How should I release memory while running an AppDesigner app without having to restart MATLAB?
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Hello,
I built a software to read and communicate voltage data to LabJack. The software sends voltage to three pistons in order to apply a load scheme that follows a sine wave. It also reads voltage from load cells and reads the displacement of the pistons (all of this data is presented to the user on the GUI- see picture). The software is meant to run for at least 3 weeks to control a lab experiment. However, MATLAB seems to consume all of my lab computer memory on day 5 which is not ideal for the conditions of my experiment.
The app relies on three timers with period 200 ms (one timer for each chamber/piston) to communicate voltage values with LabJack and another set of three timers that update every second to present numerical values of load and displacement.
I have looked thoroughly for a solution and I cannot seem to find any piece of code or information on how to release the memory being used by MATLAB without having to restart MATLAB.
I also noticed that closing the Appdesigner software does not release any memory. Starting a new experiment on the software which involves clearing variables also does not release any memory. The only way to release memory is by restarting MATLAB, which is not ideal. So I wonder if there is a better way to solve this issue?
BTW the plot in the GUI only plots the last 30 seconds of data and it updates every 200 ms.
![](https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/uploaded_files/465200/image.png)
Thanks,
Ward
Answers (1)
Mario Malic
on 19 Dec 2020
Hi Ward,
Do you use persistent variables? See in task manager which process has high memory usage, MATLAB or MATLABWindow?
Here's a link of different clears that you could do, try clearing in this order and see at which one memory will be released.
clearvars
clear functions
clear classes
clear all
4 Comments
Mario Malic
on 20 Dec 2020
Just to try this option as well, since I forgot to mention it
clear
Do you use functions like evalin or assignin? When you get this warning about clearing classes, can you try Ctrl+C and see if you get any error or another warning? Probably, it's better to consult with customer support, this is quite a specific case.
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