks

MATLAB: Respond to the left mouse click button in GUI

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