Matlab toolstrip – part 8 (galleries)

In previous posts I showed how we can create custom Matlab app toolstrips using various controls (buttons, checkboxes, drop-downs, lists etc.). Today I will show how we can incorporate gallery panels into our Matlab toolstrip.

import matlab.ui.internal.toolstrip.*

Gallery sub-components

• Gallery or DropDownGalleryButton
  • GalleryPopup
    • GalleryCategory
      • GalleryItem or ToggleGalleryItem
      • GalleryItem or ToggleGalleryItem
      • …
    • GalleryCategory
    • …

For a demonstration of toolstrip Galleries, see the code files in %matlabroot%/toolbox/matlab/toolstrip/+matlab/+ui/+internal/+desktop/, specifically showcaseToolGroup.m and showcaseBuildTab_Gallery.m.

GalleryPopup

We first create the GalleryPopup object, then add to it a few GalleryCategory groups of GalleryItem, ToggleGalleryItem buttons. In the example below, we use a ButtonGroup to ensure that only a single ToggleGalleryItem button is selected:

import matlab.ui.internal.toolstrip.*
popup = GalleryPopup('ShowSelection',true);
% Create gallery categories
cat1 = GalleryCategory('CATEGORY #1 SINGLE'); popup.add(cat1);
cat2 = GalleryCategory('CATEGORY #2 SINGLE'); popup.add(cat2);
cat3 = GalleryCategory('CATEGORY #3 SINGLE'); popup.add(cat3);
% Create a button-group to control item selectability
group = matlab.ui.internal.toolstrip.ButtonGroup;
% Add items to the gallery categories
fpath = [fullfile(matlabroot,'toolbox','matlab','toolstrip','web','image') filesep];  % icons path
item1 = ToggleGalleryItem('Biology', Icon([fpath 'biology_app_24.png']), group);
item1.Description = 'Select the Biology gizmo';
item1.ItemPushedFcn = @(x,y) ItemPushedCallback(x,y);
cat1.add(item1);
item2 = ToggleGalleryItem('Code Generation', Icon([fpath 'code_gen_app_24.png']), group);
cat1.add(item2);
item3 = ToggleGalleryItem('Control', Icon([fpath 'control_app_24.png']), group);
cat1.add(item3);
item4 = ToggleGalleryItem('Database', Icon([fpath 'database_app_24.png']), group);
cat1.add(item4);
...

Gallery items selection: push-button action, single-selection toggle, multiple selection toggle

If we use ToggleGalleryItem without a ButtonGroup, multiple gallery items can be selected, rather than just a single selection as shown above:

...
item1 = ToggleGalleryItem('Biology', Icon([fpath 'biology_app_24.png']));item1.Description = 'Select the Biology gizmo';
item1.ItemPushedFcn = @(x,y) ItemPushedCallback(x,y);
cat1.add(item1);
item2 = ToggleGalleryItem('Code Generation', Icon([fpath 'code_gen_app_24.png']));
cat1.add(item2);item3 = ToggleGalleryItem('Control', Icon([fpath 'control_app_24.png']));
cat1.add(item3);
item4 = ToggleGalleryItem('Database', Icon([fpath 'database_app_24.png']));cat1.add(item4);
...

Customizing the GalleryPopup

Properties that affect the GalleryPopup appearance are:

• DisplayState – initial display mode of gallery items (string; default=’icon_view’, valid values: ‘icon_view’,’list_view’)
• GalleryItemRowCount – number of rows used in the display of the in-line gallery (integer; default=1, valid values: 0,1,2). A Value of 2 should typically be used with a small icon and GalleryItemWidth (see below)
• GalleryItemTextLineCount – number of rows used for display of the item label (integer; default=2, valid values: 0,1,2)
• ShowSelection – whether or not to display the last-selected item (logical; default=false). Needs to be true for Gallery and false for DropDownGalleryButton.
• GalleryItemWidth – number of pixels to allocate for each gallery item (integer, hidden; default=80)
• FavoritesEnabled – whether or not to enable a “Favorites” category (logical, hidden; default=false)

All of these properties are defined as private in the GalleryPopup class, and can only be specified during the class object’s construction. For example, instead of the default icon-view, we can display the gallery items as a list, by setting the GalleryPopup‘s DisplayState property to 'list_view' during construction:

popup = GalleryPopup('DisplayState','list_view');

Gallery and DropDownGalleryButton

Now that we have prepared GalleryPopup, let’s integrate it in our toolstrip.
We have two choices — either in-line within the toolstrip section (using Gallery), or as a compact drop-down button (using DropDownGalleryButton):

% Inline gallery
section = hTab.addSection('Multiple Selection Gallery');
column = section.addColumn();
popup = GalleryPopup('ShowSelection',true);
% add the GalleryPopup creation code above
gallery = Gallery(popup, 'MinColumnCount',2, 'MaxColumnCount',4);
column.add(gallery);
% Drop-down gallery
section = hTab.addSection('Drop Down Gallery');
column = section.addColumn();
popup = GalleryPopup();
% add the GalleryPopup creation code above
button = DropDownGalleryButton(popup, 'Examples', Icon.MATLAB_24);
button.MinColumnCount = 5;
column.add(button);

• Popup – a GalleryPopup object handle, which is displayed when the user clicks the drop-down (arrow) widget. Only settable in the constructor, not after object creation.
• MinColumnCount – minimum number of item columns to display (integer; default=1). In Gallery, this property is only settable in the constructor, not after object creation; if not enough width is available to display these columns, the control collapses into a drop-down. In DropDownGalleryButton, this property can be set even after object creation (despite incorrect internal documentation), and controls the width of the popup panel.
• MaxColumnCount – maximal number of items columns to display (integer; default=10). In Gallery, this property is only settable in the constructor, not after object creation. In DropDownGalleryButton, this property can be set even after object creation but in any case seems to have no visible effect.
• Description – tooltip text displayed when the mouse hovers over the Gallery area (outside the area of the internal gallery items, which have their own individual Descriptions), or over the DropDownGalleryButton control.
• TextOverlay – a semi-transparent text label overlaid on top of the gallery panel (string, default=”). Only available in Gallery, not DropDownGalleryButton.

For example:

gallery = Gallery(popup, 'MinColumnCount',2, 'MaxColumnCount',4);
gallery.TextOverlay = 'Select from these items';

Toolstrip miniseries roadmap

The next post will discuss popup forms. These are similar in concept to galleries, in the sense that when we click the drop-down widget a custom popup panel is displayed. In the case of a popup form, this is a fully-customizable Matlab GUI figure.
Following that, I plan to discuss toolstrip collapsibility, the Toolpack framework, docking layout, DataBrowser panel, QAB (Quick Access Bar), underlying Java controls, and adding toolstrips to figures – not necessarily in this order.
Matlab toolstrips can be a bit complex, so I plan to proceed in small steps, each post building on top of its predecessors.
If you would like me to assist you in building a custom toolstrip or GUI for your Matlab program, please let me know.