Running MATLAB from Mac Automator

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the cyclist
the cyclist on 25 Mar 2014
Answered: florian on 3 Apr 2014
When I run MATLAB from a Terminal window with this command
/Applications/MATLAB_R2014a.app/bin/matlab
it opens MATLAB normally.
I have been experimenting with Automator to open MATLAB as part of a workflow. Inside Automator, I choose "Run Shell Script" and put the above command inside the script.
I then run the application. It definitely opens MATLAB -- the splash screen appears -- but then it shuts down immediately, presumably because the script is completing and exiting. Anyone know how to get MATLAB to stay open in this situation?

Accepted Answer

Ken Atwell
Ken Atwell on 25 Mar 2014
Two possibilities to try:
  • Add -desktop to the command line invocation of MATLAB
  • Add & to the end of the command line to fork the MATLAB process
  2 Comments
the cyclist
the cyclist on 25 Mar 2014
Thanks, Ken. (Had a suspicion you would step in here!)
I tried the ampersand already, to no avail, but I'll try the -desktop as well.
the cyclist
the cyclist on 26 Mar 2014
Edited: the cyclist on 26 Mar 2014
Using "-desktop" did it! Thanks.
Just because you may be interested in why ...
I was doing it to see if I could get around the blurry rendering on Retina displays that recent versions of MATLAB have.
The answer there only works for MATLAB called from a shell, so I wanted to try it, but using automator to call the shell from the dock.
Added these lines to the bash script:
export MATLAB_JAVA="/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Home"
/Applications/MATLAB_R2014a.app/bin/matlab -desktop
and voila, crisp MATLAB again!

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More Answers (1)

florian
florian on 3 Apr 2014
I created the following based on your work - thank you guys! http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/102946#answer_131990

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