AxesToolbar Properties

Axes toolbar appearance and behavior

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AxesToolbar properties control the appearance and behavior of the AxesToolbar object. By changing property values, you can modify certain aspects of the toolbar.

f = figure;
ax = axes(f);
tb = axtoolbar("default");
tb.Expanded = "on";

Interactivity

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Since R2026a

State of expansion, 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.

  • "off" — The toolbar is collapsed.

  • "on" — The toolbar is expanded.

Visibility of the axes toolbar, 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 toolbar above the top-right corner of the axes.

  • "off" — Do not display the toolbar. You still can access the properties of an invisible toolbar.

Note

When you set Visible to "off", the axes toolbar continues to exist. If you want to remove the toolbar entirely, set the Toolbar property of the parent Axes or TiledChartLayout object to [].

Callbacks

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Callback for selection changes, specified as one of these values:

  • A function handle

  • Cell array in which the first element is a function handle and subsequent elements are the arguments to pass to the callback function

  • String scalar or character vector containing a valid MATLAB® command or function, which is evaluated in the base workspace (not recommended)

This callback executes when you click a state button. It does not execute if a state button Value property changes programmatically.

This callback function can access specific information about interaction with the buttons. MATLAB passes this information in a SelectionChangedEventData object as the second argument to your callback function. You can query the object properties using dot notation. For example, event.Selection returns the currently selected button. The SelectionChangedEventData object is not available to callback functions specified as string scalars or character vectors.

This table lists the properties of the SelectionChangedEventData object.

Property

Description

Axes

Array of Axes objects associated with the toolbar

Selection

Most recently clicked ToolbarStateButton object

PreviousSelection

Second most recently clicked ToolbarStateButton object

Source

AxesToolbar object

EventName

'SelectionChanged'

Object creation function, specified as one of these values:

  • Function handle

  • Cell array in which the first element is a function handle and subsequent elements are the arguments to pass to the callback function

  • String scalar or character vector containing a valid MATLAB command or function, which is evaluated in the base workspace (not recommended)

For more information about specifying a callback as a function handle, cell array, string scalar, or character vector, see Create Callbacks for Graphics Objects.

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 and subsequent elements are the arguments to pass to the callback function

  • String scalar or character vector containing a valid MATLAB command or function, which is evaluated in the base workspace (not recommended)

For more information about specifying a callback as a function handle, cell array, string scalar, or character vector, see Create Callbacks for Graphics Objects.

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 set to "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 set to "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 set to "off".

Under these conditions, the BusyAction property of the object that owns the interrupting callback determines how MATLAB handles the interrupting callback. Specify the BusyAction property as one of these values:

  • "queue" — Put the interrupting callback in a queue to be processed after the running callback finishes execution.

  • "cancel" — Do 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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Child buttons, specified as a graphics array of ToolbarPushButton, ToolbarStateButton, and ToolbarDropdown objects. If you are using the default axes toolbar, then this property is an empty array. However, if you create a custom toolbar using the axtoolbar function, then this property contains the child buttons.

This property is read-only.

Parent container, returned as a Figure, Panel, TabGroup, or GridLayout object.

You can move a toolbar from one Axes or TiledChartLayout object to another by setting the Toolbar property of the destination object to your toolbar. For example, to move toolbar tb from axes ax to tiled chart layout tcl, use tcl.Toolbar = tb.

Visibility of the object handle in the Children property of the parent, specified as one of these values:

  • "on" — Object handle is always visible.

  • "off" — Object handle is invisible at all times. This option is useful for preventing unintended changes by another function. Set HandleVisibility to "off" to temporarily hide the handle during the execution of that function.

  • "callback" — Object handle 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 permits callback functions to access it.

If the object is not listed in the Children property of the parent, then functions that obtain object handles by searching the object hierarchy or querying handle properties cannot return it. Examples of such functions include the get, findobj, gca, gcf, gco, newplot, cla, clf, and close functions.

Hidden object handles are still valid. Set the root ShowHiddenHandles property to "on" to list all object handles regardless of their HandleVisibility property setting.

Identifiers

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This property is read-only.

Type of graphics object, returned as 'axestoolbar'. Use this property to find all objects of a given type within a plotting hierarchy.

Object identifier, specified as a string scalar or character vector. 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.

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 a Single App Designer App.

Unused Properties

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Setting this property has no effect on objects of this type.

Version History

Introduced in R2018b

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See Also

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