You can create a menu to copy the contents of a fig file as byte stream in the clipboard. Simply create a FIG file by hgsave, import the contents by fread and copy the data as string to the clibboard with a meaningful header:
[EDITED, code refreshed]
function FigClipboard(command, FigH)
% Copy & paste a figure through the clipboard
% Copy a figure: FigClipboard('copy', FigH)
% Open a new copy: FigClipboard('paste')
%
% License: Copy, modify, use like you want.
file = fullfile(tempdir, 'FigForClipboard.fig');
magic = '$FigToClipboard$';
switch command
case 'copy' %
if nargin == 1
FigH = gcf;
end
hgsave(FigH, file);
fid = fopen(file, 'r');
stream = fread(fid, Inf, 'uint8');
fclose(fid);
clipboard('copy', [magic, sprintf('%02x', stream)]);
delete(file);
case 'paste'
str = clipboard('paste');
if ischar(str) && strncmp(str, magic, length(magic))
fid = fopen(file, 'w');
if fid == 1
error('Cannot open file for writing: %s', file);
end
stream = sscanf(str(length(magic) + 1:end), '%2x');
fwrite(fid, stream, 'uint8');
fclose(fid);
openfig(file);
end
end
[/EDITED]
There must be a function which avoids the indirection over the hard disk. FIG files have the same format as MAT files and they contain a struct only. So it should be possible to re-create the figure directly from this struct instead from writing a file. But I do not find these methods directly and the additional speed is nice, but not a must-have.
