Imagesc ButtonDownFcn problems in MATLAB, using custom toolbar action - matlab

Question

I'm trying to use the ButtonDownFcn on an imagesc figure in MATLAB. I want to enable this function by clicking on a custom button I have created on the toolbar.
The ButtonDownFcn will call methods that will cause it to return the position of the pixel selected using the ButtonDownFcn, so that I can graph how that pixel changes through time.
NOTES:
- I am using GUIDE in matlab
- imagesc is plotting a 3D matrix. I already have implemented code that allows me to travel through how the image changes through time, using a button created in GUIDE.
What I am struggling with, at the moment, is the ButtonDownFcn of the imagesc. I've read over and over on how to do this (through research on the internet), but I can't seem to get it to work.
Any help is appreciated.
Here is my code:
% --------------------------------------------------------------------
function ui_throughTime_ClickedCallback(hObject, eventdata, handles)
% hObject handle to ui_throughTime (see GCBO)
% eventdata reserved - to be defined in a future version of MATLAB
% handles structure with handles and user data (see GUIDATA)
valS = get(handles.txt_zaxis,'string');
display(valS);
val = str2num(valS);
d = handles.data;
m = imagesc(d(:,:,val),'parent',handles.axis, 'HitTest', 'off','buttondownfcn',{#getPlace, handles});
set(handles.axis,'buttondownfcn',{#getPlace, handles,m});
function getPlace(hObject,handles,event_obj,place)
% data = randn(120,160);
% ax = axes;
% imagesc(data,);
if (gcf == place)
pause(1);
cursor = get(handles.axis,'CurrentPoint'); % get point
% Get X and Y from point last clicked on the axes
x = (cursor(1,1));
y = (cursor(1,2));
disp(['x = ' num2str(x) ' y = ' num2str(y)]);
end

Answer 1

Here is a simple example:
%% Init
fig_h = figure('CloseRequestFcn', 'run = 0; delete(fig_h);');
rgb = imread('peppers.png');
run = 1; t = 0;
%% Loop
while run
t = t + 0.05;
imagesc(rgb*sin(t), 'ButtonDownFcn', 'disp(''Clicked'')');
pause(0.01);
end
Above the 'ButtonDownFcn' of the image is being used so the 'HitTest' property of the image must be 'On'.
Below is the case that the 'ButtonDownFcn' of the axes are used and since the image is in front of the axes, 'HitTest' property of the image should be 'Off' or the axes won't be selectable.
%% Loop
ax = axes;
while run
t = t + 0.05;
imagesc(rgb*sin(t), 'Parent', ax, 'HitTest', 'Off');
set(ax, 'ButtonDownFcn', 'disp(''Clicked'')')
pause(0.01);
end
It's also possible to use the figure 'ButtonDownFcn' and again the image 'HitTest' should be 'Off'. However in this case clicked points of outside of the image ( or interested area) should be filtered programmatically.
Hope it helps.