AppDesigner: Replace in all .ValueDisplayFormat € with $

Dear All,

I am currently designing an App where one can select different locations. Depending on the location I would like to change in all numeric edit fields € to $. I know that I should use the command strrep(), however, I have several numeric edit fields, let's say I have (in reality I have many many more):

app.power.ValueDisplayFormat = '%.2f L';
app.valueperkW.ValueDisplayFormat = '%.2f €/L';
app.totalvalue:ValueDisplayFormat = '%.2f €';

Now, I would like to change all apps that contain .ValueDisplayFormat and have the € value in them.

        % Value changed function: Standort
        function StandortValueChanged(app, event)
        switch app.standort.value 
            case 'Germany'
                strrep()
            case 'USA'
                strrep()
        end
        end

A hint would be very much appreciated :)

Cheers

Answer 1

[Adam Danz]

Here's a cleaner approach.

Step 1: Add a function to control the ValueDisplayFormat

Add the following function to your app [Instructions how to add a function in App Designer]. See comments for important details.

function controlValueDisplayPrefix(app, symbol)
            % Symbol is a character such as $ or € or a character vectors such as 
            % char([1083,1074]) that defines the monetary prefix. 
            
            % 1) Search for objects that have a ValueDisplayFormat property.
            % This will only search objects that are children of the main figure.  
            % If your numeric text objects are children of different objects such as
            % panels, they will not appear here.  Alternatively, you could just manually
            % list the handles. 
            h = findall(app.UIFigure.Children, '-Property', 'ValueDisplayFormat');
            
            % 2) Set format with updated symbol.
            % You can rearrange the symbol placement as needed.
            set(h, 'ValueDisplayFormat', [symbol,'%.2f'])
            % Alternative:
            % set(h, 'ValueDisplayFormat', [%.2f ',symbol])
end

Call this function from anywhere within your app using the following syntax

controlValueDisplayPrefix(app, '$'); 
controlValueDisplayPrefix(app, '€'); 
% etc...

Alternative function to replace symbols

This function also searches for all objects with ValueDisplayFormat properties but instead of assigning a standard format, it search for monetary symbols and replaces them. See inline comments for details.

function controlValueDisplayPrefix(app, symbol)
            % Symbol is a character such as $ or € or a character vectors such as 
            % char([1083,1074]) that defines the monetary prefix. 
            
            % 1) Search for objects that have a ValueDisplayFormat property.
            % This will only search objects that are children of the main figure.  
            % If your numeric text objects are children of different objects such as
            % panels, they will not appear here.  Alternatively, you could just manually
            % list the handles. 
            h = findall(app.UIFigure.Children, '-Property', 'ValueDisplayFormat');
            
            % 2) Replace any of the symbols listed in "possibleSyms" 
            % with the symbold defined in "symbol" input. 
            possibleSyms = {'$', '€', char([1083,1074]), char(165)};  % <--- LIST ALL POSSIBILITIES HERE !
            vdf = get(h, 'ValueDisplayFormat');
            vdfUpdated = regexprep(vdf, possibleSyms, symbol)
            set(h,{'ValueDisplayFormat'},vdfUpdated)
end

Call the function using the same syntax,

controlValueDisplayPrefix(app, '$'); 

Step 2: Call the function with specific prefix symbols

Example:

function StandortValueChanged(app, event)
        switch app.standort.value 
            case 'Germany'
                controlValueDisplayPrefix(app, '€'); 
            case 'USA'
                controlValueDisplayPrefix(app, '$');
            case 'Bulgaria'
                controlValueDisplayPrefix(app, char([1083,1074])) % 'лв'
            case 'Japan'
                controlValueDisplayPrefix(app, char(165)); % '¥'
            otherwise % <--- always include a default 
                controlValueDisplayPrefix(app, '??'); 
        end
end

Tip: to avoid Upper/Lower case mismatch problems, set the swich value to lower case and set all cases to lower case.

        switch lower(app.standort.value)   % <--- lower()
            case 'germany' % <--- all lower case
                . . .
            case 'usa'  % <--- all lower case
                . . .
            % etc.....
        end

[Maria Hart]

Dear Adam,

thank you very much for your suggestion. I have just tried it in my code. Using this, I encounter several problems:

Firstly, I now have in all EditFields the ValueDisplayFormat € (or $, etc.). However, I do have EditFields which , have the ValueDisplayFormat €/L, €/kW, etc. I am now missing the /L and /kW.

Secondly, I do have ValueDisplayFormats that do not correspond to %.2f, but to the default %11.4g or else.

Thirdly, I also have EditFields that do not have any ValueDisplayFormat with a monetary value such as qm, L, etc. pp..

With kind regards

Maria

[Adam Danz]

These kinds of details should have been included in the question.

I've updated my answer to suggest a second controlValueDisplayPrefix function that should address these issues.

If you continue to have problems, please share what you've tried to do to fix them.

[Maria Hart]

Dear Adam,

thank you very much for the update. I have tried the code, however, vdfUpdated does not seem to be assigned. I have tried to write a set command as in the example before, but this will return an error message.

        function controlValueDisplayPrefix(app, symbol)
                    h = findall(app.Simulation.Children, '-Property', 'ValueDisplayFormat');
                    possibleSyms = {'MGA', '€', char(8363), char(3647)};  
                    % MGA: Malagasy Ariary
                    % char(8363): Vietnamesischer Dong
                    % char(3647): Thai Baht
                    vdf = get(h, 'ValueDisplayFormat');
                    vdfUpdated = regexprep(vdf, possibleSyms, symbol);
                    set(vdfUpdated, ValueDisplayFormat');
        end

I have further tried to insert vdfUpdated in the controlValueDisplayPrefix:

controlValueDisplayPrefix(app, vdfSymbol)

But this does not work as well.

With kind regards

Maria

[Adam Danz]

I forgot the set() command. The code in my answer has been updated. I've added the line,

set(h,{'ValueDisplayFormat'},vdfUpdated)

[Maria Hart]

Dear Adam,

thank you very much for your help! It worked :-)

[Adam Danz]

Glad I could help!