drawcuboid

Create customizable cuboidal ROI

Syntax

roi = drawcuboid

roi = drawcuboid(ax)

roi = drawcuboid(S)

roi = drawcuboid(___,Name=Value)

Description

The drawcuboid function creates a Cuboid object that specifies the shape and position of a cuboidal region of interest (ROI). You can create the ROI interactively by drawing the ROI over an image using the mouse, or programmatically by using name-value arguments. You can also specify the initial appearance and behavior of the ROI.

After you create the ROI, you can use object properties, object functions, and event notifications to customize the shape, position, appearance, and behavior of the ROI. For more information about using these capabilities, see Tips.

roi = drawcuboid creates a Cuboid ROI object and enables interactive drawing of a cuboidal region of interest (ROI) on the current axes.

To draw the ROI, call the drawcuboid function. The function draws a cuboidal ROI, centered in the volume. Move the pointer onto the image. The cursor changes to a fleur shape. Move the ROI anywhere on the image. To finish the ROI, click the mouse button. For more information about using the ROI, including keyboard shortcuts and context menu options, see Tips.

roi = drawcuboid(ax) creates a Cuboid ROI object and enables interactive drawing of a cuboidal region of interest (ROI) on the axes specified by ax.

roi = drawcuboid(S) creates a Cuboid ROI object and enables interactive drawing of a cuboidal region of interest (ROI) on the Scatter object specified by S. During interactive placement, the cuboid snaps to the nearest point defined by the Scatter object.

roi = drawcuboid(___,Name=Value) modifies the appearance of the ROI using one or more name-value arguments.

Examples

Create Cuboid ROI on Scatter Plot

Create a 3-D scatter plot and interactively define a cuboid ROI over the data.

Define vectors for 3-D scatter data.

[x,y,z] = sphere(16);
X = [x(:)*.5 x(:)*.75 x(:)];
Y = [y(:)*.5 y(:)*.75 y(:)];
Z = [z(:)*.5 z(:)*.75 z(:)];

Specify the size and color of each marker.

S = repmat([1 .75 .5]*10,numel(x),1);
C = repmat([1 2 3],numel(x),1);

Create a 3-D scatter plot. Use view to the change the angle of the axes in the figure.

figure
hScatter = scatter3(X(:),Y(:),Z(:),S(:),C(:),"filled"); 
view(-60,60);

Begin placing a cuboid ROI on the axes. The ROI snaps to the nearest point defined by the scatter plot. Adjust the size of the cuboid during interactive placement by using the scroll wheel.

drawcuboid(hScatter);

Set Up Listener for Cuboid ROI Events

Define vectors for 3-D scattered data.

[x,y,z] = sphere(16);
X = [x(:)*.5 x(:)*.75 x(:)];
Y = [y(:)*.5 y(:)*.75 y(:)];
Z = [z(:)*.5 z(:)*.75 z(:)];

Specify the size and color of each marker.

S = repmat([1 .75 .5]*10,numel(x),1);
C = repmat([1 2 3],numel(x),1);

Create a 3-D scatter plot and use view to change the angle of the axes in the figure.

figure
hScatter = scatter3(X(:),Y(:),Z(:),S(:),C(:),'filled'); 
view(-60,60);

Begin placing a cuboid in the axes that snaps to the nearest point from the scatter plot. Adjust the size of the cuboid during interactive placement by using the scroll wheel.

roi = drawcuboid(hScatter,'Color','r'); 

Set up listeners for ROI moving events. When you move it, the ROI sends notifications of these events and executes the callback function you specify.

addlistener(roi,'MovingROI',@allevents);
addlistener(roi,'ROIMoved',@allevents);

The allevents callback function displays the previous position and the current position of the ROI.

function allevents(src,evt)
    evname = evt.EventName;
    switch(evname)
        case{'MovingROI'}
            disp(['ROI moving previous position: ' mat2str(evt.PreviousPosition)]);
            disp(['ROI moving current position: ' mat2str(evt.CurrentPosition)]);
        case{'ROIMoved'}
            disp(['ROI moved previous position: ' mat2str(evt.PreviousPosition)]);
            disp(['ROI moved current position: ' mat2str(evt.CurrentPosition)]);
    end
end

Input Arguments

ax — Parent of ROI

gca (default) | Axes object | UIAxes object

Parent of the ROI, specified as an Axes object or a UIAxes object. For information about using an ROI in a UI axes, including important limitations, see Using ROIs in Apps Created with App Designer.

S — Scatter plot

Scatter object

Scatter plot, specified as a Scatter object. The parent of the Scatter object becomes the parent of the ROI. For more information, see scatter.

Name-Value Arguments

Specify optional pairs of arguments as Name1=Value1,...,NameN=ValueN, where Name is the argument name and Value is the corresponding value. Name-value arguments must appear after other arguments, but the order of the pairs does not matter.

Example: roi = drawcuboid(Color="y") creates a yellow colored Cuboid object.

Before R2021a, use commas to separate each name and value, and enclose Name in quotes.

Example: roi = drawcuboid("Color","y") creates a yellow colored Cuboid object.

Shape and Position

Position — Position of cuboid

1-by-6 numeric vector

Position of the cuboid, specified as a 1-by-6 numeric vector of the form [xmin, ymin, zmin, width, height, depth].

RotationAngle — Angle of ROI rotation

[0 0 0] (default) | 1-by-3 numeric vector

Angle of ROI rotation, specified as a 1-by-3 numeric vector of the form [x_angle y_angle z_angle]. Rotation angle is measured in degrees about the x-, y-, and z-axis, respectively. Rotation is applied about the ROI centroid in this order: z, y, x.

The value of RotationAngle does not impact the values in Position. Position represents the cuboid before any rotation.

Color and Styling

Color — ROI color

[0 0.4470 0.7410] (default) | RGB triplet | color name | short color name

ROI color, specified as an RGB triplet, a color name, or a short color name.

You can specify any color using an RGB triplet. An RGB triplet is a 3-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0, 1].

You can specify some common colors by name as a string scalar or character vector. This table lists the named color options and the equivalent RGB triplets.

Color Name	Short Name	RGB Triplet	Appearance
"red"	"r"	[1 0 0]
"green"	"g"	[0 1 0]
"blue"	"b"	[0 0 1]
"cyan"	"c"	[0 1 1]
"magenta"	"m"	[1 0 1]
"yellow"	"y"	[1 1 0]
"black"	"k"	[0 0 0]
"white"	"w"	[1 1 1]

Here are the RGB triplets for the default colors that MATLAB^® uses in many types of plots.

RGB Triplet	Appearance
[0 0.4470 0.7410]
[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]
[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]
[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]
[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]
[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]
[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]

Example: Color="r"

Example: Color="green"

Example: Color=[0 0.4470 0.7410]

EdgeAlpha — Transparency of ROI edge

1 (default) | number in the range [0, 1]

Transparency of ROI edge, specified as a number in the range [0, 1]. When set to 1, the ROI edge is completely opaque. When set to 0, the ROI edge is completely transparent.

FaceAlpha — Transparency of ROI faces

0.2 (default) | number in the range [0, 1]

Transparency of the ROI faces, specified as a number in the range [0, 1]. When the value is 1, the ROI faces are completely opaque. When the value is 0, the ROI faces are completely transparent.

FaceAlphaOnHover — Transparency of ROI face directly underneath mouse pointer

0.4 (default) | number in the range [0, 1] | "none"

Transparency of ROI face directly underneath the mouse pointer, specified as a number in the range [0, 1] or "none" to indicate no change to face transparency. When set to 1, the face under the mouse pointer is fully opaque. When set to 0, the face is completely transparent.

FaceColorOnHover — Color of ROI face directly underneath mouse pointer

"none" (default) | RGB triplet | color name | short color name

Color of the ROI face directly underneath the mouse pointer, specified as an RGB triplet, a color name, a short color name, or "none". If you specify the value "none", then the face color does not change on hover. (Hover means positioning the pointer over the surface of the cuboidal ROI.) When you are not hovering over a face of the ROI, the value of Color determines the face color.

You can specify any color using an RGB triplet. An RGB triplet is a 3-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0, 1].

You can specify some common colors by name as a string scalar or character vector. This table lists the named color options and the equivalent RGB triplets.

Color Name	Short Name	RGB Triplet	Appearance
"red"	"r"	[1 0 0]
"green"	"g"	[0 1 0]
"blue"	"b"	[0 0 1]
"cyan"	"c"	[0 1 1]
"magenta"	"m"	[1 0 1]
"yellow"	"y"	[1 1 0]
"black"	"k"	[0 0 0]
"white"	"w"	[1 1 1]

Here are the RGB triplets for the default colors that MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

RGB Triplet	Appearance
[0 0.4470 0.7410]
[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]
[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]
[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]
[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]
[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]
[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]

Example: FaceColorOnHover="r"

Example: FaceColorOnHover="green"

Example: FaceColorOnHover=[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]

LineWidth — Width of ROI border

1 (default) | positive number

Width of the ROI border, specified as a positive number in points.

SelectedColor — Color of ROI when selected

"none" (default) | RGB triplet | color name | short color name

Color of the ROI when selected, specified as an RGB triplet, a color name, a short color name, or "none". If you specify "none", then the value of Color defines the color of the ROI for all states, selected or not.

You can specify any color using an RGB triplet. An RGB triplet is a 3-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0, 1].

You can specify some common colors by name as a string scalar or character vector. This table lists the named color options and the equivalent RGB triplets.

Color Name	Short Name	RGB Triplet	Appearance
"red"	"r"	[1 0 0]
"green"	"g"	[0 1 0]
"blue"	"b"	[0 0 1]
"cyan"	"c"	[0 1 1]
"magenta"	"m"	[1 0 1]
"yellow"	"y"	[1 1 0]
"black"	"k"	[0 0 0]
"white"	"w"	[1 1 1]

Here are the RGB triplets for the default colors that MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

RGB Triplet	Appearance
[0 0.4470 0.7410]
[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]
[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]
[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]
[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]
[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]
[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]

Example: SelectedColor="r"

Example: SelectedColor="green"

Example: SelectedColor=[0 0.4470 0.7410]

StripeColor — Color of ROI stripe

"none" (default) | RGB triplet | color name | short color name

Color of the ROI stripe, specified as an RGB triplet, a color name, a short color name, or "none". If you specify "none", then the ROI edge is a solid color specified by Color. Otherwise, the edge of the ROI is striped, with colors alternating between the colors specified by Color and StripeColor.

You can specify any color using an RGB triplet. An RGB triplet is a 3-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0, 1].

You can specify some common colors by name as a string scalar or character vector. This table lists the named color options and the equivalent RGB triplets.

Color Name	Short Name	RGB Triplet	Appearance
"red"	"r"	[1 0 0]
"green"	"g"	[0 1 0]
"blue"	"b"	[0 0 1]
"cyan"	"c"	[0 1 1]
"magenta"	"m"	[1 0 1]
"yellow"	"y"	[1 1 0]
"black"	"k"	[0 0 0]
"white"	"w"	[1 1 1]

Here are the RGB triplets for the default colors that MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

RGB Triplet	Appearance
[0 0.4470 0.7410]
[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]
[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]
[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]
[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]
[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]
[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]

Example: StripeColor="r"

Example: StripeColor="green"

Example: StripeColor=[0 0.4470 0.7410]

Visible — ROI visibility

"on" (default) | "off" | on/off logical value

ROI visibility, specified as "on" or "off", or as a numeric or logical 0 (false) or 1 (true). A value of "on" is equivalent to true, and "off" is equivalent to false. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type OnOffSwitchState.

Value	Description
"on"	Display the ROI.
"off"	Hide the ROI without deleting it. You still can access the properties of an invisible ROI.

Labels

Label — ROI label

'' (default) | character vector | string scalar

ROI label, specified as a character vector or string scalar. By default, the ROI has no label ('').

LabelAlpha — Transparency of text background

1 (default) | number in the range [0, 1]

Transparency of the text background, specified as a number in the range [0, 1]. When set to 1, the text background is completely opaque. When set to 0, the text background is completely transparent.

LabelTextColor — Label text color

"black" (default) | RGB triplet | color name | short color name

Label text color, specified as an RGB triplet, a color name, or a short color name.

You can specify any color using an RGB triplet. An RGB triplet is a 3-element row vector whose elements specify the intensities of the red, green, and blue components of the color. The intensities must be in the range [0, 1].

You can specify some common colors by name as a string scalar or character vector. This table lists the named color options and the equivalent RGB triplets.

Color Name	Short Name	RGB Triplet	Appearance
"red"	"r"	[1 0 0]
"green"	"g"	[0 1 0]
"blue"	"b"	[0 0 1]
"cyan"	"c"	[0 1 1]
"magenta"	"m"	[1 0 1]
"yellow"	"y"	[1 1 0]
"black"	"k"	[0 0 0]
"white"	"w"	[1 1 1]

Here are the RGB triplets for the default colors that MATLAB uses in many types of plots.

RGB Triplet	Appearance
[0 0.4470 0.7410]
[0.8500 0.3250 0.0980]
[0.9290 0.6940 0.1250]
[0.4940 0.1840 0.5560]
[0.4660 0.6740 0.1880]
[0.3010 0.7450 0.9330]
[0.6350 0.0780 0.1840]

Example: LabelTextColor="r"

Example: LabelTextColor="green"

Example: LabelTextColor=[0 0.4470 0.7410]

LabelVisible — Label visibility

"on" (default) | "off" | "hover"

Label visibility, specified as one of these values.

Value	Description
"on"	Label is visible when the ROI is visible.
"hover"	Label is visible only when the mouse is hovering over the ROI.
"off"	Label is not visible.

Interactivity

ContextMenu — Context menu

ContextMenu object

Context menu that displays when you right-click the ROI, specified as a ContextMenu object. You can create a custom context menu by using the uicontextmenu function and then configuring context menu properties.

Deletable — Context menu provides option to delete the ROI

true or 1 (default) | false or 0

Context menu provides an option to delete the ROI, specified as a numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). When the value is true, you can delete the ROI interactively using the context menu. When the value is false, the context menu option to delete the ROI is disabled.

In both cases, you can delete the ROI outside of the context menu by using the delete function.

DrawingArea — Area of axes in which you can interactively place ROI

"auto" (default) | "unlimited" | 1-by-6 numeric array

Area of the axes in which you can interactively place the ROI, specified as one of the values in this table.

Value	Description
"auto"	The drawing area is a superset of the current axes limits and a bounding box that surrounds the ROI.
"unlimited"	The drawing area has no boundary and ROIs can be drawn or dragged to extend beyond the axes limits.
[x,y,z,w,h,d]	The drawing area is restricted to a region beginning at (x,y,z), with width w, height h, and depth d.

InteractionsAllowed — Interactivity of ROI

"all" (default) | "none" | "translate"

Interactivity of the ROI, specified as one of the values in this table.

Value	Description
"all"	You can fully interact with the ROI. Reshape the ROI by changing the position of individual vertices, or translate (move) the entire ROI.
"none"	You cannot interact with the ROI or access the context menu. No drag points are visible.
"translate"	You can translate the entire ROI within the drawing area. The relative position of vertices is fixed and you cannot reshape the ROI.

You can access the context menu for all values of InteractionsAllowed except "none".

Rotatable — Ability of cuboid to be rotated

"none" (default) | "x" | "y" | "z" | "all"

Ability of the cuboid to be rotated, specified as one of the values in this table.

Value	Description
"all"	ROI is fully rotatable.
"x"	ROI can only be rotated about the x axis
"y"	ROI can only be rotated about the y axis.
"z"	ROI can only be rotated about the z axis.
"none"	ROI is not rotatable.

ScrollWheelDuringDraw — Ability of scroll wheel to adjust size

"allresize" (default) | "xresize" | "yresize" | "zresize" | "none"

Ability of the scroll wheel to adjust the size of the ROI, specified as one of the values in this table.

Value	Description
"allresize"	Scroll wheel impacts all ROI dimensions.
"xresize"	Scroll wheel impacts only the x dimension.
"yresize"	Scroll wheel impacts only the y dimension.
"zresize"	Scroll wheel impacts only the z dimension.
"none"	Scroll wheel has no effect.

Selected — Selection state of ROI

false, 0, or "off" (default) | true, 1, or "on"

Selection state of the ROI, specified as "off" or "on", or as a numeric or logical 0 (false) or 1 (true). A value of "off" is equivalent to false, and "on" is equivalent to true.

Parent/Child

HandleVisibility — Visibility of ROI handle in Children property of parent

"on" (default) | "off" | "callback"

Visibility of the ROI handle in the Children property of the parent, specified as one of the values in this table.

Value	Description
"on"	The object handle is always visible (default).
"off"	The object handle is hidden at all times.
"callback"	The object handle is visible from within callbacks or functions invoked by callbacks, but not from within functions invoked from the command line.

Parent — ROI parent

Axes object | UIAxes object

ROI parent, specified as an Axes or UIAxes object. For information about using an ROI in a UI axes, including important limitations, see Using ROIs in Apps Created with App Designer.

Identifiers

Tag — Tag to associate with ROI

'' (default) | character vector | string scalar

Tag to associate with the ROI, specified as a character vector or string scalar. Use the tag value to find the ROI object in a hierarchy of objects using the findobj function.

UserData — Data to associate with ROI

any MATLAB data

Data to associate with the ROI, specified as any MATLAB data. For example, you can specify a scalar, vector, matrix, cell array, string, character array, table, or structure. The drawcuboid object does not use this data.

Output Arguments

roi — Cuboidal ROI

Cuboid object

Cuboidal ROI, returned as a Cuboid object.

Tips

• The ROI supports the following interactivity, including keyboard shortcuts.

  Behavior	Keyboard shortcut
  Fine-tune ROI size while drawing.	Use the scroll wheel to make small changes to the size of the ROI while drawing.
  Stop drawing the ROI.	Press Esc. The function returns a valid ROI object with an empty Position field.
  Resize (reshape) the ROI.	Position the pointer on one of the visible faces of the cuboid and click and drag the surface. You might have to rotate the cuboid to select a surface. If you press the Shift, dragging the mouse moves the ROI but does not change any of the dimensions.
  Move the ROI.	Position the pointer on any of the visible surfaces of the ROI and click and drag while pressing Shift. Position the pointer on any visible surface of the ROI, right-click, and select Lock Dimensions. Click and drag to move the ROI.
  Delete the ROI.	Position the pointer over the ROI and right-click to view its context menu. Select Delete Cuboid from the menu. You can also delete the ROI using the delete object function.

• The drawcuboid function creates a Cuboid object. After you create the object, you can modify the shape, position, appearance, and behavior of the ROI by using these object capabilities.

  Capability	Support
  Object properties	ROI objects have properties that specify their shape, position, appearance, and behavior. After you create the ROI object, change properties using dot notation. For example, to change the color of the roi to yellow, set its Color property: roi.Color = 'yellow'
  Object functions	ROI objects have object functions that operate on the ROIs. For example, if you want to pause the MATLAB command line after creating an ROI, use the wait function.
  Event notifications	ROI objects can notify your code when certain events occur, such as when the ROI is clicked or when the ROI is being moved. To receive event notifications, set up listeners. When the ROI notifies your application through the listener, it returns data specific to the event. For example, with the ROIMoved event, the ROI object returns its previous position and its current position. You can specify a callback function that executes when an event occurs.

  For an example of using event listeners with the Cuboid object, see Set Up Listener for Cuboid ROI Events.

Version History

Introduced in R2019a

R2020a: UIContextMenu name-value argument is not recommended

Starting in R2020a, using the UIContextMenu name-value argument to assign a context menu to an ROI object is not recommended. Use the ContextMenu name-value argument instead. The values are the same.

There are no plans to remove support for the UIContextMenu name-value argument at this time.