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+## Copyright (C) 2012 pdiribarne
+##
+## This program 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.
+##
+## This program 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
+## <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+## -*- texinfo -*-
+## @deftypefn  {Function File} {@var{s} =} hdl2struct (@var{h})
+## Returns a structure, @var{s}, whose fields describe the properties
+## of the object, and its children, associated with the handle, @var{h}.
+## The fields of the structure, @var{s}, are "type", "handle", "properties",
+## "children" and "special".
+## @seealso{findobj, get, set, struct2hdl}
+## @end deftypefn
+
+## Author: pdiribarne <pdiribarne@new-host.home>
+## Created: 2012-03-04
+
+function hgS = hdl2struct (h)
+  if (nargin != 1 || !ishandle (h))
+    print_usage ();
+  endif
+
+  hiddenh = get (0, "showhiddenhandles");
+  if strcmp (hiddenh, "on")
+    set (0, "showhiddenhandles", "off");
+  endif
+
+  ## main object
+  main = get (h);
+  hgS.handle = h;
+  hgS.type =  main.type;
+  hgS.properties  = getprops (h);
+  hgS.children = [];
+  hgS.special = [];
+
+  ## sweep all children but legends, colorbars, uimenu and hggroup children
+  ## in reverse order
+  kids = main.children;
+  lg = findobj (h, "-depth", 1, "tag", "legend");
+  cb = findobj (h, "-depth", 1, "tag", "colorbar");
+  ui = findobj (h, "-depth", 1, "type", "uimenu");
+  nkids = length (kids);
+  ii = 0;
+  while nkids
+    if (! any (kids (nkids) == lg) && !any (kids (nkids) == cb)
+          && ! any (kids (nkids) == ui) && !strcmpi (main.type, "hggroup"))
+      ii++;
+      hgS.children(ii) = hdl2struct(kids(nkids));
+    endif
+    nkids--;
+  endwhile
+
+  ## add non "children" children objects (title, xlabel, ...) and
+  ## hggroup children and tag theim in "special"
+  special = [];
+  if (strcmpi (main.type, "hggroup"))
+    special = main.children;
+  endif
+  special = [special getspecial(h)];
+  nsp = length (special);
+  while nsp
+    ii++;
+    hgS.children(ii) = hdl2struct (special(nsp));
+    hgS.special(nsp) = ii;
+    nsp--;
+  endwhile
+
+  ## look for legends and colorbars among "main"'s brothers and add them
+  ## to the children list
+  if (strcmpi (main.type, "axes"))
+    par = main.parent;
+    lg = findobj (par, "-depth", 1, "tag", "legend");
+    if !isempty (lg)
+      idx = arrayfun (@(x) get(x).userdata.handle(end) == h, lg);
+      lg = lg(find(idx));
+    endif
+    nlg = length (lg);
+    if nlg == 1
+      ii++;
+      hgS.children(ii) = hdl2struct (lg);
+    elseif (nlg > 1)
+      error ("hdl2struct: more than one legend found")
+    endif
+
+    cb = findobj (par, "-depth", 1, "tag", "colorbar");
+    if (! isempty (cb))
+      idx = arrayfun (@(x) get(x).axes == h, cb);
+      cb = cb(find(idx));
+    endif
+
+    ncb = length (cb);
+    if (ncb == 1)
+      ii++;
+      hgS.children(ii) = hdl2struct(cb);
+    elseif (nlg > 1)
+      error ("hdl2struct: more than one colorbar found")
+    endif
+  endif
+
+  set (0, "showhiddenhandles", hiddenh);
+
+endfunction
+
+function hdlist = getspecial (h)
+  obj = get (h);
+  ## return handles to special children
+  fields = fieldnames (obj);
+  hdlist = [];
+
+  regkids = get ( h, "children");
+  set (0, "showhiddenhandles", "on")
+  allkids = get ( h, "children");
+  set (0, "showhiddenhandles", "off")
+  speckids = arrayfun (@(x) ! any (x == regkids), allkids);
+  hdlist = allkids (find (speckids));
+  hdlist = reshape (hdlist, 1, numel (hdlist));
+
+endfunction
+
+function prpstr = getprops (h)
+  obj = get (h);
+  ## get usefull properties rejecting readonly, children, handles ...
+  fields = fieldnames (obj);
+  hdlist = [];
+
+  forbid = {"beingdeleted", "busyaction", "buttondownfcn", ...
+            "children", "clipping", "createfcn", ...
+            "deletefcn", "handlevisibility", "hittest", ...
+            "interruptible", "parent", "selected" ,...
+            "selectionhighlight", "type", "__modified__", ...
+            "uicontextmenu", "__graphics_toolkit__", "currentaxes", ...
+            "currentcharacter", "currentobject","tightinset", ...
+            "currentpoint", "extent"};
+
+  nflds = length (fields);
+  ii = 0;
+  while nflds
+    prop = fields{nflds};
+    val = obj.(fields{nflds});
+    ii++;
+    if !any (strcmp (prop, forbid))
+      prpstr.(prop) = val;
+    endif
+    nflds--;
+  endwhile
+
+  ## hidden properties
+  hidden = {"autopos_tag", "looseinset"};
+  for ii = 1:numel (hidden)
+    if (isprop (h, hidden{ii}))
+      prpstr.(hidden{ii}) = get (h, hidden{ii});
+    endif
+  endfor
+endfunction
+