uimenu

Create menu or menu items

Syntax

m = uimenu

m = uimenu(parent)

m = uimenu(___,Name,Value)

Description

m = uimenu creates a menu in the current figure and returns the Menu object. If there is no figure available, MATLAB^® calls the figure function to create one.

m = uimenu(parent) creates the menu in the specified parent container. The parent container can be a Figure object or another Menu object.

m = uimenu(___,Name,Value) creates a menu with property values specified using one or more name-value arguments. Specify name-value arguments with either of the previous syntaxes.

example

Examples

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Menu in Default Menu Bar

Create a figure that displays the default menu bar. Add a menu and a menu item.

f = figure('Toolbar','none');
m = uimenu('Text','Options');
mitem = uimenu(m,'Text','Reset');

A figure window with a menu bar. The menu items are "File", "Edit", "View", "Insert", "Tools", "Desktop", "Window", "Help", and "Options". The "Options" item is selected, and displays a drop-down with a "Reset" option.

Menu Item with Keyboard Shortcuts and Callback

Add a menu item with keyboard shortcuts to the menu bar and define a callback that executes when the menu item is selected.

First, create a program file called importmenu.m. Within the program file:

Create a figure.
Add a menu called Import. Create a mnemonic keyboard shortcut for the menu by specifying '&Import' as the text label.
Create a menu item and specify mnemonic and accelerator keyboard shortcuts.
Define a MenuSelectedFcn callback that executes when the user clicks the menu item or uses the mnemonic or accelerator keyboard shortcuts.

Run the program file.

function importmenu
fig = uifigure;
m = uimenu(fig,'Text','&Import');
 
mitem = uimenu(m,'Text','&Text File');
mitem.Accelerator = 'T';
mitem.MenuSelectedFcn = @MenuSelected;
 
    function MenuSelected(src,event)
        file = uigetfile('*.txt');
    end
 
end

A menu bar with an "Import" item with a "Text File" sub-item. The "I" in "Import" and the "T" in "Text File" are underlined. The Ctrl+T keyboard shortcut is displayed to the right of the "Text File" item.

You can interact with the menu and menu item, using the keyboard, in the following ways:

Select the Import menu by pressing Alt+I.
Select the Text File menu item and execute the callback by pressing Alt+I+T.
Select the Text File menu item and execute the callback by using the accelerator Ctrl+T.

When you select the Text File menu item, the Select File to Open dialog box opens with the extension field filtered to text files.

File dialog box. The file extension filer drop-down list has the option "(*.txt.)" selected.

Menu with Checked Menu Item and Shared Callback

Create a checked menu item that can be selected or cleared to show a grid in axes. Share the callback with a push button so that pushing it also shows or hides the grid.

First, create a program file called plotOptions.m. Within the program file:

Create a figure with a push button, and axes that display a grid.
Add a menu and a menu item with mnemonics. Specify that the menu item is checked.
Define a MenuSelectedFcn callback that hides or shows the grid when the user interacts with the menu item.
Define a ButtonPushedFcn that uses the same callback function as the menu item.

Run the program file.

function plotOptions
fig = uifigure;
ax = uiaxes(fig);
grid(ax);
btn = uibutton(fig,'Text','Show Grid');
btn.Position = [155 325 100 20];

m = uimenu(fig,'Text','&Plot Options');
mitem = uimenu(m,'Text','Show &Grid','Checked','on');
mitem.MenuSelectedFcn = @ShowGrid;
btn.ButtonPushedFcn = @ShowGrid;

    function ShowGrid(src,event)
        grid(ax);
        if strcmp(mitem.Checked,'on')
            mitem.Checked = 'off';
        else
            mitem.Checked = 'on';
        end
    end
end

An app with a menu bar, button, and set of axes. The "Show Grid" menu item has a checked check box to the left of the text.

Input Arguments

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`parent` — Parent container
`Figure` object | `Menu` object | `ContextMenu` object

Parent container, specified as a Figure object created with either the figure or uifigure function, another Menu object, or a ContextMenu object. If you do not specify a parent container, then MATLAB calls figure to create one, and places the menu in the menu bar of that figure. Specify the parent as an existing Menu object to add menu items to a menu, or to nest menu items.

Name-Value Arguments

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Specify optional pairs of arguments as Name1=Value1,...,NameN=ValueN, where Name is the argument name and Value is the corresponding value. Name-value arguments must appear after other arguments, but the order of the pairs does not matter.

Before R2021a, use commas to separate each name and value, and enclose Name in quotes.

Example: m = uimenu('Text','Open') creates a menu and sets its label to 'Open'.

Note

The properties listed here are a subset of the available properties. For the full list, see Menu.

`Text` — Menu label
character vector | string scalar

Menu label, specified as a character vector or string scalar. This property specifies the label that appears on the menu or menu item.

Avoid using these case-sensitive reserved words: 'default', 'remove', and 'factory'. If you must use a reserved word, then specify a backslash character before the word. For instance, specify 'default' as '\default'.

You can specify a mnemonic keyboard shortcut (Alt+mnemonic) by using the ampersand (&) character in the text for the label. The character that follows the ampersand appears underlined in the menu when Alt is pressed. You can select the menu item by holding down the Alt key and typing the character shown.

To use mnemonics, you must specify a mnemonic for all menus and menu items that you define in the app. If you define mnemonics only for some menus or menu items, pressing the Alt key does not have any effect.

The table shows some examples:

Text Value	Menu Label with Mnemonic Hints
`'&Open Selection'`
`'O&pen Selection'`
`'&Save && Go'`

`Accelerator` — Keyboard shortcut
character | string

Keyboard shortcut, specified as a character or as a string that contains one character. Use this property to define a keyboard shortcut for selecting a menu item.

Example: mitem.Accelerator = "H"

Specifying an accelerator value enables users to select the menu item by pressing a character and another key, instead of using the mouse. The key sequence is platform specific.

Windows^® systems: Ctrl+accelerator
Macintosh systems: Command+accelerator
Linux^® systems: Ctrl+accelerator

Things to keep in mind when using accelerators:

The app window must be in focus when entering the accelerator key sequence.
Accelerators cannot be used on top-level menus.
Accelerators only work when the menu item meets all these criteria.
- It does not contain any submenu items.
- It executes a callback function.
- It has the Visible property set to 'on'.
- Its accelerator value is not already assigned to a different active menu item in the same app.

`MenuSelectedFcn` — Menu selected callback function
`''` (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector

Menu selected callback function, 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.

For more information about specifying a callback property value as a function handle, cell array, or character vector, see Specify a Callback Function.

The callback responds depending on the location of the menu item and the type of interaction:

Left-clicking a menu expands that menu and triggers its callback.
While any menu is expanded, pausing on any other parent menu (or top-level menu) expands that menu and triggers its callback.

Note

Do not use a callback to dynamically change menu items. Deleting, adding, and replacing menu items in a callback can result in a blank menu. Instead, use the Visible property to hide or show menu items. You can also enable and disable menu items by setting the Enable property. To fully repopulate menu items, delete and create them outside the callback.

Menus Associated with Context Menus

When the menu component is associated with a context menu (as opposed to a menu item at the top of a figure window), this callback function can access specific information about the user's interaction with the app. MATLAB passes this information in a MenuSelectedData object as the second argument to your callback function. In App Designer, the argument is named event. You can query the object properties using dot notation. For example, event.ContextObject returns information about which component the user right-clicked to open the associated context menu.

Note

You can specify a MenuSelectedFcn callback for any Menu object. However, the MenuSelectedData object in the callback event data is available only when the context menu that the menu belongs to is associated with a UI component (as opposed to a graphics object, such as an Axes or Line object), or is associated with a container that contains only UI components.

This table lists the properties of the MenuSelectedData object.

Property	Value
`ContextObject`	Object that the app user right-clicked to open the context menu
`InteractionInformation`	Information about where in the component the app user right-clicked to open the context menu. This information is stored as an object with different properties depending on the value of `ContextObject`. For example, if `ContextObject` is a `Table` object, then `InteractionInformation` stores information about which row and column in the table the user right-clicked. For more details on the properties that `InteractionInformation` can have, see the next table.
`Source`	Context menu object that executes the callback
`EventName`	`'MenuSelected'`

This table lists the properties of the InteractionInformation object. The properties depend on which object the app user right-clicked to open the context menu.

`ContextObject`	`InteractionInformation` Property	Value
Any	`Location`	Location where the user right-clicked relative to the bottom-left corner of the parent container of the `ContextObject`, 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 right-click location. The value of `y` represents the vertical distance from the bottom edge of the parent container to the right-click location. Distances are measured in pixels.
Any	`ScreenLocation`	Location where the user right-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 right-click location. The value of `y` represents the vertical distance from the bottom edge of the display to the right-click location. Distances are measured in pixels.
`Table`	`DisplayRow`	Row that the user right-clicked as it appears visually in the table, returned as a numeric scalar. If the user has not sorted the table, then `DisplayRow` has the same value as `Row`. If the user right-clicked an area of the table UI component that is not associated with a row, then `DisplayRow` is an empty array.
	`DisplayColumn`	Column that the user right-clicked as it appears visually in the table, returned as a numeric scalar. If the user has not rearranged the table, then `DisplayColumn` has the same value as `Column`. If the user right-clicked an area of the table UI component that is not associated with a column, then `DisplayColumn` is an empty array.
	`Row`	Row that the user right-clicked as it corresponds to the original table data, returned as a numeric scalar. If the user has not sorted the table, then `Row` has the same value as `DisplayRow`. If the user right-clicked an area of the table UI component that is not associated with a row, then `Row` is an empty array.
	`Column`	Column that the user right-clicked as it corresponds to the original table data, returned as a numeric scalar. If the user has not rearranged the table, then `Column` has the same value as `DisplayColumn`. If the user right-clicked an area of the table UI component that is not associated with a column, then `Column` is an empty array.
	`RowHeader`	Whether the user right-clicked the table row header, returned as a logical `0` (`false`) or `1` (`true`).
	`ColumnHeader`	Whether the user right-clicked the table column header, returned as a logical `0` (`false`) or `1` (`true`).
`Tree`	`Node`	Right-clicked node, returned as a `TreeNode` object. If the user right-clicked an area of the tree that is not associated with a node, then `Node` is an empty array.
`Tree`	`Level`	Level of the right-clicked node, returned as a numeric scalar. Nodes parented directly to the `Tree` object are at level 1, nodes parented to a node at level 1 are at level 2, and so on. If the user right-clicked an area of the tree that is not associated with a node, then `Level` is an empty array.
`ListBox`	`Item`	Index of the right-clicked list box item, returned as a numeric scalar. If the user right-clicked an area of the list box that is not associated with an item, then `Item` is an empty array.

`Separator` — Separator line mode
`'off'` (default) | on/off logical value

Separator line mode, 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.

Setting this property to 'on' draws a dividing line above the menu item.

Note

The Separator property is ignored when the menu item is a top-level menu item.

`Checked` — Menu check indicator
`'off'` (default) | on/off logical value

Menu check indicator, 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.

Setting this property to 'on' places a check mark next to the corresponding menu item. Setting it to 'off' removes the check mark. You can use this feature to show the state of menu items that enable or disable functionality in your application.

Note

The Checked property is ignored when the menu item is:

A top-level menu item
A menu item that contains one or more child menu items

Version History

Introduced before R2006a

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R2025a: Create tooltip for menus in `figure`-based apps

Create a tooltip for menus in apps created using the figure function by specifying the Tooltip property.

R2023b: Access information about action used to open context menu

The MenuSelectedFcn callback has additional event data when the callback is defined for a menu item in a context menu, and when that context menu is associated with a UI component. Use this data to customize and share context menus in an app.

Event Data Property	Description
`ContextObject`	Object that the app user right-clicked to open the context menu
`InteractionInformation`	Information about where in the component the app user right-clicked to open the context menu, such as the cell of a table

R2017b: `Label` property is not recommended

Starting in R2017b, using the Label property to specify the menu label is not recommended. Use the Text property instead. The property values are the same.

R2017b: `Position` property is not recommended

Starting in R2017b, using the Position property to specify the menu placement is not recommended. Modify the Children property to reorder the menu items instead. For more information, see Lay Out Apps Programmatically.

R2017b: `Callback` property is not recommended

Starting in R2017b, using the Callback property to assign a menu selected callback is not recommended. Use the MenuSelectedFcn property instead. The property values are the same.

uimenu

Syntax

Description

Examples

Menu in Default Menu Bar

Menu Item with Keyboard Shortcuts and Callback

Menu with Checked Menu Item and Shared Callback

Input Arguments

`parent` — Parent container
`Figure` object | `Menu` object | `ContextMenu` object

Name-Value Arguments

`Text` — Menu label
character vector | string scalar

`Accelerator` — Keyboard shortcut
character | string

`MenuSelectedFcn` — Menu selected callback function
`''` (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector

Menus Associated with Context Menus

`Separator` — Separator line mode
`'off'` (default) | on/off logical value

`Checked` — Menu check indicator
`'off'` (default) | on/off logical value

Version History

R2025a: Create tooltip for menus in `figure`-based apps

R2023b: Access information about action used to open context menu

R2017b: `Label` property is not recommended

R2017b: `Position` property is not recommended

R2017b: `Callback` property is not recommended

See Also

Functions

Properties

Topics

uimenu

Syntax

Description

Examples

Menu in Default Menu Bar

Menu Item with Keyboard Shortcuts and Callback

Menu with Checked Menu Item and Shared Callback

Input Arguments

parent — Parent container Figure object | Menu object | ContextMenu object

Name-Value Arguments

Text — Menu label character vector | string scalar

Accelerator — Keyboard shortcut character | string

MenuSelectedFcn — Menu selected callback function '' (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector

Menus Associated with Context Menus

Separator — Separator line mode 'off' (default) | on/off logical value

Checked — Menu check indicator 'off' (default) | on/off logical value

Version History

R2025a: Create tooltip for menus in figure-based apps

R2023b: Access information about action used to open context menu

R2017b: Label property is not recommended

R2017b: Position property is not recommended

R2017b: Callback property is not recommended

See Also

Functions

Properties

Topics

`parent` — Parent container
`Figure` object | `Menu` object | `ContextMenu` object

`Text` — Menu label
character vector | string scalar

`Accelerator` — Keyboard shortcut
character | string

`MenuSelectedFcn` — Menu selected callback function
`''` (default) | function handle | cell array | character vector

`Separator` — Separator line mode
`'off'` (default) | on/off logical value

`Checked` — Menu check indicator
`'off'` (default) | on/off logical value

R2025a: Create tooltip for menus in `figure`-based apps

R2017b: `Label` property is not recommended

R2017b: `Position` property is not recommended

R2017b: `Callback` property is not recommended