Graphics |
Defining Custom Pointers
When you set the Pointer
property to custom
, MATLAB displays the pointer you define using the PointerShapeCData
and the
PointerShapeHotSpot
properties. Custom pointers are 16-by-16 pixels, where each pixel can be either black, white, or transparent.
Specify the pointer by creating a 16-by-16 matrix containing elements that are
NaN
s where you want the pixel transparent
Assign the matrix to the figure PointerShapeCData
property. MATLAB displays the defined pointer whenever the pointer is in the figure window.
The PointerShapeHotSpot
property specifies the pixel that indicates the pointer location. MATLAB then stores this location in the root PointerLocation
property. Set the PointerShapeHotSpot
property to a two-element vector specifying the row and column indices in the PointerShapeCData
matrix that correspond to the pixel specifying the location. The default value for this property is [1 1], which corresponds to the upper left corner of the pointer.
Example -- Two Custom Pointers
One way to create a custom pointer is to assign values to a 16-by-16 matrix by hand, as illustrated in the following example.
First, initialize the matrix, setting all values to 2. Create a black border 1 pixel wide. Add alignment marks.
P = ones(16)+1;
P(1,:) = 1; P(16,:) = 1;
P(:,1) = 1; P(:,16) = 1;
P(1:4,8:9) = 1; P(13:16,8:9) = 1;
P(8:9,1:4) = 1; P(8:9,13:16) = 1;
P(5:12,5:12) = NaN; % Create a transparent region in the center
set(gcf,'Pointer','custom','PointerShapeCData',P,...
'PointerShapeHotSpot',[9 9])
The last statement sets the Pointer
property to custom
, assigns the matrix to the PointerShapeCData
property, and selects element (9,9) as the "hot spot."
MATLAB now uses the custom pointer within the figure window.
Creating Pointers from Functions. You can use a mathematical function to define the PointerShapeCData
matrix. For example, evaluating the function
produces an interesting surface.
Use the values of Z
to create a pointer sampling fewer points so that Z
is a 16-by-16 matrix.
g = linspace(0,20,16); [X,Y] = meshgrid(g); Z = 2*sin(sqrt(X.^2 + Y.^2)); set(gcf,'Pointer','custom',... 'PointerShapeCData',flipud((Z>0) + 1))
The statement flipud((Z>0) + 1)
sets all values in Z
that are greater than 0 to 2 (in MATLAB, true + 1 = 2), less than 0 to 1 (false + 1 = 1) and then flips the data around so that element (1,1) is the upper left corner.
Specifying the Figure Pointer | Axes Properties |
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