Having trouble changing mouse cursor to "watch" to indicate that function is busy.

I have seen similar questions asked already, but haven't had any success actually getting it to work.

The answers I have seen seem to involve some form of the following:

set(gcf, "pointer","watch"); %changes cursor to watch to indicate that the body of the function is about to execute
%----------body of funciton--------%
set(gcf, "pointer","arrow") %returns cursor to default arrow

Is this the proper way to select the mouse cursor as the current figure, or should i be creating a seperate figure handle for the cursor? When I use this method, there is no indication that the cursor has changed appearance at all. Also, I'm not sure that when using the gcf function that it the current figure is even the mouse cursor.

Answer 1

[Stephen23]

This worked for me:

set(gcf, 'Pointer','watch')
drawnow() % <- you need this
...
set(gcf, 'pointer','arrow')

Note that the changed cursor will only be visible with the cursor over that figure, and in my experience with >R2014b also responds somewhat unpredictably for different object types.

See maxdistcolor_view:

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/70215-maximally-distinct-color-generator

Note that obtaining and using explicit graphics handles is recommended, rather than assuming that the current figure/axes/... will be the correct one to refer to.

[AdamG2013468]

Well was making a silly mistake. I had other figure windows open, so the mouse cursor was changing for my other figure instead.

However, I am still unable to get this working for my UIFigure. I was hoping that by calling "gcf" that my UIFigure window (app designer application window) would become the current figure.

When I try,

set(app.UIFigure, 'Pointer', 'watch')

I get the error, "Error using matlab.ui.Figure/set Functionality not supported with figures created with the uifigure function..."

[Stephen23]

I don't see anything listed in the uifigure properties that relates to the cursor:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/matlab.ui.figureappd-properties.html

[AdamG2013468]

I tried simply using the command,

app.UIFigure.Pointer = "watch";

but I get the same error message as before. The "Pointer" property shows up in the autocomplete drop down when in app designer, so it must be a property...

[Stephen23]

"The "Pointer" property shows up in the autocomplete drop down when in app designer, so it must be a property..."

Interesting... you might be able to find examples by searching the toolboxes.

[Adam Danz]

Update: Pointer control is supported in uifigures as of r2020a. It appeared as a property in earlier releases but was not functional.

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/discussions/highlights/132556-new-in-r2020a-mouse-pointer-control-in-apps-uifigures