After a thread on CSSM about tree controls I thought I'd write up the ideas into a more readable article. The solution involved some java, lots of nested functions and some undocumented matlab features.

The tree was intended to view a directory hierarchy and allows selection and deselection of files by clicking on the file name. A new property also had to be added to the tree control to return the list of selected directories. The tree control must also support multiple instances existing in the same workspace and user interface.

The first thing to do was to write a test script that drives the desired functionality. The below function called two views adds two directory_viewer controls to a new figure. It also adds two buttons. When the button is pressed the list of selected files from the tree control will be displayed.