Programmatically save changes of an editable uitable

Question

I created an UItable in Matlab which I fill with various values and options. It looks like:

the corresponding code is the following:

selector_1 = { 'A'; 'B' ; 'C' };
selector_2 = { 'A.1'; 'A.2'; 'A.3'; ...
               'B.1'; 'B.2'; 'B.3'; ...
               'C.1'; 'C.2'; 'C.3' };

rows = 5;           

f = figure('name','Configuration of output','Position',[200 200 430 25+rows*20],'numbertitle','off','MenuBar','none');

dat =  {'select outputfile...', 'select identifier...', 'Specifier',  'Index'};
dat = repmat(dat,rows,1);
columnname =   {'Output file                   ',...
                'Identifier                    ',...
                'Specifier          ', 'Index'};
columnformat = { {selector_1{:}}, {selector_2{:}}, 'char', 'numeric' };
columneditable =  [true true true true]; 
t = uitable('Units','normalized','Position',...
            [0 0 1 1], 'Data', dat,... 
            'ColumnName', columnname,...
            'ColumnFormat', columnformat,...
            'ColumnEditable', columneditable,...
            'RowName',[]);
set(t, 'Data', dat,'celleditcallback','get(t,''Data'')');

So I run the code and the figure is open. The underlying script has therefore finished. When I now edit the table my uitable object is changed and after I finished I can get my final configuration with:

finalconfig =  get(t,'Data');

But the thing is I need manually type this line, because my script has already finished. If I put this line at the end of my script, I get an error.

So I thought about using the following loop, to detect when I close the table and to store the last configuration

while ~isempty(findobj('name','Configuration of output'))
    % some action
end
finalconfig =  get(t,'Data');

And I tried everything to put inside the loop, the whole script, just the set command including the celleditcallback, and other things, but nothing worked. Either my script get stucked inside the loop or the display of my table is not updated when I edit a value. I also tried drawnow at different positions. How one handles this situation? How can I automatically store my final results? I assume "closing the window" is the best action to detect, as I don't think I could implement a "save" button. I also tried to create a gui using GUIDE but got completely lost, I hope to solve it without.

---

Edit: I was now able to implement a "save"-button and tried the callback as follows:

uimenu('Label','Save configuration','Callback',@saveConfig);
function saveConfig(~,~)
        output = get(t,'Data',);
        save([pwd 'output.mat'],'output');
end

also I implemented a custom CloseRequestFcn as suggested by Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. But then I have either one of the following problems:

1) I define everything as a script, everything works fine, but I need to define functions like @saveConfig (actually my favorite) or @my_Closefcn as a unique function-file in my workspace and I have a hard time to pass the right parameters as dat always remains the same, even though it actually gets changend. (The example from the mathworks site works! But it doesn't need additional parameters.)

2) When I use

function configuration
% my script from above
end

I can implement @saveConfig or @my_Closefcn directly (nested) and I guess the passing of the parameters would work fine. But the editing of my table does not work anymore, throwing the following error:

Error using handle.handle/get

Invalid or deleted object.

Error while evaluating uitable CellEditCallback

How to solve that? Now that I know that I can even add buttons to an uitable I REALLY like to avoid GUIDE. My code above is executable, so I'd be glad if you try it to see what my actual problem is, as it is hard to describe.

Answer 1

depending on using GUIDE or not:

use the CloseRequestFcn->

without GUIDE use:

%write your own CloseRequestFcn and set the figure CloseRequest-Callback to it:
set(gcf,'CloseRequestFcn',@my_closefcn)
%use gcf or the handle of the figure directly

and define my_closefcn including a delete statement for the figure-handle, else the figure will not close :)

See the docs for more information about "Redefining the CloseRequestFcn".

with GUIDE:

you can edit the CloseRequestFcn by inspecting the figure. There is a field called CloseRequestFcn that will create the function automatically and you dont need to take care about getting the handle. It will look like this:

function figure1_CloseRequestFcn(hObject, eventdata, handles)
% hObject    handle to figure1 (see GCBO)
% eventdata  reserved - to be defined in a future version of MATLAB
% handles    structure with handles and user data (see GUIDATA)

% Hint: delete(hObject) closes the figure
delete(hObject);

Now BEFORE deleting the figure, you should be able to get the data of the uitable (if you have the handle) and I would suggest to just assign the data to the base workspace, like:

assignin('base', 'finalTableData', get(myTableHandle,'Data'));

EDIT

as I was not clear enough, see this example:

(use within one single script)->

function test
h=figure;
x=1:10;
mytable=uitable(h,'Data',x);
set(h,'CloseRequestFcn',@myCloseFcn)
%give a unique Tag:
set(h,'Tag', 'myTag')
set(mytable,'Tag','myTableTag')
end

function myCloseFcn(~,~)
myfigure=findobj('Tag','myTag');
myData=get(findobj(myfigure,'Tag','myTableTag'),'Data')
assignin('base','myTestData',myData)
delete(myfigure)
end

in fact, there is no need to take care for the parameters of your Closereq-Callback, if you know how to find the handle of the figure! Just give something to your figure/uitable that you are able to identify it later on. I used 'Tag', because the first thing I would think of, but there would be other parameters as well.

Answer 2

There are only two differences I can think of between running the code directly after the code, or inside the code.

1. Scope

Perhaps you are actually working with functions, rather than scripts. In this case the problem may be that inside your function, something you need is out of scope.

2. Timing

Though it is rare, sometimes the computer may seem to be finished, whilst it is actually still busy (for a few milliseconds or so).

---

Here are the steps to a general approach:

1. Make sure there is a trivial line at the place where you want to insert your command (1==1 for example)
2. Put a breakpoint at the line
3. Once matlab stops at the breakpoint, wait a second and try to run your command.

If it works I would bet on problem number 2. try placing a pause(1) before your command and see whether it helps.

If it doesn't work you are likely meeting problem number 1. Now it becomes a matter of finding the right place to put your command. And if the command cannot be put somewhere else in the code, perhaps try an ugly evalin(,'base'). However, the latter should really be considered a workaround rather than a solution.