I want to create a dropdown menu for different figures

Hello everyone.

I am doing a projecto where I need to get 4 different figures, each figure have 4 different plots. (With subplots)

I think it seems pretty bad to display all the four figures at once.

I have something like this:

figure(1)

subplot(2,2,1)

plot(x1,y1)

subplot(2,2,2)

plot(x2,y2)

figure(2)

subplot(2,2,1)

plot(x3,y3)

And so on, until i get the 4 figures with 4 plots on each figure.

I was wondering if there is a possiblity where I can get a dropdown menu or Buttons or something simple

just to display each graph when the person wants to see it. I haven't used GUI before so the more simpler the code

better forme.

Thanks and I really appreciate your kindness and help.

[Rik]

A GUI in Matlab is nothing special, it simply provides an interface between the user and the functions you write separately. For general advice and examples for how to create a GUI (and avoid using GUIDE), have look at this thread.

[Raul]

Thank you

Answer 1

[Jinal]

Hello Raul,

As per my understanding, you wish to create a GUI with a dropdown to display multiple plots.

The “DropDown” component of App Designer can be used to create a dropdown to display multiple plots. For each “Value” of the “DropDown” a plot can be created using an “Axes” component.

The stepwise workflow for creating a dropdown menu to display different plots is given below:

1. Open your App Designer and create a new app or open your existing app.
2. Drag and drop a “DropDown” component and an “Axes” component from the "Common" section of the "Component Library" onto your app's canvas.
3. Create a callback function for the dropdown menu. To do so, right-click on the dropdown menu, select "View Callbacks," and then click on the 'ValueChangedFcn' for the dropdown menu.
4. Refer the following sample code of Value changed callback to create different plots when different “Value” is selected for the “DropDown” component:

        % Value changed function: DropDown
        function DropDownValueChanged(app, event)
            selectedOption = app.DropDown.Value;
    
            % Define data for plots
            x1=[1 2 3 4];
            y1=[1 2 3 4];
            x2=[1 2 3 4];
            y2=[4 3 2 1];
   
            % Plot the selected graph based on the user's choice
            if selectedOption == "Graph 1"
                plot(app.UIAxes1, x1, y1);
            elseif selectedOption == "Graph 2"
                plot(app.UIAxes1, x2, y2);
            % Add more conditions for other graphs
            end
        end

To know more about developing apps using App Designer, refer the following link:

https://in.mathworks.com/help/matlab/app-designer.html

To know more about “DropDown”, “Axes”, and “Callbacks” in App Designer, refer the following links respectively:

• https://in.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/matlab.ui.control.dropdown-properties.html
• https://in.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/matlab.ui.control.uiaxes-properties.html
• https://in.mathworks.com/help/matlab/creating_guis/write-callbacks-for-gui-in-app-designer.html

I hope this helps.

[Rik]

Your code assumes AppDesigner, but there is no GUI yet. This code also creates new plots every time and never clears anything.

I also question why you would answer a thread if the OP did not give any sign of reading this thread. Is this just practice?

[Raul]

Hello i am reading the comments, i have a question about the code.

Since I have 4 plots in 4 figures. How can I display each figure.

I mean:

My code is something like:

figure(1) Subplot() Plot(x,y) Subplot(2) Plot(x2,y2)

Figure(2) Subplot() Plot() Subplot() Plot()

So, I have 4 figures with 4 plots. How can I display each figure with each selection and not display just 1 plot.

Thanks in advance

[Rik]

The solution is to not have different figure, but just one. You can create multiple axes and control the visibility with the callback of the dropdown.

Answer 2

[Ender Gürleyen]

fig(1) = figure;                % First figure
fig(1).WindowStyle = 'docked';  % Make it appear in a tab

fig(2) = figure;                % Second Figure
fig(2).WindowStyle = 'docked';

Using the figure property WindowStyle you can create different Tabs of figures. This way you can have multiple figures in a single window with different content which can improve visibility.

This does not use a dropdown but can also be helpful.