Programatically selecting cells in a uitable

How would I programatically select a cell, e.g., highlight row 3, column 2 in a uitable?

I found some 5+ year old answers using an obsolete version of uitable that no longer seem to work.

Edit: here is what I found that did not work:

http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/newsreader/view_thread/165066

[Jan]

If you have found some almost useful information, share it with the readers. Otehrwise they might use the search function and must test, if you meant the same thread.

[Jan]

There is a bunch of code in this long thread. Please explain, what you have tried and what "did not work" means. Perhaps you had a typo only?

Answer 1

[Brian]

I figured out the answer by further reviewing the long thread in my question. Here is some updated code that works at least until Matlab R2015b.

% m = numeric handle to uitable
m = uitable(...); 
jUIScrollPane = findjobj(m);
jUITable = jUIScrollPane.getViewport.getView;
jUITable.changeSelection(row-1,col-1, false, false);

% subtract 1 from row and col you want selected
% the last two arguments do the following:
% false, false: Clear the previous selection and ensure the
%  new cell is selected.
% false, true: Extend the previous selection (select a range of cells).
% true, false: Toggle selection
% true, true: Apply the selection state of the anchor to all cells
%  between it and the specified cell.

Using combinations of the last two arguments, you can select any cells you want programatically, even if they're not contiguous.

[Jan]

+1. The only known working solution. You need to install FEX: findjobj in addition.

[Vyshakh Pv]

Thanks a lot, it works. findjobj???

[Adam Danz]

Note that this method does not work in app designer UI tables.

Also note that the findjobj() function uses the JavaFrame property and javacomponent function which will no longer be supported by Matlab in future releases.

More info:

https://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab/app-designer/java-swing-alternatives.html

[Leonardo Pérez]

Works!

Answer 2

[Can Yuce]

Other solutions exists but may risk race-conditions with the Event Dispatch Thread (EDT). If you are interested in selecting a single row, one working solution running safely on Java Swing’s Event Dispatch Thread (EDT) without risking a race-condition or deadlock with the EDT would be:

        jscrollpane = javaObjectEDT(findjobj(src));
        viewport    = javaObjectEDT(jscrollpane.getViewport);
        jtable      = javaObjectEDT( viewport.getView );
        jtable.scrollRowToVisible(row_ - 1);

it requires findjobj functionality, and works fine on Matlab R2017a.

Answer 3

[Gene Sanchez]

I wanted to select multiple cell, but was unable to find an answer on how to do it. The key is on the last two arguments of the function

jUITable.changeSelection(row-1,col-1, false, false);

According to Yair, they are (rowIndex, columnIndex, toggleFlag, extendFlag)

So the following example will select three separate cells:

  jUITable.changeSelection(1,1, false, false);
  jUITable.changeSelection(1,2, true, false);
  jUITable.changeSelection(2,2, true, false);

While this example will select a region with four cells, then another region with five cells:

  jUITable.changeSelection(1,1, false, false);
  jUITable.changeSelection(1,2, false, true); % extend selection
  jUITable.changeSelection(5,1, true, false); % toggle to 2nd selection
  jUITable.changeSelection(5,1, true, true); % extend 2nd selection

On a separate note, Finding which cell are selected is not sufficiently done by getSelectedRows

  jUITable.getSelectedRows
ans =
  3×1 int32 column vector
   1
   2
   5

Returns 3 numbers, instead of the five I need to know all the cells that have been selected. Is there an analogous getSelectedCells??

Right now I have to scan the whole set of getSelectedRows and getSelectedColumns to find the currently selected cells, using jUITable.isCellSelected(i,j).

Answer 4

[HAO YUAN]

jtableobj=findjobj(tableobj); % tableobj, uitable object

SelMod=jtableobj.getTableSelectionModel;

SelMod.clearSelection;

% rows cols of cells

for irows=1:length(rows)

SelMod.addSelection(rows(irows)-1,cols(irows)-1);

end

Answer 5

[Adam Danz]

Starting in Matlab R2021a, you can programmatically scroll to any row, column, or cell of a uitable using the scroll function (see Four New App Features in MATLAB R2021a).

Syntax examples:

• scroll(uit,vlocation) where vlocation is 'top'-'bottom'
• scroll(uit,hlocation) where hlocation is 'left'-'right'
• scroll(uit,target,targetIndex) where target is 'row'-'column'-'cell' and targetIndex is a row or column number or a 1x2 cell location.