Set limits for values in the cells of an uitable - matlab

Question

I am creating a GUI using Matlab's App Designer (2019b). One of the nice features for NumericEditField is that you can define value limits so that users can't enter a value outside the desired range. For example, the following would limit the edit field values between -100 and 100.
app.numericEditField1.Limits = [-100 100];
I also have a uitable object in my GUI - is it possible to set value limits for cells in the data table, like with the edit fields? I didn't see a property that was obviously equivalent. My best thought for a workaround is to edit the CellEditCallback to manually check the values every time one is changed.
Below is a sample app that has a value edit field with limits, and a regular uitable. I would like the to put value limits on certain columns of the table as well.
Sample code
classdef sampleLimitedValApp < matlab.apps.AppBase
% Properties that correspond to app components
properties (Access = public)
UIFigure matlab.ui.Figure
LimitedEditValueEditFieldLabel matlab.ui.control.Label
LimitedEditValueEditField matlab.ui.control.NumericEditField
UITable matlab.ui.control.Table
end
% Callbacks that handle component events
methods (Access = private)
% Code that executes after component creation
function startupFcn(app)
app.UITable.Data = zeros(3,4);
end
end
% Component initialization
methods (Access = private)
% Create UIFigure and components
function createComponents(app)
% Create UIFigure and hide until all components are created
app.UIFigure = uifigure('Visible', 'off');
app.UIFigure.Position = [100 100 383 331];
app.UIFigure.Name = 'UI Figure';
% Create LimitedEditValueEditFieldLabel
app.LimitedEditValueEditFieldLabel = uilabel(app.UIFigure);
app.LimitedEditValueEditFieldLabel.HorizontalAlignment = 'right';
app.LimitedEditValueEditFieldLabel.Position = [31 280 101 22];
app.LimitedEditValueEditFieldLabel.Text = 'Limited Edit Value';
% Create LimitedEditValueEditField
app.LimitedEditValueEditField = uieditfield(app.UIFigure, 'numeric');
app.LimitedEditValueEditField.Limits = [-100 100];
app.LimitedEditValueEditField.Position = [147 280 100 22];
% Create UITable
app.UITable = uitable(app.UIFigure);
app.UITable.ColumnName = {'Column 1'; 'Column 2'; 'Column 3'; 'Column 4'};
app.UITable.RowName = {''};
app.UITable.ColumnEditable = true;
app.UITable.Position = [31 67 302 185];
% Show the figure after all components are created
app.UIFigure.Visible = 'on';
end
end
% App creation and deletion
methods (Access = public)
% Construct app
function app = sampleLimitedValApp
% Create UIFigure and components
createComponents(app)
% Register the app with App Designer
registerApp(app, app.UIFigure)
% Execute the startup function
runStartupFcn(app, #startupFcn)
if nargout == 0
clear app
end
end
% Code that executes before app deletion
function delete(app)
% Delete UIFigure when app is deleted
delete(app.UIFigure)
end
end
end

Answer 1

Your idea of using the CellEditCallback was the right one. I have to admit, that I am not really an expert in creating and using classes in Matlab and always create my GUIs from scratch without using the AppDesigner, thats why I don't know if there is maybe a better organization of functions and methods possible.
However, the following does what you want:
% Component initialization
methods (Access = private)
% Create UIFigure and components
function createComponents(app)
% original code
% added code
app.UITable.CellEditCallback = #limitCellVal;
function limitCellVal(src,evt)
CellLimits = [-100 100];
idx = evt.Indices; % indices of selected cell
belowLowerLimit = src.Data(idx(1),idx(2)) < CellLimits(1);
aboveUpperLimit = src.Data(idx(1),idx(2)) > CellLimits(2);
if belowLowerLimit, src.Data(idx(1),idx(2)) = CellLimits(1); end
if aboveUpperLimit, src.Data(idx(1),idx(2)) = CellLimits(2); end
end
end
end
If you want to edit multiple cells at once, than a little tweaking of the callback function is necessary, but I think you can manage that.