Is it possible to open a file in an running instance of Matlab from the command line?

Question

If I already have an instance of Matlab running is it possible to tell open a file in the Matlab editor from outside the Matlab application? I'm wondering if there it is possible do something like this.

Launch an instance of Matlab

$ ./matlab 

Open a file for editing using an already running instance of Matlab:

$ matlab_open_file.sh theFile.m

The GUI variant is dragging a file from a folder and then dropping it onto Matlab icon (this actually works under OS X)

Note I know that you can launch Matlab and have it immediately execute a command (you could use this to start the editor on launch). This is not what I want.

Answer 1

I scripted a workaround for Linux (functional on Mint 17.1 with R2014a and R2014b), which I then associated with the .fig and .m file extensions. Note that this requires xdotool to be installed, and the keystrokes are set for Windows shortcuts (by default, MATLAB ships with Emacs shortcuts on Linux, but virtually everyone changes them in my experience). This has the limitation that any text currently on the command line is erased, and there is a small window of time where MATLAB must not lose focus. But in the absence of a more robust solution, it works well enough for me.

#!/bin/bash

# Hacky way to open a MATLAB figure in an existing instance if there is
# one, and start a new instance if not.

# What are we trying to open?
FILENAME="$@";

# Try to identify the main MATLAB window.
MLWINDOW=$( comm -12\
              <(xdotool search --name MATLAB\ R | sort)\
              <(xdotool search --class "com-mathworks-util-PostVMInit" | sort) )
if [ -z "$MLWINDOW" ]; then
    # MATLAB isn't open; we have to open it to proceed.
    matlab -desktop -r "open('$FILENAME')"
else
    # We use the first existing instance since MATLAB is open
    set -- $MLWINDOW
    # Jump to the command line and erase it
    xdotool windowactivate --sync $1 key --delay 0 "control+0" Escape
    # Put the filename on the command line
    xdotool type --delay 0 "$FILENAME"
    # Select the filename and press ctrl-D to open, then clean up command line
    xdotool key --delay 0 "shift+Home" "control+d" Escape
fi