Creating Graphical User Interfaces

Editing Version 5 GUIs with Version 6 GUIDE

MATLAB Version 5 GUIDE saved GUI layouts as MAT-file/M-file pairs. In Version 6, GUIDE saves GUI layouts as FIG-files. You can set GUIDE application options so that GUIDE also generates an M-file to program the GUI callbacks.

Use the following procedure to edit a Version 5 GUI with Version 6 GUIDE:

1. Display the Version 5 GUI.
2. Obtain the handle of the GUI figure. If the figure's handle is hidden (i.e., the figure's HandleVisibility property is set to off), set the root ShowHiddenHandles property to on.

   set(0,'ShowHiddenHandles','on')
   

Then get the handle from the root's Children property.

h = get(0,'Children');

This statement returns the handles of all figures that exist when you issue the command. For simplicity, ensure that the GUI is the only figure displayed.

3. Pass the handle as an argument to the guide command.

   guide(h)
   

Saving the GUI in Version 6 GUIDE

When you save the edited GUI with Version 6 GUIDE, MATLAB creates a FIG-file that contains all the layout information. The original MAT-file/M-file combination are no longer used. To display the revised GUI, use the open or hgload command to load the newly created FIG-file, or you can also run the application M-file.

Updating Callbacks

Ensure that the Callback properties of the uicontrols in your GUI are set to the desired callback string or callback M-file name when you save the FIG-file. If your Version 5 GUI used an M-file that contained a combination of layout code and callback routines, then you should restructure the M-file to contain only the commands needed to initialize the GUI and the callback functions. The application M-file generated by Version 6 GUIDE can provide a model of how to restructure your code.

Note    By default, GUIDE generates an application M-file having the same name as the FIG-file saved with the Layout Editor. When you activate a GUI from the Layout Editor, GUIDE attempts to execute this M-file to launch the GUI.

Creating GUIs with GUIDE

Selecting GUIDE Application Options