Can a GUI track commands and output them in a report?

I've made a GUI environment for image processing. I want to be able to generate reports from this GUI, and I want to include the processing commands I used (with parameters) in the report. Is there any way to make MATLAB do this?

Answer 1

[Sean de Wolski]

Alright, you piqued my interest. Save this in a file called morphScriptGUI.m

Then run it normally and enjoy:

classdef morphScriptGUI < handle
%Create a new morphScriptGUI object.  
%

%
%Sean de Wolski - MathWorks 1/31/2013
%

      properties  (Access = private)
          %Properties
          I
          hFig
          hList
          hSlide
          hReport
          hAx
          thresh = 100;
          op
      end
      methods
          %Constructor
          function obj =   morphScriptGUI()
              %Read an image.
              obj.I = imread('coins.png');

              %Build the GUI
              obj.hFig = figure('menubar','none','toolbar','none',...
                              'Name','MathWorks Rocks!');
              obj.hAx  = axes('Units','Normalized','Parent',obj.hFig,...
                              'Position',[0.1 0.25 0.5 0.5]);
              obj.hList = uicontrol('Style','ListBox',...
                                    'String',{'None','Dilate','Erode'},...
                                    'Units','Normalized',...
                                    'Position',[0.7 0.7 0.2 0.2],...
                                    'Parent',obj.hFig,...
                                    'Callback',@obj.changeOp);
              obj.hSlide = uicontrol('Style','Slider',...
                                    'Min',0,'Max',255,'Value',100,...
                                    'Units','Normalized',...
                                    'Position',[0.65 0.35 0.3 0.1],...
                                    'Parent',obj.hFig,...
                                    'Callback',@obj.changeThresh);
              obj.hReport = uicontrol('Style','Pushbutton',...
                                    'Units','Normalized',...
                                    'Position',[0.7 0.1 0.2 0.1],...
                                    'Parent',obj.hFig,...
                                    'String','Make Script',...
                                    'Callback',@obj.makeScript);            
              uicontrol('Style','Text','Units','Normalized',...
                                    'Position',[0.65 0.5 0.3 0.05],...
                                    'Parent',obj.hFig,...
                                    'String','Threshold Value [0 255]'); 
              obj.op = @(x)x; %default is nothing
              obj.thresh = get(obj.hSlide,'Value'); %default 100                       

              %Decorations:
              bgc = get(obj.hFig,'color');
              iconAx = axes('Units','Normalized','position',[0.95 0 0.05 0.05],...
                                     'Parent',obj.hFig,...
                                     'HandleVisibility','off');
              uicontrol('Style','Text','Backgroundcolor',bgc,...
                                     'Foregroundcolor',[0 0 0.5],...
                                     'Units','Normalized',...
                                     'String','Sean de Wolski - MathWorks',...
                                     'Position',[0.7 0 0.25 0.04],'Fontsize',8);
              [icon, map] = imread('matlabicon.gif'); %pull in the matlab icon
              map(1,:) = bgc;  %adjust the background so it's the same as our figure
              iconRGB = ind2rgb(icon,map);
              imshow(iconRGB,map,'parent',iconAx); %show it

              %Draw initial image:
              updateImage(obj);
          end       
      end
      methods (Access = private)
          function obj = updateImage(obj)
              %show image
              imshow(obj.op(obj.I > obj.thresh),'Parent',obj.hAx);  %apply operation and show it                        
          end
          function makeScript(obj,~,~)
              %Allow user to name file
              S = inputdlg('Name Your Script:','File Name',1,{'GUIoperations.m'});
              if isempty(S);
                  msgbox('No Script Written');
                  return
              end
              S = S{1};
              h = waitbar(0,'Opening File'); drawnow;

              %Open it
              fid = fopen(S,'a');

              waitbar(0.33,h,'Writing File'); drawnow;

              %Write to it
              fprintf(fid,'\n%%%%Script Auto Generated by GUI\n%%Written on %s.\n\n',datestr(now));
              fprintf(fid,'I = imread(''coins.png''); %%read image\n');
              fprintf(fid,'BW = I > %g; %%Threshold image\n',obj.thresh);
              fprintf(fid,'op = %s; %%Operation\n',func2str(obj.op));
              fprintf(fid,'BWop = op(BW); %%perform operation\n\n');
              waitbar(0.66,h,'Writing File'); drawnow;   
              fprintf(fid,'%%%%Show Results:\nfigure;\n');
              fprintf(fid,'subplot(131);\nimshow(I);\ntitle(''Original'')\n');
              fprintf(fid,'subplot(132);\nimshow(BW);\ntitle(''Thresholded'')\n');
              fprintf(fid,'subplot(133);\nimshow(BWop);\ntitle(''Morphologically Altered'')\n');           
              fclose(fid);  %clean up
              waitbar(0.9,h,'Opening File in Editor'); drawnow;            
              edit(S);      %Open it in editor            
              close(h);
          end
          function obj = changeOp(obj,~,~)
              %Update the current operation
              operations = {@(x,~)x, ... %do nothing
                  @(x)imdilate(x,strel('disk',5)),... %dilate
                  @(x)imerode(x,strel('disk',5))}; % erode
              obj.op = operations{get(obj.hList,'Value')}; 
              updateImage(obj)
          end
          function obj = changeThresh(obj,~,~)
              %Get value for threshold and save it.
              obj.thresh = get(obj.hSlide,'Value');
              updateImage(obj);
          end
      end   
  end

[Caleb]

Exactly what I was looking for, but it's a little over my MATLAB level. Thanks!

[Sean de Wolski]

Nothin in there is very complicated. This could also be easily written as a function or GUIDE GUI, I just like classes and find them to be good for this. The key takeaway for you is that you need to store the operations aas function handles and the write those into whatever *.m file you are looking for. The rest was pretty much cosmetic (and fun for me :) ).

[Caleb]

In the instance that my GUI contains a bunch of different commands (morphological operators, contrast adjusters, filtering, etc.), is there a way to do what you did for all those instances without programming a mess of if-then-else statements?

It seems logical to me that MATLAB could remember the last operation it ran and then I could just retrieve that operation when the user decides to accept the changes. Is that possible?

[Sean de Wolski]

It is possible though it will be difficult. Notice how many if/else statements I have above :). There's one, and it's only to check the user's input to make sure they didn't hit "cancel" on an optional question dialog.

Thus what you need to do is store the commands in a a generalized format. I did this using anonymous functions. Every operation you can do with this GUI has a generic function handle that can be inserted if that selection is picked. From here, you could do 100 operations and as long as you pick the order correctly, everything will work out. Above, I only let you pick two things, threshold and operation. But there's no reason you couldn't have 100 things and just loop over them.

[Caleb]

I'm wanting to output both the function that was run and the parameters that the user chose. To me, this would have to be done using if-then statements. Because all commands don't use the same form (they do generally, but I think I require exactness) it mucks up the process.

Answer 2

[Sean de Wolski]

This questions is a little too vague to answer explicitly but let me throw an idea out there:

If you are trying to report the state of all of your sliders etc. and images in the GUI, you could have a button that generates a *.m file with snapshots of the figure at different states and text comments etc. This could then be published using publish(). You could write equivalent commands into this *.m file.

E.g. if one button does a morphological erosion of an image with a strel selected from a listbox and shows it. You could write the following code to the *.m file.

st = strel('diamond',4); %diamond is string{value} from listbox
Ieroded = imerode(I,st);
imshow(Ieroded);

Use fprintf() to write code automatically.

[Caleb]

The question I'm asking is if there is some way to have MATLAB report the commands that the GUI user has executed. In a script file, reports can be generated that show the commands and comments that have been pre-programmed so that the user can see how an image was segmented. I want the GUI to be capable of the exact same thing. However, the commands are not pre-defined, so MATLAB would have to have some way to record each command as they happen.

[Sean de Wolski]

Exactly what I am saying above!

Whenever you execute a command in the GUI, fprintf() it to a file!

[Caleb]

Looking at the fprintf() documentation, I'm not sure how this would be implemented. Currently, I allow the user to iterate parameters within the GUI and have a single button that sets changes. I could program fprintf within this button to have it record the command used at the time the button was pressed. How would this be done?

[Sean de Wolski]

It depends on your GUI. You would get() all of the various information about the inputs, variables and operations you are receiving and then fprintf() it.

If I have tim elater, I'll make a simple example.

[Caleb]

That would be wonderful. Post a link here if you decide to do that.