Text Properties

Axes text appearance and behavior

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Text properties control the appearance and behavior of a Text object. By changing property values, you can modify certain aspects of the text. Use dot notation to query and set properties.

t = text(0.5,0.5,'text here');
s = t.FontSize;
t.FontSize = 12;

Text

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Text to display, specified as a character vector, cell array of character vectors, string array, categorical array, or numeric value. Specify a value according to how you want the text to appear. This table lists the most common situations.

Appearance of TextDescription of ValueExample
One line of text Character vector or 1-by-1 string array.

str = 'My Text'
or
str = "My Text"

Multiple lines of textCell array of character vectors or a string array.

str = {'First line','Second line'};
or
str = ["First line", "Second line"];

Text that includes a numeric variableArray that includes the number converted to a char array. Use num2str to convert the value.

x = 42;
str = ['The value is ',num2str(x)];

Text that includes special characters such as Greek letters or mathematical symbolsArray that includes TeX markup. For a list of supported markup, see the Interpreter property.

str = 'x ranges from 0 to 2\pi'

Note

  • The words default, factory, and remove are reserved words that do not appear in text when quoted as normal characters. To display any of these words individually, precede them with a backslash, such as '\default' or '\remove'.

  • If you specify this property as a categorical array, MATLAB® uses the values in the array, not the categories.

  • If you specify text that contains only a numeric value, the value is converted using sprintf('%g',value). For example, 12345678 displays as 1.23457e+07.

Text color, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name. The default value of [0 0 0] corresponds to black.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

  • 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 string scalar or character vector 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. Therefore, 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 the hexadecimal color codes.

Color NameShort NameRGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
"red""r"[1 0 0]"#FF0000"

Sample of the color red

"green""g"[0 1 0]"#00FF00"

Sample of the color green

"blue""b"[0 0 1]"#0000FF"

Sample of the color blue

"cyan" "c"[0 1 1]"#00FFFF"

Sample of the color cyan

"magenta""m"[1 0 1]"#FF00FF"

Sample of the color magenta

"yellow""y"[1 1 0]"#FFFF00"

Sample of the color yellow

"black""k"[0 0 0]"#000000"

Sample of the color black

"white""w"[1 1 1]"#FFFFFF"

Sample of the color white

"none"Not applicableNot applicableNot applicableNo color

This table lists the default color palettes for plots in the light and dark themes.

PalettePalette Colors

"gem" — Light theme default

Before R2025a: Most plots use these colors by default.

Sample of the "gem" color palette

"glow" — Dark theme default

Sample of the "glow" color palette

You can get the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for these palettes using the orderedcolors and rgb2hex functions. For example, get the RGB triplets for the "gem" palette and convert them to hexadecimal color codes.

RGB = orderedcolors("gem");
H = rgb2hex(RGB);

Before R2023b: Get the RGB triplets using RGB = get(groot,"FactoryAxesColorOrder").

Before R2024a: Get the hexadecimal color codes using H = compose("#%02X%02X%02X",round(RGB*255)).

Example: 'blue'

Example: [0 0 1]

Example: '#0000FF'

Control how the Color property is set, specified as one of these values:

  • "auto" — MATLAB controls the value of the Color property by using the SeriesIndex property of the Text object and the ColorOrder property of the axes.

  • "manual" — You set the value of the Color property directly, or indirectly as a function argument when you create the Text object.

If you change the value of the Color property manually, MATLAB changes the value of the ColorMode property to "manual".

Text interpreter, specified as one of these values:

  • 'tex' — Interpret characters using a subset of TeX markup.

  • 'latex' — Interpret characters using LaTeX markup.

  • 'none' — Display literal characters.

TeX Markup

By default, MATLAB supports a subset of TeX markup. Use TeX markup to add superscripts and subscripts, modify the font type and color, and include special characters in the text.

Modifiers remain in effect until the end of the text. Superscripts and subscripts are an exception because they modify only the next character or the characters within the curly braces. When you set the interpreter to "tex", the supported modifiers are as follows.

ModifierDescriptionExample
^{ }Superscript"text^{superscript}"
_{ }Subscript"text_{subscript}"
\bfBold font"\bf text"
\itItalic font"\it text"
\slOblique font (usually the same as italic font)"\sl text"
\rmNormal font"\rm text"
\fontname{specifier}Font name — Replace specifier with the name of a font family. You can use this in combination with other modifiers."\fontname{Courier} text"
\fontsize{specifier}Font size —Replace specifier with a numeric scalar value in point units."\fontsize{15} text"
\color{specifier}Font color — Replace specifier with one of these colors: red, green, yellow, magenta, blue, black, white, gray, darkGreen, orange, or lightBlue."\color{magenta} text"
\color[rgb]{specifier}Custom font color — Replace specifier with a three-element RGB triplet."\color[rgb]{0,0.5,0.5} text"

This table lists the supported special characters for the "tex" interpreter.

Character SequenceSymbolCharacter SequenceSymbolCharacter SequenceSymbol

\alpha

α

\upsilon

υ

\sim

~

\angle

∠

\phi

ϕ

\leq

≤

\ast

*

\chi

χ

\infty

∞

\beta

β

\psi

ψ

\clubsuit

♣

\gamma

γ

\omega

ω

\diamondsuit

♦

\delta

δ

\Gamma

Γ

\heartsuit

♥

\epsilon

ϵ

\Delta

Δ

\spadesuit

♠

\zeta

ζ

\Theta

Θ

\leftrightarrow

↔

\eta

η

\Lambda

Λ

\leftarrow

←

\theta

θ

\Xi

Ξ

\Leftarrow

⇐

\vartheta

ϑ

\Pi

Π

\uparrow

↑

\iota

ι

\Sigma

Σ

\rightarrow

→

\kappa

κ

\Upsilon

ϒ

\Rightarrow

⇒

\lambda

λ

\Phi

Φ

\downarrow

↓

\mu

µ

\Psi

Ψ

\circ

º

\nu

ν

\Omega

Ω

\pm

±

\xi

ξ

\forall

∀

\geq

≥

\pi

π

\exists

∃

\propto

∝

\rho

ρ

\ni

∍

\partial

∂

\sigma

σ

\cong

≅

\bullet

•

\varsigma

ς

\approx

≈

\div

÷

\tau

τ

\Re

ℜ

\neq

≠

\equiv

≡

\oplus

⊕

\aleph

ℵ

\Im

ℑ

\cup

∪

\wp

℘

\otimes

⊗

\subseteq

⊆

\oslash

∅

\cap

∩

\in

∈

\supseteq

⊇

\supset

⊃

\lceil

⌈

\subset

⊂

\int

∫

\cdot

·

\o

ο

\rfloor

⌋

\neg

¬

\nabla

∇

\lfloor

⌊

\times

x

\ldots

...

\perp

⊥

\surd

√

\prime

´

\wedge

∧

\varpi

ϖ

\0

∅

\rceil

⌉

\rangle

〉

\mid

|

\vee

∨

\langle

〈

\copyright

©

LaTeX Markup

To use LaTeX markup, set the interpreter to "latex". For inline mode, surround the markup with single dollar signs ($). For display mode, surround the markup with double dollar signs ($$).

LaTeX ModeExampleResult
Inline

"$\int_1^{20} x^2 dx$"

Equation with LaTeX inline mode

Display

"$$\int_1^{20} x^2 dx$$"

Equation with LaTeX display mode

The displayed text uses the default LaTeX font style. The FontName, FontWeight, and FontAngle properties do not have an effect. To change the font style, use LaTeX markup.

The maximum size of the text that you can use with the LaTeX interpreter is 1200 characters. For multiline text, this reduces by about 10 characters per line.

MATLAB supports most standard LaTeX math mode commands. For more information, see Supported LaTeX Commands. For examples that use TeX and LaTeX, see Greek Letters and Special Characters in Chart Text.

Since R2023b

Series index, specified as a positive whole number or "none". This property is useful for reassigning the font color so that it matches the colors of other objects.

If the SeriesIndex value is a number, MATLAB uses that number to calculate an index for assigning the color when you call functions such as text, title, or xlabel to create text in a chart. The index refers to the rows of the array stored in the ColorOrder property of the axes. Any objects in the axes that have the same SeriesIndex number will have the same color.

A SeriesIndex value of "none" corresponds to a neutral color that does not participate in the indexing scheme.

How Manual Color Assignment Overrides SeriesIndex Behavior

To manually control the font color, set the Color property of the Text object to a color value, such as a color name or RGB triplet.

When you manually set the font color, MATLAB does not use automatic color selection for that object, and it allows your color to persist, regardless of the value of the SeriesIndex property. The ColorMode property indicates whether the color has been set manually (by you) or automatically. A value of "manual" indicates manual selection, and a value of "auto" indicates automatic selection.

To enable automatic selection, set the SeriesIndex property to a positive whole number, and set the ColorMode property to "auto".

In some cases, MATLAB sets the SeriesIndex property to 0, which also disables automatic color selection.

Font

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Font name, specified as a supported font name or "FixedWidth". To display and print text properly, you must choose a font that your system supports. The default font depends on your operating system and locale.

To use a fixed-width font that looks good in any locale, use "FixedWidth". The fixed-width font relies on the root FixedWidthFontName property. Setting the root FixedWidthFontName property causes an immediate update of the display to use the new font.

Font size, specified as a scalar value greater than zero in point units. The default font size depends on the specific operating system and locale. One point equals 1/72 inch. To change the font units, use the FontUnits property.

Example: 12

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

Character thickness, specified as 'normal' or 'bold'.

MATLAB uses the FontWeight property to select a font from those available on your system. Not all fonts have a bold weight. Therefore, specifying a bold font weight can still result in the normal font weight.

Character slant, specified as 'normal' or 'italic'.

Not all fonts have both font styles. Therefore, the italic font might look the same as the normal font.

Font size units, specified as one of the values in this table.

UnitsDescription
'points'Points. One point equals 1/72 inch.
'inches'Inches.
'centimeters'Centimeters.
'normalized' Interpret font size as a fraction of the axes plot box height. If you resize the axes, the font size modifies accordingly. For example, if the FontSize is 0.1 in normalized units, then the text is 1/10 of the plot box height.
'pixels'

Pixels.

On Windows® and Macintosh systems, the size of a pixel is 1/96th of an inch. This size is independent of your system resolution.

On Linux® systems, the size of a pixel is determined by your system resolution.

If you set both the font size and the font units in one function call, you must set the FontUnits property first so that the axes correctly interprets the specified font size.

Text Box

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Text orientation, specified as a scalar value in degrees. A rotation value of 0 degrees makes the text horizontal. For vertical text, set this property to 90 or -90. Positive values rotate the text counterclockwise. Negative values rotate the text clockwise.

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

Color of box outline, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

  • 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 string scalar or character vector 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. Therefore, 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 the hexadecimal color codes.

Color NameShort NameRGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
"red""r"[1 0 0]"#FF0000"

Sample of the color red

"green""g"[0 1 0]"#00FF00"

Sample of the color green

"blue""b"[0 0 1]"#0000FF"

Sample of the color blue

"cyan" "c"[0 1 1]"#00FFFF"

Sample of the color cyan

"magenta""m"[1 0 1]"#FF00FF"

Sample of the color magenta

"yellow""y"[1 1 0]"#FFFF00"

Sample of the color yellow

"black""k"[0 0 0]"#000000"

Sample of the color black

"white""w"[1 1 1]"#FFFFFF"

Sample of the color white

"none"Not applicableNot applicableNot applicableNo color

This table lists the default color palettes for plots in the light and dark themes.

PalettePalette Colors

"gem" — Light theme default

Before R2025a: Most plots use these colors by default.

Sample of the "gem" color palette

"glow" — Dark theme default

Sample of the "glow" color palette

You can get the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for these palettes using the orderedcolors and rgb2hex functions. For example, get the RGB triplets for the "gem" palette and convert them to hexadecimal color codes.

RGB = orderedcolors("gem");
H = rgb2hex(RGB);

Before R2023b: Get the RGB triplets using RGB = get(groot,"FactoryAxesColorOrder").

Before R2024a: Get the hexadecimal color codes using H = compose("#%02X%02X%02X",round(RGB*255)).

Example: 'blue'

Example: [0 0 1]

Example: '#0000FF'

Color of text box background, specified as an RGB triplet, a hexadecimal color code, a color name, or a short name.

For a custom color, specify an RGB triplet or a hexadecimal color code.

  • 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 string scalar or character vector 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. Therefore, 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 the hexadecimal color codes.

Color NameShort NameRGB TripletHexadecimal Color CodeAppearance
"red""r"[1 0 0]"#FF0000"

Sample of the color red

"green""g"[0 1 0]"#00FF00"

Sample of the color green

"blue""b"[0 0 1]"#0000FF"

Sample of the color blue

"cyan" "c"[0 1 1]"#00FFFF"

Sample of the color cyan

"magenta""m"[1 0 1]"#FF00FF"

Sample of the color magenta

"yellow""y"[1 1 0]"#FFFF00"

Sample of the color yellow

"black""k"[0 0 0]"#000000"

Sample of the color black

"white""w"[1 1 1]"#FFFFFF"

Sample of the color white

"none"Not applicableNot applicableNot applicableNo color

This table lists the default color palettes for plots in the light and dark themes.

PalettePalette Colors

"gem" — Light theme default

Before R2025a: Most plots use these colors by default.

Sample of the "gem" color palette

"glow" — Dark theme default

Sample of the "glow" color palette

You can get the RGB triplets and hexadecimal color codes for these palettes using the orderedcolors and rgb2hex functions. For example, get the RGB triplets for the "gem" palette and convert them to hexadecimal color codes.

RGB = orderedcolors("gem");
H = rgb2hex(RGB);

Before R2023b: Get the RGB triplets using RGB = get(groot,"FactoryAxesColorOrder").

Before R2024a: Get the hexadecimal color codes using H = compose("#%02X%02X%02X",round(RGB*255)).

Example: 'blue'

Example: [0 0 1]

Example: '#0000FF'

Line style of box outline, specified as one of the options in this table.

Line StyleDescriptionResulting Line
"-"Solid line

Sample of solid line

"--"Dashed line

Sample of dashed line

":"Dotted line

Sample of dotted line

"-."Dash-dotted line

Sample of dash-dotted line, with alternating dashes and dots

"none"No lineNo line

Width of box outline, specified as a scalar numeric value in point units. One point equals 1/72 inch.

Example: 1.5

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

The space around the text within the text box, specified as scalar numeric value in point units.

MATLAB uses the Extent property value plus the Margin property value to determine the size of the text box.

Example: 8

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

Clipping of the text to the axes plot box, 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' — Clips the text to the axes plot box.

    • If the axes ClippingStyle property is set to '3dbox', which is the default, then MATLAB either displays the entire text or none of the text, depending on the text position. If the point defined by the text Position property lies inside the axes, then MATLAB displays the entire text. If the point lies outside the axes, then MATLAB displays none of it.

    • If the axes ClippingStyle property is set to 'rectangle', then MATLAB displays portions of the text lying inside the axes plot box and does not display portions of the text lying outside the axes plot box.

  • 'off' — Do not clip the text. Portions of it might appear outside the axes plot box.

Note

If the Clipping property of the associated axes is set to 'on', which is the default, then each individual object controls its own clipping behavior. If the Clipping property of the axes is set to 'off', then MATLAB does not clip any objects in the axes, regardless of the Clipping property of the individual object.

Position

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Location of the text, specified as a two-element vector of the form [x y] or a three-element vector of the form [x y z]. If you omit the third element, z, then MATLAB sets it to 0.

Specify the position using numeric values. To convert datetime or duration values to the appropriate numeric values for a particular coordinate direction, see ruler2num.

By default, the position value is defined in data units. To change the units, use the Units property.

Example: [0.5 0.5 0]

Data Types: double | single | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

This property is read-only.

Size and location of the rectangle that encloses the text, not including the margin, returned as a four-element vector of the form [left bottom width height]. The first two elements, left and bottom, define the position of the lower left corner of the rectangle. The last two elements, width and height, define the dimensions of the rectangle.

By default, the extent value is defined in data units. To change the units, use the Units property.

Example: [0.5 0.5 0.4 0.2]

Position units, specified as one of the values in this table.

UnitsDescription
'data' (default)Data coordinates.
'normalized' Normalized with respect to the axes. The lower left corner of the axes maps to (0,0) and the upper right corner maps to (1,1).
'inches'Inches.
'centimeters'Centimeters.
'characters'

Based on the default system font character size.

  • Character width = width of letter x.

  • Character height = distance between the baselines of two lines of text.

'points'Points. One point equals 1/72 inch.
'pixels'

Pixels.

On Windows and Macintosh systems, the size of a pixel is 1/96th of an inch. This size is independent of your system resolution.

On Linux systems, the size of a pixel is determined by your system resolution.

All units, except for 'data', are measured from the lower left corner of the axes. This property affects the Position and Extent properties.

If you specify the Position and Units properties as Name,Value pairs when creating the Text object, then the order of specification matters. To define the position with particular units, set the Units property before the Position property.

Horizontal alignment of the text with respect to the x value in the Position property, specified as one of the values in this table. The vertical line indicates where the x value lies in relation to the text.

ValueResult
'left' (default)

Sample of left-aligned text

'center'

Sample of centered text

'right'

Sample of right-aligned text

Vertical alignment of the text with respect to the y value in the Position property, specified as one of the values in this table. The horizontal line indicates where the y value lies in relation to the text.

ValueResult
'middle'

Sample of text that is vertically aligned at the middle

'top'

Sample of text that is vertically aligned just above the capline

'cap'

Sample of text that is vertically aligned at the capline

'bottom'

Sample of text that is vertically aligned just below the baseline

'baseline'

Sample of text that is vertically aligned at the baseline

Since R2023b

Include the anchor point of the Text object in the automatic selection of axes limits, specified as "on" or "off", or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

The Position property defines the location of the anchor point.

Setting this property to "on" can help you to locate and fine-tune the position of your text. To exclude the anchor point from the automatic limits selection, set this property to "off".

Interactivity

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Interactive edit mode, 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' — Allow interactive text editing. MATLAB places an insert cursor within the text and typing changes the text. To apply the new text, do any of the following:

    • Press the Esc key.

    • Click anywhere away from the text.

    • Reset the Editing property to 'off'.

    MATLAB updates the String property to contain the new text and resets the Editing property to 'off'.

  • 'off' — Do no allow interactive text editing. To change the text, you must set the String property. This is the default 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 object.

Context menu, specified as a ContextMenu object. Use this property to display a context menu when you right-click the object. Create the context menu using the uicontextmenu function.

Note

If the PickableParts property is set to 'none' or if the HitTest property is set to 'off', then the context menu does not appear.

Selection 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.

  • 'on' — Selected. If you click the object when in plot edit mode, then MATLAB sets its Selected property to 'on'. If the SelectionHighlight property also is set to 'on', then MATLAB displays selection handles around the object.

  • 'off' — Not selected.

Display of selection handles when selected, 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 selection handles when the Selected property is set to 'on'.

  • 'off' — Never display selection handles, even when the Selected property is set to 'on'.

Interactions, specified as an array of interaction objects or an empty array. The interactions you specify are available within your chart through gestures. For example, an editInteraction object enables clicking on text to edit.

The Interactions property does not appear in the property editor.

Callbacks

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Mouse-click callback, specified as one of these values:

  • Function handle

  • Cell array containing a function handle and additional arguments

  • Character vector that is a valid MATLAB command or function, which is evaluated in the base workspace (not recommended)

Use this property to execute code when you click the object. If you specify this property using a function handle, then MATLAB passes two arguments to the callback function when executing the callback:

  • Clicked object — Access properties of the clicked object from within the callback function.

  • Event data — Empty argument. Replace it with the tilde character (~) in the function definition to indicate that this argument is not used.

For more information on how to use function handles to define callback functions, see Create Callbacks for Graphics Objects.

Note

If the PickableParts property is set to 'none' or if the HitTest property is set to 'off', then this callback does not execute.

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 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. 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 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 '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.

Ability to capture mouse clicks, specified as one of these values:

  • 'visible' — Capture mouse clicks only when visible. The Visible property must be set to 'on'. The HitTest property determines if the Text object responds to the click or if an ancestor does.

  • 'all' — Capture mouse clicks regardless of visibility. The Visible property can be set to 'on' or 'off'. The HitTest property determines if the Text object responds to the click or if an ancestor does.

  • 'none' — Cannot capture mouse clicks. Clicking the Text object passes the click to the object below it in the current view of the figure window, which is typically the axes or the figure. The HitTest property has no effect.

If you want an object to be clickable when it is underneath other objects that you do not want to be clickable, then set the PickableParts property of the other objects to 'none' so that the click passes through them.

Response to captured mouse clicks, 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' — Trigger the ButtonDownFcn callback of the Text object. If you have defined the ContextMenu property, then invoke the context menu.

  • 'off' — Trigger the callbacks for the nearest ancestor of the Text object that meets one of these conditions:

    • HitTest property is set to 'on'.

    • PickableParts property is set to a value that enables the ancestor to capture mouse clicks.

Note

The PickableParts property determines if the Text object can capture mouse clicks. If it cannot, then the HitTest property has no effect.

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, specified as an Axes, PolarAxes, Group, or Transform object.

The object has no children. You cannot set this property.

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 'text'. Use this property to find all objects of a given type within a plotting hierarchy, for example, searching for the type using findobj.

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.

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.

Version History

Introduced before R2006a

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See Also

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