MATLAB Function Reference

findobj

Locate graphics objects with specific properties

Syntax

• h = findobj
  h = findobj('PropertyName',PropertyValue,...)
  h = findobj(objhandles,...)
  h = findobj(objhandles,'flat','PropertyName',PropertyValue,...)
  

Description

findobj locates graphics objects and returns their handles. You can limit the search to objects with particular property values and along specific branches of the hierarchy.

h = findobj returns the handles of the root object and all its descendants.

h = findobj('PropertyName',PropertyValue,...) returns the handles of all graphics objects having the property PropertyName, set to the value PropertyValue. You can specify more than one property/value pair, in which case, findobj returns only those objects having all specified values.

h = findobj(objhandles,...) restricts the search to objects listed in objhandles and their descendants.

h = findobj(objhandles,'flat','PropertyName',PropertyValue,...) restricts the search to those objects listed in objhandles and does not search descendants.

Remarks

findobj returns an error if a handle refers to a non-existent graphics object.

Findobj correctly matches any legal property value. For example,

• findobj('Color','r')
  

finds all objects having a Color property set to red, r, or [1 0 0].

When a graphics object is a descendant of more than one object identified in objhandles, MATLAB searches the object each time findobj encounters its handle. Therefore, implicit references to a graphics object can result in its handle being returned multiple times.

Examples

Find all line objects in the current axes:

• h = findobj(gca,'Type','line')
  

See Also

copyobj, gcf, gca, gcbo, gco, get, set

Graphics objects include:

axes, figure, image, light, line, patch, surface, text, uicontrol, uimenu

Finding and Identifying Graphics Objects for related functions

findfigs

findstr