matlab low priority system call

Question

I want to check/improve some correction algorithm I use.

The whole thing is implemented in Matlab and goes something like this

for ii = 1:nn
   ... % Prepare some input files
   parfor i = 1:n
      system('...'); % simulation code
   end
   ... % Use the output and prepare some stuff that can be used to prep the next iteration
end

Wherey n is a bigger number than the #Treads I can use. This normaly takes a while to run and in the meantime I would like to use the computer for other (non cpu hungry) tasks. Therefore I would like to run the system calls with low priority.

I already tried to do this using new or start but then the call doesn't wait till it's finished and just proceeds. There would be a dirty hack over checking if the output files exist, but then again I was asking myself if there was not a better solution for that...

Any help would be greatly appreciated

yours magu_

Answer 1

try using the /wait flag in start command:

>> system( 'start /LOW /WAIT matlab.exe' );

started a new matlab instance and resumed execution only after I closed the opened application.

Of course, you need to replace matlab.exe in my proposed solution with the simulation program name you want to run.