Mouse Motion and Object Handle

Hello,

Is there a way to get MATLAB to return an object handle for the GUI control the mouse is currently over?

I have tried using the 'WindowButtonMotionFcn' to monitor mouse movement, and have also tried setting the 'traverseFcn' field using 'iptSetPointerBehavior', but when the functions are called it appears that only the figure handle is available. For my current project, I need the handle to the 'axes' object the mouse is over, not the figure handle.

Thanks,

Mike

Answer 1

[Matt Fig]

This is adapted from one of my GUI examples which tracks the location in axes data coordinates. I have altered it to simply display which axes the mouse is hovering over.

function [] = gui_which_axes()
% Display which axes the pointer is over....

S.fh = figure('units','pixels',...
              'position',[560 528 560 420],...
              'menubar','none',...
              'name','gui_which_axes',...
              'numbertitle','off',...
              'resize','off');
% Now make a simple plot.
x = 0:.1:2*pi;
S.ax(1) = subplot(2,2,1);
plot(x,sin(x))
S.ax(2) = subplot(2,2,2);
plot(x,cos(x))
S.ax(3) = subplot(2,2,3);
plot(x,tan(x))
S.ax(4) = subplot(2,2,4);
plot(x,x.^2)
set(S.ax,'unit','pix');

% Fill the structure with data.
S.AXP = get(S.ax,'pos');
S.tx(1) = uicontrol('style','tex',...
                    'unit','pix',...
                    'posit',[50 395 250 22],...
                    'backg',get(S.fh,'color'),...
                    'fontsize',12,'fontweight','bold',... 
                    'string','Current Pointer Axes:');
% This textbox will display the current position of the mouse.
S.tx(2) = uicontrol('style','tex',...
                    'unit','pix',...
                    'position',[310 395 120 25],...
                    'backg',get(S.fh,'color'),...
                    'fontsize',12,'fontweight','bold' );

set(S.fh,'windowbuttonmotionfcn',{@fh_wbmfcn,S}) % Set the motion detector.

function [] = fh_wbmfcn(varargin)
% WindowButtonMotionFcn for the figure.
S = varargin{3};  % Get the structure.
set(S.tx(2),'string','None')
F = get(S.fh,'currentpoint');  % The current point w.r.t the figure.
% Figure out of the current point is over the axes or not -> logicals.

for ii = 1:4
    tf1 = S.AXP{ii}(1) <= F(1) && F(1) <= S.AXP{ii}(1) + S.AXP{ii}(3);
    tf2 = S.AXP{ii}(2) <= F(2) && F(2) <= S.AXP{ii}(2) + S.AXP{ii}(4);

      if tf1 && tf2
          set(S.tx(2),'str',['Axes ' num2str(ii)])
          break
      end
  end