StructEditor

A MATLAB app for interactively editing structure data in a dialog-style window. The app will build uicontrols based on the data types of the struct fields and supports custom uicontrols via an optional configuration field.

Figure: Screenshot showing the result of running:
uiform(struct("givenName", "Joe", "familyName", "Doe"))

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Architecture

• structeditor.StructEditorApp now inherits from matlab.apps.AppBase, so the main editor dialog follows MATLAB App Designer lifecycle conventions while preserving the existing uiform(...) API.

Features

• Automatic UI Generation: Automatically creates appropriate UI controls based on field data types
• Custom Components: Use function handles to specify custom UI components with full control over properties
• Configuration Fields: Customize any field's UI component using the fieldname_ pattern
• Theme Support: Built-in light and dark themes that adapt to your preferences
• Multiple Data Types: Native support for strings, numbers, logicals, categorical, datetime, and more
• External Components: Integrate custom components from MATLAB File Exchange or your own libraries

Quick Start

% Simple example - struct in, edited struct out
S = struct("name", "Jane", "age", 25, "active", true);
S = uiform(S);

Installation and Requirements

Requirements: MATLAB R2020b or later

Option 1: Install via MATLAB's Add-On Manager.

Option 2: Clone this repository and add the code directory to MATLAB's search path:

addpath('path/to/StructEditor/code');
savepath; % Optional: save path for future sessions

Supported Data Types

The following MATLAB data types are automatically supported with appropriate UI controls:

Data Type	UI Control	Example
char / string	Edit Field	'John Doe'
double / single	Numeric Edit Field	42.5
int8 / int16 / int32 / int64	Numeric Edit Field	int32(100)
uint8 / uint16 / uint32 / uint64	Numeric Edit Field	uint8(255)
logical	Checkbox	true
categorical	Dropdown	categorical({'Option1'})
datetime	Date Picker	datetime('2020-01-15')

Use configuration fields (see Example 2) to override the default UI control for any data type.

Usage

Basic Syntax

outputStruct = uiform(inputStruct)
outputStruct = uiform(inputStruct, Name, Value, ...)

Name-Value Arguments

Name	Type	Description	Default
Title	string	Window title	'Edit Struct'
Description	string	Descriptive text shown at the top	''
Height	numeric	Window height in pixels	400
Theme	string	Theme name ('light', 'dark', etc.)	System default

Return Value

Returns the edited structure if the user clicks "OK", or the original structure if "Cancel" is clicked.

Examples

Example 1: Edit a basic structure

employee = struct();
employee.Name = 'John Doe';
employee.Age = uint8(30);
employee.Email = 'john.doe@example.com';
employee.IsActive = true;
employee.Department = categorical({'Engineering'}, {'Engineering', 'Sales', 'Marketing', 'HR'});
employee.StartDate = datetime('2020-01-15');
employee.Salary = int64(75000);

updatedEmployee = uiform(employee, ...
    "Title", "Employee Info", ...
    "Description", "Edit employee details:", ...
    "Height", 480);

Example 2: Use custom field configuration

This example demonstrates how to customize UI components using configuration fields (field name + underscore) with function handles and name-value pairs.

userProfile = struct();
userProfile.Username = 'johndoe';
userProfile.Username_ = @(parent) uieditfield(parent, 'text', ...
    'Placeholder', 'Enter username...');

userProfile.Bio = 'Tell us about yourself';
userProfile.Bio_ = @(parent) uitextarea(parent, ...
    'Placeholder', 'Write your bio here...');

userProfile.SkillLevel = 5;
userProfile.SkillLevel_ = @(parent) uislider(parent, ...
    'Limits', [1 10], ...
    'MajorTicks', 1:10, ...
    'MinorTicks', []);

userProfile.NotifyByEmail = true;
userProfile.NotifyBySMS = false;

updatedProfile = uiform(userProfile, ...
    "Title", "User Profile", ...
    "Description", "Customize your profile settings", ...
    "Height", 450);

This example shows how configuration fields allow you to:

• Use function handles to specify custom UI components
• Pass name-value pairs to customize component properties
• Add interactive behaviors like placeholders

Example 3: Use external custom components

This example uses a custom component from FileExchange called Rating.

feedback = struct();
feedback.Rating = [];
feedback.Rating_ = @Rating;
feedback.Feedback = '';
feedback.Feedback_ = @uitextarea;

completedFeedback = uiform(feedback, ...
    "Title", "Feedback", ...
    "Description", "Please leave a rating and provide feedback", ...
    "Height", 300);

App Designer copy/paste extraction

If you only want the editable field area (controls in a scrollable layout) for your own App Designer app, use the standalone helper:

• code/examples/createStructFieldEditor.m
• Demo usage: code/examples/example_4_appdesigner_extract.m

This helper creates labels + editable components for struct fields (char, string, numeric, integer, logical, categorical, datetime) and returns a function handle that reads back the updated struct values.

Related Projects

• https://github.com/ehennestad/WidgetTable
• https://github.com/ehennestad/openMINDS-MATLAB-GUI

Contributing

• Have ideas for how to improve the uiform? Please create an issue.
• Want to help fix bugs or implement features? Create a fork and start a PR

Future Ideas

• Edit class objects
• Edit nested structures / class objects
• Improved theme management
• Support live field validation
• Support field tooltips / descriptions