How to check if matlab window has focus

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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
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per isakson
per isakson on 27 Jan 2014
Edited: per isakson on 28 Jan 2014
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
  6 Comments
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 28 Jan 2014
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:
per isakson
per isakson on 28 Jan 2014
Edited: per isakson on 28 Jan 2014
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.

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