ListBox

List box UI component

• 

Description

A list box UI component allows an app user to select an option from a list. Use the ListBox object to modify the appearance and behavior of a list box after you create it.

Creation

Create a list box in an app using the uilistbox function.

Properties

List Box

Value — Value

element of Items | element of ItemsData | {}

Value, specified as an element of the Items array, ItemsData array, or an empty cell array. By default, Value is the first element in Items.

To specify no selection, set Value to an empty cell array.

Specifying Value as an element of Items selects the list item that matches that element. If ItemsData is not empty, then Value must be set to an element of ItemsData, and the list box will select the associated item in the list.

Items — List box items

{'Item 1','Item 2', 'Item 3', 'Item 4'} (default) | 1-by-n cell array of character vectors | string array | ...

List box items, specified as a cell array of character vectors, string array, or 1-D categorical array. Duplicate elements are allowed. The list box displays as many options as there are elements in the Items array. If you specify this property as a categorical array, MATLAB^® uses the values in the array, not the full set of categories.

ItemsData — Data associated with each element of the Items property value

empty array ([]) (default) | 1-by-n numeric array | 1-by-n cell array

Data associated with each element of the Items property value, specified as a 1-by-n numeric array or a 1-by-n cell array. Duplicate elements are allowed.

For example, if you set the Items value to employee names, you might set the ItemsData value to corresponding employee ID numbers. The ItemsData value is not visible to the app user.

If the number of array elements in the ItemsData value and the Items value do not match, one of the following occurs:

• When the ItemsData value is empty, then all the elements of the Items value are presented to the app user.

• When the ItemsData value has more elements than the Items value, then all the elements of the Items value are presented to the app user. MATLAB ignores the extra ItemsData elements.

• When the ItemsData value is not empty, but has fewer elements than the Items value, the only elements of the Items value presented to the app user are those that have a corresponding element in the ItemsData value.

Example: {'One','Two','Three'}

Example: [10 20 30 40]

ValueIndex — Index of value in items

1 (default) | positive integer | []

Index of the component value in the list of items or item data, specified as a positive integer.

To specify no selection, set ValueIndex to an empty array ([]).

In most cases, you can use the Value property to query and update the component value. However, the ValueIndex property can be useful when both the Items and ItemsData properties are nonempty. In this case, you can use the ValueIndex property to query the element of Items that corresponds to the current value.

fig = uifigure;
lb = uilistbox(fig, ...
    "Items",["Red","Green","Blue"], ...
    "ItemsData",["#F00","#0F0","#00F"]);
idx = lb.ValueIndex;
 
disp(lb.Items(idx) + ": " + lb.Value)

Red: #F00

Font and Color

FontName — Font name

system supported font name

Font name, specified as a system supported font name. The default font depends on the specific operating system and locale.

If the specified font is not available, then MATLAB uses the best match among the fonts available on the system where the app is running.

Example: 'Arial'

FontSize — Font size

positive number

Font size, specified as a positive number. The units of measurement are pixels. The default font size depends on the specific operating system and locale.

Example: 14

FontWeight — Font weight

'normal' (default) | 'bold'

Font weight, specified as one of these values:

• 'normal' — Default weight as defined by the particular font

• 'bold' — Thicker character outlines than 'normal'

Not all fonts have a bold font weight. For fonts that do not, specifying 'bold' results in the normal font weight.

FontAngle — Font angle

'normal' (default) | 'italic'

Font angle, specified as 'normal' or 'italic'. Not all fonts have an italic font angle. For fonts that do not, specifying 'italic' results in the normal font angle.

FontColor — Font color

[0 0 0] (default) | RGB triplet | hexadecimal color code | 'r' | 'g' | 'b' | ...

Font color, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, or one of the 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 from 0 to F. 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"

BackgroundColor — Background color

[1 1 1] (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 from 0 to F. 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"

StyleConfigurations — Configurations of added styles

empty n-by-3 table array (default) | n-by-3 table array

This property is read-only.

Configuration of added styles created using the uistyle function, returned as an n-by-3 table array. Each row of the table array corresponds to a style that is currently applied to the list box. Styles that are added consecutively are given a style order number of n+1. The Target and TargetIndex columns specify the part of the list box that the style was added to. The Style column specifies the style class name.

Use this property if you want to remove a style from the list box using the removeStyle function.

Example: Remove a Style

First, add two styles to a list box.

fig = uifigure;
fig.Position = [100 100 300 250];
lb = uilistbox(fig);

s1 = uistyle("FontColor","blue");
s2 = uistyle("FontColor","red");

addStyle(lb,s1,"item",1);
addStyle(lb,s2,"item",[2 3 4]);

When you query lb.StyleConfigurations, MATLAB returns a 2-by-3 table array. The blue font style was added to the list box first, so it is style order number 1. The TargetIndex value for the level style, {[ 1]}, indicates that the style was applied to the first item in the list box. Similarly, the second style was added to the last three items in the list box.

lb.StyleConfigurations

ans =

  2×3 table

         Target    TargetIndex              Style          
         ______    ___________    _________________________

    1     item      {[    1]}     1×1 matlab.ui.style.Style
    2     item      {[2 3 4]}     1×1 matlab.ui.style.Style

Remove the second style that was added to the list box by specifying style order number 2. The component appearance updates to use only the first style.

removeStyle(lb,2)

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.

Multiselect — Multiple item selection

'off' (default) | on/off logical value

Multiple item selection, specified as 'off' or 'on', 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.

Set this property to 'on' to allow users to select multiple items simultaneously.

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 of list box

[100 100 100 74] (default) | [left bottom width height]

Location and size of the list box relative to the parent container, specified as the vector [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 list box
bottom	Distance from the inner bottom edge of the parent container to the outer bottom edge of the list box
width	Distance between the right and left outer edges of the list box
height	Distance between the top and bottom outer edges of the list box

All measurements are in pixel units.

The Position values are relative to the drawable area of the parent container. The drawable area is the area inside the borders of the container and does not include the area occupied by decorations such as a menu bar or title.

Example: [100 100 100 200]

InnerPosition — Inner location and size of list box

[100 100 77 78] (default) | [left bottom width height]

Inner location and size of list box, specified as [left bottom width height]. Position values are relative to the parent container. All measurements are in pixel units. This property value is identical to the Position property.

OuterPosition — Outer location and size of list box

[100 100 77 78]] (default) | [left bottom width height]

This property is read-only.

Outer location and size of list box returned as [left bottom width height]. Position values are relative to the parent container. All measurements are in pixel units. This property value is identical 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 desired row and column of the grid by setting the Row and Column properties on the GridLayoutOptions object.

For example, this code places a list box in the third row and second column of its parent grid.

g = uigridlayout([4 3]);
list = uilistbox(g);
list.Layout.Row = 3;
list.Layout.Column = 2;

To make the list box span multiple rows or columns, specify the Row or Column property as a two-element vector. For example, this list box spans columns 2 through 3:

list.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.

This callback function executes when the user selects a different item in the list box. It does not execute if the Value property setting changes programmatically.

This callback function can access specific information about the user’s interaction with the list box. MATLAB passes this information in a ValueChangedData object as the second argument to your callback function. In App Designer, the argument is called event. You can query the object properties using dot notation. For example, event.PreviousValue returns the previous value of the list box. The ValueChangedData object is not available to callback functions specified as character vectors.

The following table lists the properties of the ValueChangedData object.

Property	Value
Value	Value of list box after the app user’s most recent interaction
PreviousValue	Value of list box before the app user’s most recent interaction
ValueIndex	Index of list box value in items after the app user’s most recent interaction
PreviousValueIndex	Index of list box value in items before the app user’s most recent interaction
Source	Component that executes the callback
EventName	'ValueChanged'

For more information about writing callbacks, see Callbacks in App Designer.

ClickedFcn — Clicked callback

'' (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector

Clicked 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.

This callback function executes when the user clicks anywhere in the list box.

This callback function can access specific information about the user’s interaction with the list box. MATLAB passes this information in a ClickedData object as the second argument to your callback function. In App Designer, the argument is called event. You can query the object properties using dot notation. For example, event.InteractionInformation returns information about where the user clicked in the list box. The ClickedData object is not available to callback functions specified as character vectors.

This table lists the properties of the ClickedData object.

Property	Value
InteractionInformation	Information about where in the component the app user clicked. This information is stored as an object with these properties: Item ScreenLocation Location You can query the object properties using dot notation. For example, event.InteractionInformation.Item returns which item of the list box the user clicked.
Source	Component that executes the callback
EventName	'Clicked'

This table lists the properties of the InteractionInformation object associated with the list box component.

Property	Value
Item	Index of the clicked list box item, returned as a scalar. If the user clicked an area of the list box that is not associated with an item, then Item is an empty array.
Location	Location where the user clicked relative to the bottom-left corner of the list box parent container, returned as a two-element vector of the form [x y]. The value of x represents the horizontal distance from the left edge of the parent container to the click location. The value of y represents the vertical distance from the bottom edge of the parent container to the click location. Distances are measured in pixels.
ScreenLocation	Location where the user clicked relative to the bottom-left corner of their primary display, returned as a two-element vector of the form [x y]. The value of x represents the horizontal distance from the left edge of the display to the click location. The value of y represents the vertical distance from the bottom edge of the display to the click location. Distances are measured in pixels.

For more information about writing callbacks, see Callbacks in App Designer.

Example: Open Window When List Box Is Clicked

Create a list box with items that represent colors. Specify a ClickedFcn callback function named openWindow that executes when a user clicks the list box. In the openWindow function:

• Use the event.InteractionInformation object to access information about whether the user clicked an item.

• If the user did click an item (as opposed to a location in the list box that is not associated with an item), query the location where the user clicked and the color associated with the clicked item.

• Open a new window with the item color in the location where the user clicked.

To try this example, save the code in a new script and run it. Click an item in the list box to open a new window.

fig = uifigure;
lb = uilistbox(fig);
lb.Items = ["Red","Yellow","Blue"];
lb.ItemsData = ["r","y","b"];
lb.ClickedFcn = @openWindow;

function openWindow(lb,event)
idx = event.InteractionInformation.Item;
if ~isempty(idx)
    p = event.InteractionInformation.ScreenLocation;
    color = lb.ItemsData(idx);
    fig2 = uifigure("Position",[p 150 150]);
    fig2.Color = color;
end
end

DoubleClickedFcn — Double-clicked function

'' (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector

Double-clicked 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.

This callback function executes when the user double-clicks anywhere in the list box.

This callback function can access specific information about the user’s interaction with the list box. MATLAB passes this information in a DoubleClickedData object as the second argument to your callback function. In App Designer, the argument is called event. You can query the object properties using dot notation. For example, event.InteractionInformation returns information about where the user double-clicked in the list box. The DoubleClickedData object is not available to callback functions specified as character vectors.

This table lists the properties of the DoubleClickedData object.

Property	Value
InteractionInformation	Information about where in the component the app user clicked. This information is stored as an object with these properties: Item ScreenLocation Location You can query the object properties using dot notation. For example, event.InteractionInformation.Item returns which item of the list box the user double-clicked.
Source	Component that executes the callback
EventName	'DoubleClicked'

This table lists the properties of the InteractionInformation object associated with the list box component.

Property	Value
Item	Index of the double-clicked list box item, returned as a scalar. If the user double-clicked an area of the list box that is not associated with an item, then Item is an empty array.
Location	Location where the user double-clicked relative to the bottom-left corner of the list box parent container, returned as a two-element vector of the form [x y]. The value of x represents the horizontal distance from the left edge of the parent container to the double-click location. The value of y represents the vertical distance from the bottom edge of the parent container to the click location. Distances are measured in pixels.
ScreenLocation	Location where the user double-clicked relative to the bottom-left corner of their primary display, returned as a two-element vector of the form [x y]. The value of x represents the horizontal distance from the left edge of the display to the double-click location. The value of y represents the vertical distance from the bottom edge of the display to the double-click location. Distances are measured in pixels.

For more information about writing callbacks, see Callbacks in App Designer.

Example: Open Window When List Box Is Double-Clicked

Create a list box with items that represent colors. Specify a DoubleClickedFcn callback function named openWindow that executes when a user double-clicks the list box. In the openWindow function:

• Use the event.InteractionInformation object to access information about whether the user double-clicked an item.

• If the user did double-click an item (as opposed to a location in the list box that is not associated with an item), query the location where the user double-clicked and the color associated with the double-clicked item.

• Open a new window with the item color in the location where the user double-clicked.

To try this example, save the code in a new script and run it. Double-click an item in the list box to open a new window.

fig = uifigure;
lb = uilistbox(fig);
lb.Items = ["Red","Yellow","Blue"];
lb.ItemsData = ["r","y","b"];
lb.DoubleClickedFcn = @openWindow;

function openWindow(lb,event)
idx = event.InteractionInformation.Item;
if ~isempty(idx)
    p = event.InteractionInformation.ScreenLocation;
    color = lb.ItemsData(idx);
    fig2 = uifigure("Position",[p 150 150]);
    fig2.Color = color;
end
end

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, the BusyAction 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, or SizeChangedFcn callback, then the interruption occurs regardless of the Interruptible property value.

• If the running callback is currently executing the waitfor function, then the interruption occurs regardless of the Interruptible property value.

• If the interrupting callback is owned by a Timer object, then the callback executes according to schedule regardless of the Interruptible property value.

Note

When an interruption occurs, MATLAB does not save the state of properties or the display. For example, the object returned by the gca or gcf command might change when another callback executes.

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:

• The running callback contains a command that processes the callback queue, such as drawnow, figure, uifigure, getframe, waitfor, or pause.

• The value of the Interruptible property of the object that owns the running callback is 'off'.

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

'uilistbox'

This property is read-only.

Type of graphics object, returned as 'uilistbox'.

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

addStyle	Add style to UI component
removeStyle	Remove style from UI component
scroll	Scroll to location within component
focus	Focus UI component

Examples

Set and Access List Box Property Values

Create a list box in a UI figure, and specify the list box items.

fig = uifigure;
lb = uilistbox(fig,"Items",["Australia","France","Germany"]);

Query the value of the selected item.

val = lb.Value

val = 
'Australia'

Programmatically update the list box selection.

lb.Value = "Germany";

Associate Data with List Box Items

Create a list box in a UI figure, and specify a list of color names that appear in the list box by setting the Items property.

fig = uifigure;
lb = uilistbox(fig,"Items",["Red","Green","Blue"]);

When there is no data associated with the items, the Value property of the list box is an element of Items.

val = lb.Value

val = 
'Red'

Associate hex color data with the list box items by setting the ItemsData property. Setting ItemsData does not change how the items are displayed to the app user.

lb.ItemsData = ["#F00","#0F0","#00F"];

When the ItemsData property is nonempty, the Value property of the list box is an element of ItemsData.

val = lb.Value

val = 
"#F00"

Specifying ItemsData can make it easier to perform operations associated with the selected item. For example, plot some data in the selected color by passing the hex color value directly to the plot function.

plot(1:10,"Color",lb.Value)

Code Response to List Box Selection

Create an app that updates the colormap of a chart when a user selects a list box item.

In a file named colormapApp.m, write a function that implements the app:

• Create a UI figure and a grid layout manager to lay out the app.

• Create a list box and UI axes with some plotted data in the grid layout manager.

• Write a callback function named listBoxValueChanged that updates the colormap for the UI axes, and assign the function to the ValueChangedFcn callback property of the list box. For more information about callbacks, see Create Callbacks for Apps Created Programmatically.

function colormapApp
fig = uifigure;
g = uigridlayout(fig,[3 2]);
g.RowHeight = {'1x','fit','1x'};
g.ColumnWidth = {'fit','1x'};

lb = uilistbox(g, ...
    "Items",["Spring","Summer","Autumn","Winter"], ...
    "ItemsData",{spring,summer,autumn,winter});
lb.Layout.Row = 2;
lb.Layout.Column = 1;
ax = uiaxes(g);
ax.Layout.Row = [1 3];
ax.Layout.Column = 2;
surf(ax,peaks)
colormap(ax,spring)

lb.ValueChangedFcn = @(src,event) listBoxValueChanged(src,event,ax);
end

function listBoxValueChanged(src,event,ax)
cmap = event.Value;
colormap(ax,cmap)
end

Run the colormapApp function. Select an item in the list box to change the colormap.

colormapApp

Add Icons to List Box Items

Since R2023a

Create a list box with three items that represent different images.

fig = uifigure;
lb = uilistbox(fig,"Items",["Peppers","Nebula","Street"]);

Create three styles with icons that correspond to the list box items.

s1 = uistyle("Icon","peppers.png");
s2 = uistyle("Icon","ngc6543a.jpg");
s3 = uistyle("Icon","street1.jpg");

Add the styles to the list box items to display the icons.

addStyle(lb,s1,"item",1);
addStyle(lb,s2,"item",2);
addStyle(lb,s3,"item",3);

Version History

Introduced in R2016a

R2023b: Access index of component value in list of items

Access the index of the component value in the list of items by using the ValueIndex property.

R2023a: Style list box items

Create styles for list box components using the uistyle function, and add the styles to individual items or entire list box components using the addStyle function.

R2022b: Program a response to a user clicking or double-clicking the list box

Use the ClickedFcn and DoubleClickedFcn callback properties to program a response to a user clicking and double-clicking the list box.