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Meter Properties

Audio Meter UI component

Since R2023b

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Audio meters are UI components for displaying audio measurements. You can create an audio meter with the uiaudiometer function.

Properties control the behavior and appearance of an audio meter. Use dot notation to refer to a specific object and property.

fig = uifigure;
meter = uiaudiometer(fig);
meter.Value = -10;

Audio Meter

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Values that are displayed on the audio meter, specified as a 1-D numeric vector where each element corresponds to an audio channel.

Units of the meter values, specified as a string scalar or character array. Use this property to display the units of the values on the audio meter.

The units are displayed at the top-left or the bottom-right of the meter in vertical or horizontal orientation, respectively.

Value limits that determine the minimum and maximum values displayed on the meter, specified as a finite numeric vector of the format [min max].

Level bar colors, specified as an N-by-3 matrix of RGB triplets or a string array or cell array containing N hexadecimal color codes, color names, or short names. N defines the number of levels. The LevelColors property specifies the colors displayed on the meter for the value level ranges defined by LevelColorLimits.

For more information about specifying custom colors, see Specifying Custom Colors.

Level color limits, specified as an N-by-2 matrix, where N is the number of level colors specified in the LevelColors property. For every row in the matrix, the first element must be less than the second element.

Orientation of the meter, specified as "vertical" or "horizontal". Changing this property automatically changes the Position property to maintain the aspect ratio.

Duration in seconds to hold a maximum value in the meter using a marker, specified as a nonnegative scalar. Set the MaxHoldDuration to 0 to not show a marker for the maximum value.

Color and Styling

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Background color for the meter holding the level bars, specified as an RGB triplet, hexadecimal color code, color name, or short name. For more information, see Specifying Custom Colors.

Font color for the labels, axes ticks, and border, specified as an RGB triplet, hexadecimal color code, color name, or short name. For more information, see Specifying Custom Colors.

Background color for the component, specified as an RGB triplet, hexadecimal color code, color name, or short name. For more information, see Specifying Custom Colors.

Interactivity

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Visibility of the audio meter, 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. The Visible property determines whether the audio meter is displayed on the screen. If the Visible property is set to 'off', then the entire audio meter is hidden, but you can still specify and access its properties.

Operational state of the audio meter, 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', then the appearance of the meter indicates that the indicator is operational.

  • If you set this property to 'off', then the appearance of the meter appears dimmed, indicating that the meter is not operational.

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.

Position

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Location and size of the audio meter relative to the parent container, specified as the vector, [left bottom width height]. This table describes each element in the vector.

ElementDescription
leftDistance from the inner left edge of the parent container to the outer left edge of an imaginary box surrounding the audio meter
bottomDistance from the inner bottom edge of the parent container to the outer bottom edge of an imaginary box surrounding the audio meter
widthDistance between the right and left outer edges of the audio meter
heightDistance between the top and bottom outer edges of the audio meter

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.

This property is read-only.

Inner location and size of the audio meter, 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.

This property is read-only.

Outer location and size of the audio meter 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 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.

Callbacks

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Size change 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 SizeChangedFcn callback executes when:

  • The component becomes visible for the first time.

  • The component is visible while its size changes.

  • The component becomes visible for the first time after its size changes. This situation occurs when the size changes while the component is invisible, and then it becomes visible later.

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.

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

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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.

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.

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

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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.

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 ValueDescription
'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

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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.

This property is read-only.

Type of graphics object, returned as 'uiaudiometer'.

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.

More About

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Version History

Introduced in R2023b

See Also

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