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8.3  Handling data in the GUI format

8.3  Handling data in the GUI format#

8.3.1  Parameter/button structure (CinCell)#

The initialization of GUI button/cells, or command parameters (see ParamEdit and urnPar), or fe_range parameters is performed using a but structure with fields .type, .name, ... These can be transformed to java CinCell (common input cell) objects. Generic fields are

  • type
    • string A free input as a string or a number
    • pop An input chosen in a predefined list
    • push An assisted input triggered with a click on the button, or an action to execute
    • check An on/off input, that can be equivalent to pop with two entries, but in a checkbox shape rather than a list
  • enable Optional logical, 'on', 'off' or the name of a button to allow generic push callbacks. This allows deactivation of the parameter edition.
  • name The button name, spelled as family.param, that defines the parameter and its accessibility.
  • ToolTip Optional string briefly defining the parameter.
  • ContextMenu a JPopupMenu that will be active in Java rendering of the cell. This field applies to all types.

Each parameter or action is thus associated to a button of the types presented above. The parameter definition then depends on the type, as presented.

  • For a string type, following fields are accessible and mandatory (if not stated otherwise)
    • format The data format (handled in sdtm.urnValFun) is %s for strings, %g for numeric (double) values see urn ValG, ...
    • value The parameter current value.
    • SetFcn A function to be called if dependencies have to be handled after editing the parameter. This can be left as an empty string (''). Field .name is necessary and field .parent may be needed to access the containing table.
  • For a pop type, following fields are accessible and mandatory (if not stated otherwise)
    • choices A cell array defining the choices available to the user. All choices are strings.
    • choicesTag (Optional) A cell array defining the choices available to the user. All choices are strings. For localization matters, the language displayed in field choices may vary. This entry is thus a constant cell generally corresponding to the coding language. It is then possible to test the choice string parameter in the code with a fixed language independently from the display.
    • data is a cell array of content associated with .choices in fe_range.
    • value An integer providing the current choice.
    • SetFcn A function to be called if dependencies have to be handled after editing the parameter. This can be left as an empty string (''). A name must be defined.
  • For a push type, following fields are accessible and mandatory (if not stated otherwise)
    • value A string containing the parameter value, or the action name to be displayed.
    • callback A function to be executed when triggering the edition.
    • SetFcn not normally used. Since push cannot be edited, no dependencies can occur.
  • For a check type, following fields are accessible and mandatory (if not stated otherwise)
    • value An integer being 0 or 1 depending on the parameter state.
    • SetFcn A function to be called if dependencies have to be handled after editing the parameter. This can be left as an empty string ('').

Additional optional fields can be useful for standard table generation using the command ua=sdt_dialogs('uatable-end0',ua,r1j); described in section 8.3.4 :

  • level array of two mandatory integers providing first the button level, and second if it is expanded or not (for example [2 1] : level two, with expanded row). A third optional value gives the row height in pixels (the default table rowheight is applied if value is 0 or not given).
  • LongName Replace the parameter name in the first column (parameter name must be compatible with structure field names, which is not mandatory for LongName)
  • ShortFmt value used to select format when converting parameter to name. See fe_range.

8.3.2  DefBut : parameter/button defaults#

To ease the development of GUIs, buttons are stored in DefBut structures. Initialization of the DefBut is usually done in using a file see section 8.3.3.

DefBut.MyField will usually group all buttons needed for a given part of the interface. Notable exceptions are

  • .Tab used to store information associated with floating tabs. In particular .Tab.(field).jProp stores properties for java initialization. .InitFcn={'fun','command'}. .SetFcn={'fun','command'}.
  • .j used to store volatile java objects that should not be reinitialized too often.
  • .fmt is a cell array containing the OsDic style sheet (text keys in first column and values in second).

The set of parameters is divided into families and defined by a keyword and a type. Each family can be easily displayed in separated tabs of the GUI, and constitute relevant sets of parameters regarding human readability.

For generalization purposes, execution actions follow the same definition as parameters, and are linked to a family, keyword and type.

The families and keywords are left free as long as they are compatible with the definition of MATLAB struct fields. The parameter type allows defining which kind of action the user is provided for edition. This is realized in the display by adapted buttons.

Each parameter can be defined as a structure, nested in a structure containing the parameter families as fields. The generation of such structure is handled by sdt_locale so that the definition consists in the generation of a csv file in ASCII format.

8.3.3  Reference button file in CSV format#

The input csv file layout allows defining a parameter, or button with a header line starting with h; defining its type and the fields to be provided, and an instance line starting with n; providing the fields value. Fields that are invariant for the whole class can be defined in the header line. Comments are possible with lines starting with c;.

The following example illustrates the definition of each type of buttons

c; Sample definition of each class

c; sample string buttons, with dependencies handled by function my_ui
h;type=string;name;format;value;ToolTip;SetFcn=''
n;Family.SampleStrS;%s;"st1";"a string input button with no dependencies"
n;Family.SampleStrG;%g;1;"a numeric input button with no dependencies"

c; sample pop button
h;type=pop;name;value;choices;choicesTag;ToolTip;SetFcn=''
n;Familiy.SamplePop;1;{'choice1','choice2'};{'c1','c2'};"2 choice menu with default choice1"

c; sample push button
h;type=push;name;callback;value;ToolTip;
n;Family.SamplePush;my_fun('exec');"Push this button";"push button triggering my_fun"

c; sample check button
h;type=check;name;value;enable;ToolTip;SetFcn=''
n;Famimty.SampleCheck;0;"on";"check button, set 0, with conditional enabling and no dependencies"

The csv file should be named after the GUI handling function my_ui, a standard language identifier and extension .csv. Here for example my_ui_en-us.cvs for English-US or my_ui_fr-fr.cvs for French.

Generation of the parameter structure classically named DefBut can then be obtained by 

DefBut=sdt_locale('defCSV','my_ui_en-us.csv');

At this state of definition, DefBut is a standard MATLAB struct corresponding to the documented fields. To transform it into a java object linked to the GUI figure of handle GuiGF, command cinguj ObjEditJ must be used

[r1j,r1]=cinguj('objEditJ',DefBut.Family,GuiGF);

The first output is r1j, which is an EditT Java object. This object will be used for dependencies handling and can be edited using sdcedit. The second output r1 contains copies of each parameters in a struct with fields the parameter names. The parameters are in their Java form that is to say editable buttons of class CinCell.

8.3.4  Data storage and access#

Initializing the GUI figure#

After generating the Java objects containing the parameters, one can store them in the GUI figure for further access. The data are stored in the GUI figure that is initialized by cinguj ObjFigInit. 

GuiGF=cinguj('objFigInit',...
struct('tag','my_ui','noMenu',1,'name','my_ui'));

The handle should be stored UI.gf field of persistent variable UI in my_ui. One can also recover this pointer at any time by using GuiGF=findall(0,'tag','my_ui'). It is thus critical to ensure the unicity of the GUI figure tag.


Efficient data storage in a figure is handled in SDT through the use of v_handle uo object. Access to this pointer is possible at any time using

uo = v_handle('uo',GuiGF);

It is recommended to package the access to the java data pointer in a command uo=my_ui('vh').

Handling the data java pointer#

Automatic storage of the data pointer is performed at display. The pointer is handled as a MATLAB struct with fields corresponding to the parameter families. The objects stored are then either the EditT containing the full parameter family or a struct of CinCell, respectively corresponding to the first and second outputs of the ObjEditJ command.

A very low level way of storing invisible data is to edit the uo object directly by doing 

r1=get(GuiGF,'UserData');
r1.(family)=r1j;
set(GuiGF,'UserData',[],'UserData',r1);

where family is the parameter family, r1j the EditT object generated by ObjEditJ and GuiGF the handle to the GUI figure. It is however recommended to let it be stored automatically at display.

Recovering data from java objects#

To recover data in a RunOpt MATLAB struct format from EditT or CinCell objects, command fe_defCleanEntry must be used.

  • For an EditT object the output of CleanEntry will be a structure with as many fields as parameters stored in the EditT assigned with their value converted to the proper format provided. When an EditT is displayed in a tab, obj.Peer should be the numeric handle to the Matlab figure so that clean_get_uf can retrieve tab data.
  • For a CinCell object, the output of CleanEntry will be the underlying structure of the button, as documented. Each CinCell object can/should have a EditT parent obtained with obj.get('parent').
  • For pop objects CinCell or struct, the value is taken to be the choicesTag string if it exists or the choices string otherwise.

fe_defCleanEntry no longer returns the full structure for a button, so that the command r1=cinguj('ObjToStruct',ob); should be used.

To get the current data (.data{.val} of pop button, one uses r1=feval(sdtroot('@obGet'),ob,'data');.

It is recommended to build a call my_ui('GetTab') that will rethrow the RunOpt structure corresponding to a Tab from the GUI figure.

% get Java pointer and desired tab field
out=my_ui('vh'); tab=varargin{carg}; carg=carg+1;
% convert to a RunOpt structure
out=fe_def('cleanentry',out.(tab));

Direct access to a parameter can also be usefully packaged in my_ui('GetTab.Param'), with 

% get Java pointer and desired tab field
out=my_ui('vh'); tab=varargin{carg}; carg=carg+1;
% parse tab to see if subfields are desired
tab=textscan(tab,'%s','Delimiter','.'); tab=tab{1};
% convert to a RunOpt structure
out=fe_def('cleanentry',out.(tab{1}));
% output only the desired subfield if it was specified
if length(tab)>1; tab(1)=[];
 while ~isempty(tab)&&~isempty(out); out=out.(tab{1}); st(1)=[]; end
end

Displaying data in the GUI figure#

To display the parameters in the GUI figure, one has to generate a structure that will be interpreted as a JTable that will be included to the JTabbedPane object, that is to say the tabbed area of the GUI figure. This structure contains the fields

  • name The name of the object that will be display. It is recommended to use the family name of the parameter family displayed.
  • table A cell array containing the buttons in the CinCell. The JTable will have the same size as the table provided.
  • ToolTip A string allowing to display some explanations on the tab.
  • ParentPanel The handle to the GUI figure.

Generation of the table field can be done automatically with a call to sdt_dialogs uatable 

 ua.table=sdt_dialogs('uatable-end0','info',name,r1j);

with name the field relative to ua.name and r1j the EditT object (with .Peer defined). This will yield a tab with three columns, the first one being the parameter names, the second one the editable buttons as CinCell objects and the third one being the parameter ToolTip.


More complex layouts can be obtained by generating the table manually, exploiting the second output of the ObjEditJ command to fill in table positions. This allows generating the table by directly positioning the CinCell objects called by their names.

By adding a field level to ua, and calling cingujTabbedPaneAddTree a tree will be displayed instead of a table in the GUI figure. Field level has two columns and as many lines as the table. The first column provides the level of the table line in the tree as an integer. The second column indicates whether the line has to be expanded is set to 1, or not if set to 0.


Once ua is filled display is performed using cinguj TabbedPaneAdd

[ua,ga]=cinguj('TabbedPaneAdd','my_ui',ua);

Command TabbedPaneAdd outputs ua that contains the displayed objects and their information. This can be accessed any time using field tStack of the GUI figure userdata, uf=clean_get_uf(GuiGF), and ga that is the handle to the figure axis containing the tab.

8.3.5  Tweaking display#

Display can be tuned to the user will by editing the displayed objects. All display information is accessed through a call to clean_get_uf, using GuiGF the GUI figure handle as input argument.

uf = clean_get_uf(GuiGF);

uf is a user data structure with fields

  • ParentFigure The GUI figure handle. This should be equal to GuiGF.
  • p The handle to the uipannel displaying the data.
  • tStack A cell array of 7 columns and as many lines as tabs generated. Column 1 contains the tab names and column 7 contains the tab userdata object.
  • tab the index in tStack corresponding to the tab currently displayed.
  • java set to 1. Ensures that the userdata handles java objects for cingui.
  • JPeer A pointer to the Java object containing the display, either a JTabbedPane if only tabs are displayed, or a JScrollPane if only a tree is displayed, or a JSplitPane if the display contains several Panes.
  • pcontainer The handle to the hgjavacomponent that contains the display.
  • toolbarRefresh (Optional) A function handle that can be called at refresh to perform toolbar dependencies (e.g. uicontrol enabling as function of the GUI state.
  • tag The GUI figure tag.
  • Explo If an exploration tree is present, the JScrollPane java object containing the tree.
  • EJPeer If an exploration tree is present, JSplitPane java object containing the global display.

The seventh column of uf.tStack contains information relative to each of the tab objects of the JTabbedPane. It is commonly named ub and contains the following fields

  • name The tab name, that should be corresponding to the parameter family.
  • table A cell array containing the objects of each cell of the JTable
  • ToolTip A string providing a tool tip if the mouse cursor if over the tab tip.
  • ParentPannel The handle to the GUI figure.
  • type A string providing the table objects type, commonly CinCell.
  • JTable The JTable java object.
  • JPeer pointer to the JScrollPane typically used for display.
  • NeedClose value set to force use of a close button on the tab.

Each tabbed pane can be tweaked regarding the displayed column dimensions.

In the case of a GUI displaying user input objects the table itself does not need to be interactive. (This is different from a results table that will be analyzed by the user). It is thus recommended to deactivate the table selection interactivity using

ub.JTable.setRowSelectionAllowed(false);
ub.JTable.setColumnSelectionAllowed(false);
ub.JTable.setCellSelectionEnabled(false);

Columns width can be set using a line array with as many columns as columns in the table and providing in pixels the minimal width a column should have to cingujtableColWidth. The value can be set to -1 if the user wishes to let free the width of a column.

% for 3 columns table, last one left free
ColWidth=[150 300 -1];
cinguj('tableColWidth',ub.JTable,ColWidth);

For a finer control of the column width, it is possible to provide a three-rows array :

  • First row = Preferred width proportion : these columns are allowed to expand and extra space is distributed using these coefficients
  • Second row = Minimum width
  • Third row = Maximum width (use minimum width = maximum width to fix a column) 
% For 3 columns table
% Middle column fixed to 20px
% First and last column with minimum width to 150px
% Extra width is distributed 3 times more on the last coumn than on the first one
ColWidth=[1     0   3   ; % Preferred width proportion (0=need mini and maxi width)
          150   20  150 ; % Minimum width
          Inf   20  Inf]; % Maximum width (0 or Inf = nolimit)
cinguj('tableColWidth',ub.JTable,ColWidth);

Row height can be set (same for all lines) by calling the setRowHeight method of JTable. The value is in pixel.

% getting the intial row height
r1 = ub.JTable.getRowHeight
% setting a new row height to 22px
ub.JTable.setRowHeight(22)

8.3.6  Defining an exploration tree#

To ease up navigation between tabs, one can use an exploration tree in the GUI figure. Tabs can then be opened by clicking in the tree that should list all available tabs (or parameter families).

The exploration tree is commonly named PTree, and has to be defined in the .csv file. It should contain push type buttons with callbacks triggering the opening of the desired tab.

c; sample PTree definition
h;type=push;name;callback;value;ToolTip;
n;PTree.Family;my_ui('InitFamily');"Family";"Open corresponding family tab"

To properly handle an exploration tree, one has to initialize it when the GuiGF figure is opened, that is to say after the cinguj ObjFigInit call. The initialization should be handled by a call of the type mu_ui('InitPTree').

Low level access to the exploration tree is handled by a subfunction of cinguj named treeF. The subfunction handle can be accessed using treeF=cinguj('@treeF');. It is recommended to store the variable treeF containing the subfunction handle in a persistent variable of the GUI function my_ui.

% option initialization
RunOpt=struct('NoInit',0,'lastname','');
% for all fields of DefBut.PTree, sort the buttons
r1=fieldnames(DefBut.PTree); table=cell(length(r1),2);
for j1=1:length(r1);table(j1,:)={DefBut.PTree.(r1{j1}) [1 1]};  end
% generate clean table and corresponding levels
level=vertcat(table{:,2});  table=table(:,1);
% generate the tree ua
ua=struct('table',{table},'level',level,'name','my_ui',...
 'ParentPanel',GuiGF,'ToolTip','The GUI exploration tree','NeedClose',2);
% display the tree in the GUI figure
[tree,gf]=cinguj('tabbedpaneAddTree','my_ui',ua);
% tweak the tree to enable selected tab field highlighting
tree.getSelectionModel.setSelectionMode( ...
 javax.swing.tree.TreeSelectionModel.SINGLE_TREE_SELECTION)
% refresh
 cingui('resize',GuiGF);

The exploration tree thus defined highlights its node corresponding to the currently displayed tab. This tasks is performed automatically by cinguj when clicking on a button of a tree.

To access the tree object and its highlighted field, one can do 

 [RunOpt.lastname,tree]=treeF('explolastname',GuiGF);

To switch the highlighted field to a new name newname and get the tree node object, one can do 

 node=treeF('scrollToNameSelect',tree,newname);

8.3.7  Finding CinCell buttons in the GUI with getCell#

To quickly find CinCell buttons in an interface, subfunction getCell of sdcedit can be used.

getCell=sdcedit('@getCell');
[obj,tab,name]=getCell(r1j,'propi','vali',...,stOpt)
  • rj1 is a GuiGF, or an UIVH, or a java/EdiT, or figure Tag, or vector of handles or 0 for all MATLAB figures.
  • propi, vali are pairs of properties (fields of the buttons) and their desired values.
  • stOpt is an option that allows a constant output in cell format if set to 'cell'.

Actions to check or get specific fields of a cell array of CinCell buttons are also available using commands

% r1=getCell('getfield st',obj); % outputs field st of obj (CinCell) or {obj}
% r1=getCell('isfield st',obj); % outputs logical checking presence of field st in obj
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