Saving the Layout :: Laying Out GUIs and Setting Properties (Creating Graphical User Interfaces)

Creating Graphical User Interfaces

Saving the Layout

Once you have created the GUI layout, you can save it as a FIG-file (a binary file that saves the contents of a figure) using the Save or Save As item from the File menu. GUIDE generates the M-file automatically when you save or run the figure.

Note GUI FIG-files that are created or modified with MATLAB 7.0 or a later MATLAB version, are not automatically compatible with Version 6.5 and earlier versions. To make a FIG-file, a kind of MAT-file, backward compatible, you must check the MAT-file Ensure backward compatibility (-v6) preference in the Preferences dialog box under General -> MAT-Files.

Renaming GUI Files

Use Save As from the Layout Editor File menu to rename the GUI FIG-file. GUIDE renames the FIG-file and the GUI M-file and also resets the callback properties to properly execute the callbacks.

Exporting a GUI to a Single M-File

You can export a GUI from GUIDE to a single M-file that does not require a FIG-file. This enables you to

View the layout code for the GUI
Run the GUI in MATLAB 6.1

Note If the GUI contains a panel or a button group, you will not be able to run it in MATLAB versions earlier than 7.0.

To export your GUI, do the following steps:

Save the GUI in GUIDE, if you have not already done so.
Select Export from the File menu. If you changed the GUI since you last saved it, this opens a dialog informing you that exporting will save changes to your figure and M-file, and asking if you want to continue.
Click OK in the confirmation dialog.
Save the exported M-file in the Save As dialog. By default, GUIDE gives the exported M-file the name of the GUI M-file with _export appended.

Note If you save a large data set in the GUI figure or in a uicontrol, GUIDE might also export a MAT-file containing the data in addition to exporting an M-file. For example, the data could be saved in a figure or uicontrol UserData property, or in a figure Colormap property. The name of the MAT-file is the same as the exported M-file except for the extension .mat.

Running the GUI Displaying the GUI