CH = getkeywait(P) waits for a keypress for a maximum of P seconds. P
should be a positive number. CH is a double representing the key
pressed key as an ascii number, including backspace (8), space (32),
enter (13), etc. If a non-ascii key (Ctrl, Alt, etc.) is pressed, CH
will be NaN. If no key is pressed within P seconds, -1 is returned,
and if something went wrong during excution 0 is returned.
Without argument, getkeywait waits until a key is pressed.
[CH, RT] = getkeywait(..) returns the response time in seconds in RT.
Example:
disp('Press a key within 5 seconds') ;
[CH, DT] = getkeywait(5)
See also input, ginput, waitbar, msgbox
getkey (file Exchange)
Authors note: This file was created in 2005 and is still working ;-)
Cite As
Jos (10584) (2026). getkeywait (https://ch.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/8297-getkeywait), MATLAB Central File Exchange. Retrieved .
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| Version | Published | Release Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0 | modernised |
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| 1.2.0.0 | changed some figure properties; added check for figure existence |
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| 1.1.0.0 | updated checks and output |
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| 1.0.0.0 | The timer object existed beyond the scope of the function, which could be problematic when the function is called often, e.g., in a long loop. |
