I have 2 listboxes that I need to link.

Meaning that when I select the first index from the first listbox it should display certain data on second listbox and same thing when I select second index from first listbox it should display some other data in the second listbox. How do I link them?

For Eg: The first listbox has entries of Fruits, Vegetables, Meat Then when i select Fruits i want to display, apples and oranges in second listbox or when i select Vegetables i want to display broccoli, lettuce and kale etc.... I was thinking that you can use cells maybe?

Thank you in advance...

[jgg]

This seems a little abstract, but couldn't you do something like this:

 [s,v] = listdlg('PromptString','Select a file:',...
                'SelectionMode','single',...
                'ListString',categories.name)

Where categories is the Fruits, Veggies, Meats, set. Then, the return value s can be used to switch between the other ListString in the other list box.

I did this on my PC by setting up a struct which is a set of categories:

 categories = struct();
 categories.name = {'Fruits', 'Veggies', 'Meat'}
 veggies = struct();
 veggies.name = {'Potato', 'Carrot'}
 ... etc etc

Then, in the first listbox, I did

[s,v] = listdlg('PromptString','Select a file:','SelectionMode','single','ListString',categories.name)

 switch s
   case 1
     str = veggies.name
  case 2 
     str = fruits.name
  %etc etc etc
 end

Then, in my next listbox I did:

 [s,v] = listdlg('PromptString','Select a file:',...
                 'SelectionMode','single',...
                'ListString',str)

This works, but it's not implemented within a GUI. You'll probably need an event handler to execute the switching code, which I can't really help with since I don't know your GUI (and this isn't my strongest suite).

[Image Analyst]

categories is a built-in function name so you'll want to use another name for the structure variable.

Answer 1

[Image Analyst]

In the callback for listbox1, have this:

selection = get(handles.listbox1, 'Value');
% 1 = Fruits, 2 = Vegetables, 3 = Meat
if selection == 1
    % Fruits selected
    listBoxContents = {'apples', 'oranges');
elseif selection == 2
    % Vegetables selected
    listBoxContents = {'broccoli', 'lettuce', 'kale'};
else
    % Meat selected
    listBoxContents = {'beef', 'poultry', 'pork', 'fish', 'platypus'};
end
% Send that list to listbox 2
set(handles.listbox2, 'String', listBoxContents);
guidata(hObject, handles);

[Jason Salim]

Thanks. I think this make sense. What if listBoxContents are going to vary? Meaning that user can add new list. For eg: i want to add peach in listbox 2 under fruits.

Basically I have 2 listboxes that can be customized (by adding entries for both listboxes by users by clicking on 2 buttons each for individual list boxes) and also they have to be linked.

Thanks again!

[Image Analyst]

You can do that. You just have to keep track of the lists somehow. Like have them be global variables and if they click a button, call inputdlg() and ask for the new name to add to the list. Read the FAQ: http://matlab.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ#How_can_I_share_data_between_callback_functions_in_my_GUI.28s.29.3F