MATLAB: Initialize gui

guiguidematlab gui

I'm trying to initialize some parameters/data (defaults) in a GUI and I am using a initialization function in the GUI's opening function to do this. This works fine if I wish to use these settings forever, but I need to be able to change them. So far, I haven't figured out how to get my changes stick. The defaults always get reloaded. Is this because my initialization function is in the gui opening function? Is there another way to initialize a gui? Input args to the gui?

Best Answer

What I do is to load a .mat file in the OpeningFcn function. Check to see if it exists first, otherwise set up your defaults ans create the file. Any time you change something, like the folder you're working in, a scroll bar value, a checkbox, or radio button, etc. Update your "UserSettings" structure and save it out to disk. Like

UserSettings.scrollValue = yourScrollBarValue.
save(yourMatFullFileName, 'UserSettings');

Then in your OpeningFcn:

if exist(yourMatFullFileName, 'file')
  recalledSettings = load(yourMatFullFileName);
else
  % Make up some defaults for UserSettings
  UserSettings.fubar = 42; % Whatever.

  UserSettings.scrollValue = 0.69; % Whatever.
  % Then:
  save(yourMatFullFileName, 'UserSettings');
end

Make sure you read the FAQ: http://matlab.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ#How_can_I_share_data_between_callback_functions_in_my_GUI.3F

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In the call back for that button, just delete the variable that is the handle to the gui and it will vanish.

MATLAB: Save and load all GUIDE GUI variables

Sure. Have a function called "SaveUserSettings" or something like that. Then call that, for example when you're about to shutdown. Then query each control with get() to get the value and save them to a variable called UserSettings. Save the structure UserSettings to your initialization file, for example mygui.mat. Then in your startup OpenFcn function, call a corresponding "LoadUserSettings" function to read the mat file and send all the values to the various controls with set(). Not that hard to do. I do it all the time with nearly all my apps.

The thing you need to be careful of is if you add a control and then try to read in an old .mat file where the UserSettings structure didn't yet have that member in it. In that case, you can do something like this:

initialValuesS = load(strIniFile);
hasField = isfield(initialValuesS, 'UserSettings');
if ~hasField
  % Use set() to send it to the control.
else
  % Set up a default value.  Then use set() to send it to the control.
end

Best Answer

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