Frequently Asked Questions
Why is MathWorks releasing this patch?
MathWorks has identified and fixed several bugs in R2014b that may result in lost work.
Which issues with MATLAB are addressed in this patch?
Under rare circumstances, a bug in the Windows, Mac, and Linux version of MATLAB may cause files in the current working directory that have been copied to the clipboard to be deleted when exiting MATLAB.
What kind of rare circumstances?
This only occurs when the files copied to the clipboard are virtual files (e.g. files copied from a Remote Desktop session, email attachments copied directly from an email client, or files copied from within an expanded zip file), and a file of the same name exists in MATLAB's current working directory.
Are only MATLAB-related files deleted?
No, files of any type are vulnerable to this bug.
Does this bug cause MATLAB to produce incorrect results?
No.
Which issues with Simulink are addressed in this patch?
The patch addresses five bugs in Simulink which can cause MATLAB to terminate unexpectedly, resulting in lost work for any unsaved changes made to models:
- Bug Report ID 1160868: MATLAB may crash when manipulating blocks and lines in a Simulink model after creating a subsystem
- Bug Report ID 1125715: MATLAB may crash on selection if you create an annotation when zoomed to 40% or less
- Bug Report ID 1068604: Mouse pointer may vanish in the Simulink Editor when using a trackpad or Apple Magic Mouse on Mac OS X, and result in a crash
- Bug Report ID 1174801: Navigating through deep subsystem hierarchies may crash MATLAB
- Bug Report ID 1154212: Models containing Simscape blocks in subsystem variants may cause MATLAB to terminate unexpectedly
Do any of these bugs cause Simulink to produce incorrect results or generate incorrect code?
No.
What should I do?
We recommend you install the patch attached to https://www.mathworks.com/support/bugreports/1184018
Do I need administrative privileges to install the patch?
Yes. You need write access privileges to your matlabroot directory.
Do I need to install the patch on newly downloaded copies of MATLAB?
Effective January 14, 2015 copies of MATLAB and Simulink R2014b downloaded from mathworks.com will already have the patch applied.
How can I tell if my installation of MATLAB and Simulink has been patched?
Run the following command in MATLAB:
>> dir([matlabroot '/bugreport'])
If the patch has been applied, the output of this command will include at least the following six filenames (XXXXX will be replaced with the name of your platform, e.g. win64):
attachment_1068604_14b_XXXXX_2014-12-16.txt
attachment_1090500_14b_2014-12-11.txt
attachment_1125715_14b_XXXXX_2014-12-16.txt
attachment_1154212_14b_XXXXX_2014-12-16.txt
attachment_1160868_14b_XXXXX_2014-12-16.txt
attachment_1174801_14b_XXXXX_2014-12-16.txt
