view scripts/plot/util/struct2hdl.m @ 30564:796f54d4ddbf stable

update Octave Project Developers copyright for the new year In files that have the "Octave Project Developers" copyright notice, update for 2021. In all .txi and .texi files except gpl.txi and gpl.texi in the doc/liboctave and doc/interpreter directories, change the copyright to "Octave Project Developers", the same as used for other source files. Update copyright notices for 2022 (not done since 2019). For gpl.txi and gpl.texi, change the copyright notice to be "Free Software Foundation, Inc." and leave the date at 2007 only because this file only contains the text of the GPL, not anything created by the Octave Project Developers. Add Paul Thomas to contributors.in.
author John W. Eaton <jwe@octave.org>
date Tue, 28 Dec 2021 18:22:40 -0500
parents 363fb10055df
children 620607ec6608
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########################################################################
##
## Copyright (C) 2012-2022 The Octave Project Developers
##
## See the file COPYRIGHT.md in the top-level directory of this
## distribution or <https://octave.org/copyright/>.
##
## This file is part of Octave.
##
## Octave is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it
## under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
## the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
## (at your option) any later version.
##
## Octave is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
## WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
## MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
## GNU General Public License for more details.
##
## You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
## along with Octave; see the file COPYING.  If not, see
## <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
##
########################################################################

## -*- texinfo -*-
## @deftypefn  {} {@var{h} =} struct2hdl (@var{s})
## @deftypefnx {} {@var{h} =} struct2hdl (@var{s}, @var{p})
## @deftypefnx {} {@var{h} =} struct2hdl (@var{s}, @var{p}, @var{hilev})
## Construct a graphics handle object @var{h} from the structure @var{s}.
##
## The structure must contain the fields @qcode{"handle"}, @qcode{"type"},
## @qcode{"children"}, @qcode{"properties"}, and @qcode{"special"}.
##
## If the handle of an existing figure or axes is specified, @var{p}, the new
## object will be created as a child of that object.  If no parent handle is
## provided then a new figure and the necessary children will be constructed
## using the default values from the root object.
##
## A third boolean argument @var{hilev} can be passed to specify whether the
## function should preserve listeners/callbacks, e.g., for legends or
## hggroups.  The default is false.
## @seealso{hdl2struct, hgload, findobj}
## @end deftypefn

function [h, pout] = struct2hdl (s, p=[], hilev = false)

  if (nargin < 1)
    print_usage ();
  endif

  fields = {"handle", "type", "children", "properties", "special"};
  partypes = {"root", "figure", "axes", "hggroup"};
  othertypes = {"line", "patch", "scatter", "surface", "image", "text"};
  alltypes = [partypes othertypes];

  if (! isstruct (s))
    print_usage ();
  elseif (! all (isfield (s, fields)))
    print_usage ();
  elseif (isscalar (p))
    if (! ishghandle (p))
      error ("struct2hdl: P is not a handle to a graphic object");
    endif
    if (any (strcmp (get (p).type, partypes)))
      paridx = find (strcmp (get (p).type, alltypes));
      kididx = find (strcmp (s.type, alltypes));
      if (kididx <= paridx)
        error ("struct2hdl: incompatible input handles");
      endif
    else
      error ("struct2hdl: %s object can't be parent object", get (p).type);
    endif
    hpar = p;
    p = [NaN; hpar];
    ## create appropriate parent if needed
    if (any (strcmp (s.type, othertypes)))
      for ii = (paridx+1) : (numel (partypes)-1)
        eval (["hpar = " partypes{ii} '("parent", hpar);']);
        p = [p [NaN; hpar]];
      endfor
    elseif (any (strcmp (s.type, {"hggroup", "axes"})))
      for ii = (paridx+1) : (kididx-1)
        eval (["hpar = " partypes{ii} '("parent", hpar);']);
        p = [p [NaN; hpar]];
      endfor
    else
      par = NaN;
    endif
  elseif (isempty (p))
    if (any (strcmp (s.type, othertypes)))
      par = axes ();
    elseif (any (strcmp (s.type, {"hggroup", "axes"})))
      par = figure ();
    else
      par = NaN;
    endif
    p = [NaN; par];
  endif
  ## read parent (last column) in p and remove it if duplicate
  par = p(2,end);
  tst = find (p(2,:) == par);
  if (numel (tst) > 1)
    p = p(1:2, 1:(tst(end)-1));
  endif

  ## Use lowercase for all properties
  s.properties = cell2struct (struct2cell (s.properties), ...
                              tolower (fieldnames (s.properties)));

  ## Place the "*mode" properties at the end to avoid having the updaters
  ## change the mode to "manual" when the value is "auto".
  names = fieldnames (s.properties);
  n = strncmp (cellfun (@fliplr, names, "uniformoutput", false), "edom", 4);
  n = (n | strcmp (names, "positionconstraint"));
  names = [names(! n); names(n)];
  n_pos = find (strcmp (names, "position") | strcmp (names, "outerposition"));
  if (strcmp (s.type, "axes") && numel (n_pos) == 2)
    if (isfield (s.properties, "positionconstraint"))
      positionconstraint = s.properties.positionconstraint;
    else
      ## loading old figure file before "positionconstraint" property was added
      positionconstraint = s.properties.activepositionproperty;
    endif
    if (strcmp (positionconstraint, "outerposition"))
      names{n_pos(1)} = "position";
      names{n_pos(2)} = "outerposition";
    else
      names{n_pos(1)} = "outerposition";
      names{n_pos(2)} = "position";
    endif
  endif
  ## Set "units" property early
  n = strcmp (names, "units");
  names = [names(n); names(! n)];
  ## Reorder the properties
  s.properties = orderfields (s.properties, names);

  ## Silence deprecation warnings
  warning ("off", "Octave:deprecated-property", "local");

  ## Translate field names for Matlab .fig files
  ## FIXME: Is it ok to do this unconditionally?
  if (isfield (s.properties, "applicationdata"))
    s.properties.__appdata__ = s.properties.applicationdata;
    s.properties = rmfield (s.properties, "applicationdata");
  endif

  ## Create object
  if (strcmp (s.type, "root"))
    h = 0;
    s.properties = rmfield (s.properties, ...
                              {"callbackobject", "commandwindowsize", ...
                               "monitorpositions", "pointerwindow", ...
                               "screendepth", "screenpixelsperinch", ...
                               "screensize"});
  elseif (strcmp (s.type, "figure"))
    [h, s] = createfigure (s);
  elseif (strcmp (s.type, "axes"))
    ## legends and colorbars are "transformed" in to normal axes
    ## if hilev is not requested.
    if (! hilev && isfield (s.properties, "tag"))
      if (strcmp (s.properties.tag, "legend"))
        s.properties.tag = "";
        s.properties.userdata = [];
        par = gcf ();
      elseif (strcmp (s.properties.tag, "colorbar"))
        s.properties.tag = "";
        s.properties.userdata = [];
        par = gcf ();
      endif
    endif
    ## remove read only properties
    ## FIXME: Remove "interactions", "layout", "legend", "toolbar", "xaxis",
    ## "yaxis", and "zaxis" from this list once they are implemented.
    ro_props = {"interactions", "layout", "legend", "nextseriesindex", ...
                "tightinset", "toolbar", "xaxis", "yaxis", "zaxis"};
    has_ro_props = cellfun (@(x) isfield (s.properties, x), ro_props);
    if (any (has_ro_props))
      s.properties = rmfield (s.properties, ro_props(has_ro_props));
    endif
    [h, s] = createaxes (s, p, par);
  elseif (strcmp (s.type, "line"))
    h = createline (s, par);
  elseif (strcmp (s.type, "patch"))
    [h, s] = createpatch (s, par);
  elseif (strcmp (s.type, "scatter"))
    [h, s] = createscatter (s, par);
  elseif (strcmp (s.type, "text"))
    if (isfield (s.properties, "extent"))
      s.properties = rmfield (s.properties, "extent");
    endif
    h = createtext (s, par);
  elseif (strcmp (s.type, "image"))
    h = createimage (s, par);
  elseif (strcmp (s.type, "surface"))
    h = createsurface (s, par);
  elseif (strcmp (s.type, "light"))
    h = createlight (s, par);
  elseif (strcmp (s.type, "hggroup"))
    [h, s, p] = createhg (s, p, par, hilev);
  elseif (any (strcmp (s.type, {"uimenu", "uicontextmenu",...
                                "uicontrol", "uipanel", "uibuttongroup",...
                                "uitoolbar", "uipushtool", "uitoggletool"...
                                "uitable"})))
    if (isfield (s.properties, "extent"))
      s.properties = rmfield (s.properties, "extent");
    endif
    [h, s] = createui (s, par);
    if (strcmp (s.type, "uicontextmenu"))
      set (p(2, ismember (p(1,:), s.special)), 'UIContextMenu', h);
    endif
  else
    error ("struct2hdl: %s objects are not implemented yet", s.type);
  endif

  ## children
  p = [p [s.handle; h]];  # [original; new]
  kids = s.children;
  nkids = length (kids);
  ii = 0;
  while (nkids)
    ii += 1;
    if (! any (ii == s.special))
      [h2, p] = struct2hdl (s.children(ii), [p [s.handle; h]], hilev);
    endif
    nkids -= 1;
  endwhile

  ## paste properties
  setprops (s, h, p, hilev);

  pout = p;

endfunction

function [h, sout] = createfigure (s)

  ## Create figure initially invisible to speed up loading.
  opts = {"visible", "off"};
  if (isfield (s.properties, "integerhandle"))  # see also bug #53342.
    opts = [opts {"integerhandle", s.properties.integerhandle}];
    s.properties = rmfield (s.properties, "integerhandle");
  endif
  h = figure (opts{:});
  rmprops = {"currentaxes", "currentcharacter", "currentobject", ...
             "currentpoint", "number"};
  rmprops (! isfield (s.properties, rmprops)) = [];
  s.properties = rmfield (s.properties, rmprops);
  if (! isfield (s.properties, "visible"))
    s.properties.visible = "on";
  endif
  addmissingprops (h, s.properties);
  sout = s;

endfunction

function [h, sout] = createaxes (s, p, par)

  if (! isfield (s.properties, "tag")
      || ! any (strcmpi (s.properties.tag, {"colorbar", "legend"})))
    ## regular axes
    propval = {"position", s.properties.position};
    hid = {"__autopos_tag__", "looseinset"};
    for ii = 1:numel (hid)
      prop = hid{ii};
      if (isfield (s.properties, prop))
        val = s.properties.(prop);
        propval = [propval, prop, val];
      endif
    endfor
    h = axes (propval{:}, "parent", par);

    if (isfield (s.properties, "__plotyy_axes__"))
      plty = s.properties.__plotyy_axes__;
      addproperty ("__plotyy_axes__", h, "data");
      tmp = [p [s.handle; h]];
      tst = ismember (tmp(1,:), plty);
      if (sum (tst) == numel (plty))
        for ii = 1:numel (plty)
          plty(ii) = tmp(2, find (tmp(1,:) == plty(ii)));
        endfor
        for ii = 1:numel (plty)
          set (plty(ii), "__plotyy_axes__", plty);
        endfor
      endif
      s.properties = rmfield (s.properties, "__plotyy_axes__");
    endif

    ## delete non-default and already set properties
    fields = fieldnames (s.properties);
    tst = cellfun (@(x) isprop (h, x), fields);
    s.properties = rmfield (s.properties, fields(find (tst == 0)));

  elseif (strcmp (s.properties.tag, "legend"))
    ## legends
    oldax = s.properties.userdata.handle;
    idx = find (p == oldax);
    newax = p(idx+1);
    strings = {};
    kids = s.children;
    kids(s.special) = [];
    oldh = unique (arrayfun (@(x) x.properties.userdata(end), kids));
    for ii = 1:length (oldh)
      idx = find (p(1:2:end) == oldh(ii)) * 2;
      if (! isempty (idx))
        newh(ii) = p(idx);
        if (! strcmp (get (newh(ii), "type"), "hggroup"))
          str = get (newh(ii), "displayname");
          strings = [strings str];
        else
          str = get (get (newh(ii), "children")(1), "displayname");
          strings = [strings str];
        endif
      else
        error ("struct2hdl: didn't find a legend item");
      endif
    endfor
    location = s.properties.location;
    orientation = s.properties.orientation;
    textpos = s.properties.textposition;
    box = s.properties.box;

    h = legend (newax, newh, strings, "location", location, ...
                "orientation", orientation);
    set (h, "textposition", textpos); # bug makes "textposition"
                                      # redefine the legend
    h = legend (newax, newh, strings, "location", location, ...
                "orientation", orientation);
    ## box
    if (strcmp (box, "on"))
      legend ("boxon");
    endif

    ## visibility
    tst = arrayfun (@(x) strcmp (x.properties.visible, "on"), kids);
    if (! any (tst))
      legend ("hide");
    endif

    ## remove all properties such as "textposition" that redefine
    ## the entire legend.  Also remove chidren.
    s.properties = rmfield (s.properties, ...
                              {"__appdata__", "xlabel",...
                               "ylabel", "zlabel", "location", ...
                               "title", "string","orientation", ...
                               "visible", "textposition"});

    s.children = [];

  elseif (strcmp (s.properties.tag, "colorbar"))
    ## colorbar
    oldax = s.properties.axes;
    if (! isempty (idx = find (oldax == p)))
      ax = p(idx+1);
      location = s.properties.location;
      h = colorbar ("peer", ax, location);
      s.properties = rmfield (s.properties, ...
                                {"__appdata__", "xlabel" ...
                                 "ylabel", "zlabel", ...
                                 "title", "axes"});
      s.children= [];
    else
      error ("hdl2struct: didn't find an object");
    endif
  endif

  sout = s;

endfunction

function h = createline (s, par)
  h = line ("parent", par);
  addmissingprops (h, s.properties);
endfunction

function [h, sout] = createpatch (s, par)

  prp.faces = s.properties.faces;
  prp.vertices = s.properties.vertices;
  prp.facevertexcdata = s.properties.facevertexcdata;
  h = patch (prp);
  set (h, "parent", par);
  s.properties = rmfield (s.properties,
                          {"faces", "vertices", "facevertexcdata"});
  ## Also remove derived properties.  Otherwise there is a possibility for
  ## a segfault when 'set (h, properties)' is used to restore properties
  ## which do not match in size the ones created with from the call to patch().
  s.properties = rmfield (s.properties, {"xdata", "ydata", "zdata", "cdata"});
  addmissingprops (h, s.properties);
  sout = s;

endfunction

function [h, sout] = createscatter (s, par)

  if (isempty (s.properties.zdata))
    ## 2D scatter
    h = scatter (s.properties.xdata, s.properties.ydata);
  else
    ## 3D scatter
    h = scatter3 (s.properties.xdata, s.properties.ydata, s.properties.zdata);
  endif

  set (h, "parent", par);
  s.properties = rmfield (s.properties,
                          {"xdata", "ydata", "zdata"});
  addmissingprops (h, s.properties);
  sout = s;

endfunction

function h = createtext (s, par)
  h = text ("parent", par);
  addmissingprops (h, s.properties);
endfunction

function h = createimage (s, par)
  h = image (1, "parent", par);
  addmissingprops (h, s.properties);
endfunction

function h = createsurface (s, par)
  h = surface ("parent", par);
  addmissingprops (h, s.properties);
endfunction

function h = createlight (s, par)
  h = light ("parent", par);
  addmissingprops (h, s.properties);
endfunction

function [h, s] = createui (s, par)
  if (isfield (s.properties, "style") && strcmp (s.properties.style, "frame"))
    s.type = "uipanel";  # frame is deprecated: use uipanel instead
  endif
  h = feval (s.type, "parent", par);
  addmissingprops (h, s.properties);
endfunction

function [h, sout, pout] = createhg (s, p, par, hilev)

  ## Here we infer from properties the type of hggroup we should build
  ## an call corresponding high level functions
  ## We manually set "hold on" to avoid next hggroup be deleted
  ## the proper value of axes "nextplot" will finally be recovered

  hold on;
  if (hilev)
    [h, s, p] = createhg_hilev (s, p, par);
    if (numel (s.children) != numel (get (h).children))
      warning (["struct2hdl: could not infer the hggroup type. ", ...
                "Will build objects but listener/callback functions ", ...
                "will be lost"]);
      if (isfield (h, "bargroup"))
        delete (get (h).bargroup);
      else
        delete (h);
      endif
      h = hggroup ("parent", par);
      addmissingprops (h, s.properties);
      s.special = [];
    else
      oldkids = s.children;
      newkids = get (h).children;
      nkids = numel (oldkids);
      ii = 1;
      while (nkids)
        p = [p [oldkids(ii++).handle; newkids(nkids--)]];
      endwhile
    endif
  else
    h = hggroup ("parent", par);
    addmissingprops (h, s.properties);
    s.special = [];
  endif

  sout = s;
  pout = p;

endfunction

function [h, sout, pout] = createhg_hilev (s, p, par)

  fields = s.properties;
  if (isfield (fields, "contourmatrix"))
    ## contours
    xdata = s.properties.xdata;
    ydata = s.properties.ydata;
    zdata = s.properties.zdata;
    levellist = s.properties.levellist;
    textlist = s.properties.textlist;

    ## contour creation
    if (isempty (s.children(1).properties.zdata))
      if (strcmpi (s.properties.fill, "on"))
        [cm2, h] = contourf (xdata, ydata, zdata, levellist);
      else
        [cm2, h] = contour (xdata, ydata, zdata, levellist);
      endif

      ## labels
      if (strcmpi (s.properties.showtext, "on"))
        clabel (cm2, h, textlist);
      endif
    else
      [cm2, h] = contour3 (xdata, ydata, zdata, levellist);
    endif

    ## delete already set properties and children
    s.properties = rmfield (s.properties, ...
                              {"xdata", "ydata", "zdata", ...
                               "contourmatrix", "levellist", ...
                               "fill", "labelspacing", ...
                               "levellistmode", "levelstep", ...
                               "levelstepmode", "textlist"...
                               "textlistmode" , "textstep", ...
                               "textstepmode", "zlevel", ...
                               "zlevelmode"});

  elseif (isfield (fields, "udata") && isfield (fields, "vdata"))
    ## quiver
    xdata = s.properties.xdata;
    ydata = s.properties.ydata;

    udata = s.properties.udata;
    vdata = s.properties.vdata;

    h = quiver (xdata, ydata, udata, vdata);

    ## delete already set properties and children
    s.properties = rmfield (s.properties, ...
                              {"xdata", "ydata", "zdata", ...
                               "xdatasource", "ydatasource", "zdatasource", ...
                               "udata", "vdata", "wdata", ...
                               "udatasource", "vdatasource", "wdatasource"});

  elseif (isfield (fields, "format"))
    ##errorbar
    form = s.properties.format;
    xdata = s.properties.xdata;
    ydata = s.properties.ydata;
    xldata = s.properties.xldata;
    ldata = s.properties.ldata;
    xudata = s.properties.xudata;
    udata = s.properties.udata;

    switch (form)
      case "xerr"
        h = errorbar (xdata, ydata, xldata, xudata, ">");
      case "yerr"
        h = errorbar (xdata, ydata, ldata, udata, "~");
      case "xyerr"
        h = errorbar (xdata, ydata, xldata, xudata, ldata, udata, "~>");
      case "box"
        h = errorbar (xdata, ydata, xldata, xudata, "#");
      case "boxy"
        h = errorbar (xdata, ydata, ldata, udata, "#~");
      case "boxxy"
        h = errorbar (xdata, ydata, xldata, xudata, ldata, udata, "#~>");
      otherwise
        error ("struct2hdl: couldn't guess the errorbar format");
    endswitch
    ## delete already set properties
    s.properties = rmfield (s.properties, ...
                              {"xdata", "ydata", ...
                               "xldata", "ldata", ...
                               "xudata", "udata", ...
                               "xldatasource", "ldatasource", ...
                               "xudatasource", "udatasource", ...
                               "format"});

  elseif (isfield (fields, "bargroup"))
    ## bar plot
    ## FIXME: Here we don't have access to brothers so we first create all
    ## the barseries of the bargroup (but the last), then retrieve information,
    ## and rebuild the whole bargroup.
    ## The duplicate are deleted after calling "setprops"

    bargroup = s.properties.bargroup;
    oldh = s.handle;

    temp = ismember ([p(1:2:end) oldh], bargroup);

    tst = sum (temp) == length (bargroup);

    if (isscalar (bargroup) || ! tst)
      xdata = s.properties.xdata;
      ydata = s.properties.ydata;

      h = bar (xdata, ydata);

      ## delete already set properties,
      s.properties = rmfield (s.properties, ...
                                {"xdata", "ydata", ...
                                 "xdatasource", "ydatasource", ...
                                 "bargroup", ...
                                 "barwidth", "baseline"});
    else
      xdata = [];
      ydata = [];

      ##build x/y matrix
      nbar = length (bargroup);
      tmp = struct ("handle", NaN, "type", "", "children", [], "special", []);
      for ii = 1:(nbar - 1)
        idx = find (p(1:2:end) == bargroup(ii)) * 2;
        hdl = p(idx);
        xdata = [xdata get(hdl).xdata];
        ydata = [ydata get(hdl).ydata];
        tmp.children(ii) = hdl2struct (hdl);
      endfor

      xdata = [xdata s.properties.xdata];
      ydata = [ydata s.properties.ydata];
      width = s.properties.barwidth;
      h = bar (ydata, width);

      ## replace previous handles in "match", copy props and delete redundant
      for ii = 1:(nbar - 1)
        props = tmp.children(ii).properties;
        bl = props.baseline;
        tmp.children(ii).properties = rmfield (props, {"baseline", "bargroup"});
        setprops (tmp.children(ii), h(ii), p, 1);
        delete (tmp.children(ii).handle);
        delete (bl);
        idxpar = find (p == tmp.children(ii).handle);
        p(idxpar) = h(ii);
        idxkid = idxpar - 2;
        p(idxkid) = get (h(ii), "children");
      endfor
      p(2,((end-nbar+2):end)) = h(1:(end-1));
      h = h(end);

      ## delete already set properties ,
      s.properties = rmfield (s.properties, ...
                                {"xdata", "ydata", "bargroup"...
                                 "barwidth", "baseline"});
    endif
  elseif (isfield (fields, "baseline"))
    ## stem plot
    xdata = s.properties.xdata;
    ydata = s.properties.ydata;

    h = stem (xdata, ydata);

    ## delete already set properties,
    s.properties = rmfield (s.properties, ...
                              {"xdata", "ydata", ...
                               "xdatasource", "ydatasource", ...
                               "baseline"});
  elseif (isfield (fields, "basevalue"))
    ## area plot
    xdata = s.properties.xdata;
    ydata = s.properties.ydata;
    level = s.properties.basevalue;

    h = area (xdata, ydata, level);

    ## delete already set properties,
    s.properties = rmfield (s.properties, ...
                              {"xdata", "ydata", ...
                               "xdatasource", "ydatasource"});
  else
    warning ("struct2hdl: could not infer the hggroup type.  Will build objects but listener/callback functions will be lost");
    h = hggroup ("parent", par);
    addmissingprops (h, s.properties);
    s.special = [];           # children will be treated as normal children
  endif

  sout = s;
  pout = p;

endfunction

function setprops (s, h, p, hilev)

  isspecial = (isfield (s.properties, "tag")
               && any (strcmpi (s.properties.tag, {"colorbar", "legend"})));
  if (! isspecial)
    try
      specs = s.children(s.special);
    catch
      specs = [];
    end_try_catch
    if (isempty (specs))
      hdls = [];
    else
      hdls = [specs.handle];
    endif
    nh = length (hdls);
    msg = "";
    if (! nh)
      set (h, s.properties);
    else
      ## Specials are objects that where automatically constructed with
      ## current object.  Among them are "x(yz)labels", "title", and
      ## high level hggroup children
      fields = fieldnames (s.properties);
      vals = struct2cell (s.properties);
      idx = find (cellfun (@(x) valcomp(x, hdls) , vals));
      s.properties = rmfield (s.properties, fields(idx));

      ## set all properties but special handles
      set (h, s.properties);

      ## find props with val == (one of special handles)
      nf = length (idx);
      fields = fields(idx);
      vals = vals(idx);
      while (nf)
        field = fields{nf};
        idx = find (hdls == vals{nf});
        spec = specs(idx);
        ## FIXME: Wouldn't it be better to call struct2hdl recursively
        ##        for this handle?  That way the function could determine
        ##        based on type what special actions to take.
        try
          spec.properties = rmfield (spec.properties, "extent");
        end_try_catch
        if (isprop (h, field))
          h2 = get (h, field);
          addmissingprops (h2, spec.properties);
          set (h2, spec.properties);
        endif
        nf -= 1;
      endwhile

      ## If hggroup children were created by high level functions,
      ## copy only useful properties.
      if (hilev)
        if (strcmp (s.type, "hggroup"))
          nold = numel (s.children);
          nnew = numel (get (h).children);

          if (nold == nnew)
            hnew = get (h).children;
            ii = 1;
            while (ii <= nnew)
              try
                set (hnew (ii), "displayname", ...
                     s.children(ii).properties.displayname);
              catch
                sprintf ("struct2hdl: couldn't set hggroup children #%d props.", ii);
              end_try_catch
              ii += 1;
            endwhile

          else
            error ("struct2hdl: non-conformant number of children in hgggroup");
          endif
        endif
      endif
    endif

  else
    set (h, s.properties);
  endif

endfunction

function out = valcomp (x, hdls)

  if (isfloat (x) && isscalar (x))
    out = any (x == hdls);
  else
    out = 0;
  endif

endfunction

function addmissingprops (h, props)

  hid = {"__autopos_tag__", "looseinset"};
  oldfields = fieldnames (props);
  for ii = 1:numel (oldfields)
    prop = oldfields{ii};
    if (! isprop (h, prop) && ! any (strcmp (prop, hid)))
      addproperty (prop, h, "any");
    endif
  endfor

endfunction


## FIXME: Need validation tests