How to check if matlab window has focus

Hello, My target is to create a time-object which will check every 10 minutes if Matlab is used. Do you have any ideas how to do it? I know how to create time object and how to use startup.m, finish.m scripts, but how can I verify if Matlab is running (and really in use) or it is just minimalized or covered by another window when user does something else?

Best regards, Pawel

[per isakson]

You want to this from inside the matlab session? An alternative would be to have a separate "program" to monitor the matlab session.

[Pawel Blaszczyk]

I would rather do it in Matlab by itself, but using external app is also an option. I am pretty sure it can be realized in C# but I have no experience with that so I focused on Matlab :-) I thought about java objects - maybe this is an option...

[Walter Roberson]

Which operating system?

[Pawel Blaszczyk]

Window$ 7

Answer 1

[per isakson]

I guess you use Windows

• download PsList (better than tasklist)
• the timer callback function shall call pslist.exe

    %   pslist.exe shall be in the same folder as this function
    dos_fmt = [ fullfile( fileparts( which( mfilename ) ), 'pslist.exe' ), ' %s' ];
    dos_fmt = strrep( dos_fmt, '\', '\\' );
    dos_cmd = sprintf( dos_fmt, num2str(val) );     % num2str takes strings
    mlb_cmd = sprintf( 'dos( ''%s'' );', dos_cmd );
    dos_buf = evalc( mlb_cmd );

where val is equal to 'matlab' (or it's ProcessID)

Compare the current CPU Time and Elapsed Time with the previous ones.

An alternative is JavaScript in combination with the windows script host, wscript

[Walter Roberson]

A further point: someone indicated recently (in a discussion about pslist) that when a MATLAB figure is minimized, there is no MS Windows-level frame for it, that the frame is not just hidden but actually non-existent. I might easily have the details wrong as I saw it in passing.

[Pawel Blaszczyk]

Thanks! I will check this solution asap

[per isakson]

Walter, I made a little test

• Started Matlab
• plot(magic(5),'d')
• minimized the two windows interactively; clicked the button in the top right corner
• run pslist matlab at the cmd-prompt

Result:

    H:\m\test4ida\lib>pslist matlab

    pslist v1.3 - Sysinternals PsList
    Copyright (C) 2000-2012 Mark Russinovich
    Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com

    Process information for KTH-2957:

    Name                Pid Pri Thd  Hnd   Priv        CPU Time    Elapsed Time
    MATLAB             7988   8  89 1697 687300     0:00:55.832     0:05:14.059

This is what I expected, i.e. process information on Matlab itself. There is no information on the plot-window. This is close to the information displayed by Windows Task Manager, Processes.

[Pawel Blaszczyk]

This function doesn't show how much window was focused only how much CPU was used by Matlab i.e. if you run simulation and minimalize ML counter will be still running. However it showed me that using external *.exe file will be the easiest way

[Walter Roberson]

Sorry I do not seem to be able to find the discussion that I recently saw. I seldom use MS Windows so I do not know the particular jargon that would have to be used for the query.

Sort of relevant to the overall task:

http://www.mathworks.co.uk/matlabcentral/answers/41006-slightly-off-topic-determining-at-the-windows-system-level-when-my-process-is-done

[per isakson]

Pawel, this question at Stackoverflow might help you get started How can I tell if a Window has focus? (Win32 API). See also the Linked and Related questions.

I use the approach I proposed to determine if a process has finished working; isn't using more cpu-cycles.