ColorPicker
Description
A color picker UI component allows an app user to select a color from an
interactive palette. Use the ColorPicker
object to modify the appearance and
behavior of a color picker after you create it.
Creation
Create a color picker in an app using the uicolorpicker
function.
Properties
Color Picker
Value
— Selected color
[1 0 0]
(default) | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | "r"
| "g"
| "b"
| ...
Selected color, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name, and returned as an RGB triplet.
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 from0
toF
. 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" |
Icon
— Predefined or custom icon
''
(default) | string scalar | character vector | m
-by-n
-by-3 truecolor image array
Predefined or custom icon, specified as a string scalar, character vector, or
m
-by-n
-by-3 truecolor image array.
Predefined Icon
This table lists the values to specify a predefined icon. Predefined icons appear above a swatch of the currently selected color.
Value | Appearance |
---|---|
'' (default) |
|
'fill' |
|
'line' |
|
'text' |
|
Custom Icon
Specify a custom icon as one of these values:
A string scalar or character vector that specifies the filename of an SVG, JPEG, GIF, or PNG image that is on the MATLAB path. Alternatively, you can specify a full path to the image file.
An
m
-by-n
-by-3 truecolor image array. See Working with Image Types in MATLAB for more information.
If you plan to share an app with others, add the file image to the MATLAB path to facilitate app packaging.
Color
BackgroundColor
— Background color
[0.96 0.96 0.96]
(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 from0
toF
. 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" |
Interactivity
Visible
— State of visibility
'on'
(default) | on/off logical value
State 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.
Enable
— Operational state
'on'
(default) | on/off logical value
Operational state, 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
.
If you set this property to
'on'
, the app user can interact with the component.If you set this property to
'off'
, the component appears dimmed, indicating that the app user cannot interact with it, and that it will not trigger a callback.
Tooltip
— Tooltip
''
(default) | character vector | cell array of character vectors | string array | 1-D categorical array
Tooltip, 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 menu
empty GraphicsPlaceholder
array (default) | ContextMenu
object
Context 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
Position
— Location and size
[100 100 38 22]
(default) | [left bottom width height]
Location and size of the collapsed color picker relative to the parent container,
specified as a vector of the form [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 color picker |
bottom | Distance from the inner bottom edge of the parent container to the outer bottom edge of the color picker |
width | Distance between the right and left outer edges of the color picker |
height | Distance between the top and bottom outer edges of the color picker |
All measurements are in pixel units.
InnerPosition
— Location and size
[100 100 38 22]
(default) | [left bottom width height]
Location and size of the collapsed color picker relative to the parent container,
specified as a vector of the form [left bottom width height]
. This
property is equivalent to the Position
property.
OuterPosition
— Location and size
[100 100 38 22]
(default) | [left bottom width height]
Location and size of the collapsed color picker relative to the parent container,
specified as a vector of the form [left bottom width height]
. This
property is equivalent to the Position
property.
Layout
— Layout options
empty LayoutOptions
array (default) | GridLayoutOptions
object
Layout 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 intended row and column of the grid by setting the Row
and
Column
properties of the GridLayoutOptions
object.
For example, this code places a color picker in the third row and second column of its parent grid.
g = uigridlayout([4 3]); c = uicolorpicker(g); c.Layout.Row = 3; c.Layout.Column = 2;
To make the color picker span multiple rows or columns, specify the
Row
or Column
property as a two-element
vector. For example, this color picker spans columns 2
through
3
.
c.Layout.Column = [2 3];
Callbacks
ValueChangedFcn
— Value changed callback
''
(default) | function handle | cell array | character vector
Value 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.
The ValueChangedFcn
callback executes when the user selects a new
color using the color picker.
This callback function can access specific information about the user’s interaction
with the color picker. MATLAB passes this information in a ValueChangedData
object as the second argument to your callback function.
In App Designer, the argument is named event
. You can get the object
properties using dot notation. For example, event.PreviousValue
gets
the previously selected color. The ValueChangedData
object is not available to callback functions specified as character vectors.
This table lists the properties of the ValueChangedData
object.
Property | Value |
---|---|
Value | New selected color |
PreviousValue | Previously selected color |
Source | Component that executes the callback |
EventName | 'ValueChanged' |
The ValueChangedFcn
callback does not execute when the user
re-selects the currently selected color. The callback also does not execute when the
Value
property changes programmatically.
For more information about callbacks, see Create Callbacks for Apps Created Programmatically.
CreateFcn
— Creation function
''
(default) | function handle | cell array | character vector
Object 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 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 vector
Object 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 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.
Callback Execution Control
Interruptible
— Callback interruption
'on'
(default) | on/off logical value
Callback 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.
MATLAB determines callback interruption behavior whenever it executes a command that
processes the callback queue. These commands include drawnow
, figure
, uifigure
, getframe
, waitfor
, and pause
.
If the running callback does not contain one of these commands, then no interruption occurs. MATLAB first finishes executing the running callback, and later executes the interrupting callback.
If the running callback does contain one of these commands, then the
Interruptible
property of the object that owns the running
callback determines if the interruption occurs:
If the value of
Interruptible
is'off'
, then no interruption occurs. Instead, theBusyAction
property of the object that owns the interrupting callback determines if the interrupting callback is discarded or added to the callback queue.If the value of
Interruptible
is'on'
, then the interruption occurs. The next time MATLAB processes the callback queue, it stops the execution of the running callback and executes the interrupting callback. After the interrupting callback completes, MATLAB then resumes executing the running callback.
Note
Callback interruption and execution behave differently in these situations:
If the interrupting callback is a
DeleteFcn
,CloseRequestFcn
, orSizeChangedFcn
callback, then the interruption occurs regardless of theInterruptible
property value.If the running callback is currently executing the
waitfor
function, then the interruption occurs regardless of theInterruptible
property value.If the interrupting callback is owned by a
Timer
object, then the callback executes according to schedule regardless of theInterruptible
property value.
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.
The BusyAction
property determines callback queuing behavior only
when both of these conditions are met:
Under these conditions, the BusyAction
property of the
object that owns the interrupting callback determines how MATLAB handles the interrupting callback. 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 status
on/off logical value
This 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/Child
Parent
— Parent container
Figure
object (default) | Panel
object | Tab
object | ButtonGroup
object | GridLayout
object
Parent 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.
|
Identifiers
Type
— Type of graphics object
'uicolorpicker'
This property is read-only.
Type of graphics object, returned as 'uicolorpicker'
.
Tag
— Object identifier
''
(default) | character vector | string scalar
Object 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) | array
User 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.
Object Functions
focus | Focus UI component |
Examples
Set and Access Color Picker Properties
Create a color picker in a UI figure and specify the initial color.
fig = uifigure;
c = uicolorpicker(fig,Value="blue");
Determine the location and size of the collapsed color picker by querying the Position
property. The first two elements of the position vector specify the horizontal and vertical distance from the bottom-left corner of the figure, and the last two elements specify the color picker width and height.
pos = c.Position
pos = 1×4
100 100 38 22
Increase the size of the color picker by changing the last two elements of the position vector.
c.Position(3:4) = [100 30];
Code Response to Color Selection
Create an app that changes the color of a plotted line when a user selects a color from a color picker.
In a file named choosePlotColor.m
, write a function that implements the app:
Create a UI figure and grid layout manager to lay out the app.
Create UI axes, a label, and a color picker in the grid layout manager.
Write a callback function named
updateColor
that changes the plot color based on the color picker selection, and assign the function to theValueChangedFcn
callback property of the color picker. For more information about callbacks, see Create Callbacks for Apps Created Programmatically.
function choosePlotColor fig = uifigure; g = uigridlayout(fig); g.RowHeight = {'1x','fit'}; g.ColumnWidth = {'1x','fit','fit','1x'}; ax = uiaxes(g); ax.Layout.Row = 1; ax.Layout.Column = [1 4]; x = linspace(-2*pi,2*pi); y = sin(x); p = plot(ax,x,y); lbl = uilabel(g,Text="Plot color:"); lbl.Layout.Row = 2; lbl.Layout.Column = 2; c = uicolorpicker(g, ... Value=p.Color, ... ValueChangedFcn=@(src,event) updateColor(src,event,p)); c.Layout.Row = 2; c.Layout.Column = 3; end function updateColor(src,event,p) val = event.Value; p.Color = val; end
Run the choosePlotColor
function. Select a color from the color picker to update the plot.
Version History
Introduced in R2024a
See Also
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