uigetdir (MATLAB Functions)

Display standard dialog box for selecting a directory

Syntax

directory_name = uigetdir
directory_name = uigetdir('start_path')
directory_name = uigetdir('start_path','dialog_title')
directory_name = uigetdir('start_path','dialog_title',x,y)

Description

uigetdir displays a dialog box enabling the user to browse through the directory structure and select a directory.

directory_name = uigetdir opens a dialog box in the current directory displaying the default title.

directory_name = uigetdir('start_path') opens a dialog box in the directory specified by start_path.

directory_name = uigetdir('start_path','dialog_title') opens a dialog box with the specified title.

directory_name = uigetdir('start_path','dialog_title',x,y) positions the dialog box at position [x,y], where x and y are the distance in pixel units from the left and top edges of the screen. This feature is only supported on UNIX platforms.

Remarks

Returned directory_name

directory_name is a string containing the path to the directory selected in the dialog box. If the user presses the Cancel button or closes the dialog window, directory_name is returned as the number 0.

Specifying start_path

start_path specifies the directory to display when the dialog is first opened. If start_path is a string representing a valid directory path, the dialog box opens in the specified directory.

If start_path is an empty string (''), the dialog box opens in the current working directory.

If start_path is not a valid directory path, the dialog box opens in the base directory:

On Windows systems, the base directory is the Windows desktop directory.
On UNIX systems, the base directory is the directory from which MATLAB is started.

Specifying dialog_title

The placement of dialog_title in the dialog box depends on the computer system:

On Windows systems, the string replaces the default caption inside the dialog box for specifying instructions to the user.
On UNIX systems, the string replaces the default title of the dialog box.

If you do not specify the dialog_title argument, MATLAB uses the default string Select Directory to Open.

Adding and Moving Directories

On Windows systems, users can click the New Folder button to add a new directory to the directory structure displayed. Users can also drag and drop existing directories.

Examples

Example 1

The following statement displays the directories on the C: drive.

```
dname = uigetdir('C:\');
```

The dialog box is shown in the following figure.

If the user selects the directory MATLAB6.5\help\techdoc, as shown in the figure, and clicks OK, uigetdir returns

```
dname =
C:\MATLAB6.5\help\techdoc
```

Example 2

The following statement uses the matlabroot command to display the MATLAB root directory in the dialog box:

uigetdir(matlabroot,'MATLAB Root Directory')

If the user selects the directory MATLAB6.5/notebook/pc, as shown in the figure, uigetdir returns a string like

```
C:\MATLAB6.5\notebook\pc
```

assuming that MATLAB is installed on drive C:\.

See Also

uigetfile, uiputfile

Uicontrol Properties uigetfile