CODEWITHSUNDEEP
matlabtimer
Phil
Phil

Reputation: 13

Trying to make a timer function in MATLAB which can be called upon

I am tring to make a function in MATLAB that can take in different arguments like a timer. Something like 

function timercommand(arg)    
if arg == go    
for t = 1:100    
    pause (1)    
    if arg == stop    
    ...

Something like that. But I want to be able to call it like: timercommand(go) and later call timercommand(stop). But I really don't know how to do it.

I need the function to be able to Count down towards 0. If it reaches zero it should set itself to 'Stopped' and I have to be able to recognize that it has done that.

I also need to be able to stop the countdown myself to prevent it from activating other functions that I want to use together with this function.

As an example off what I am trying to (just an example off use) do is that I want to issue a reboot on my computer. I need the reboot to happen in a certain time if I do not respond or have enough time to halt it.

Hope that makes my question more understandable. Sorry for any confusion!

Upvotes: 1

Views: 1150

Answers (3)

Matt
Matt

Reputation: 13933

Just use a timer-object. It already does exactly what you want. Here is an example to start the timer with start(T) and stop the timer with stop(T). The stop-command is commented out to test the behaviour. Before we can start the timer, we have to set some parameters like StartDelay for the time to wait (here 5 seconds) and the TimerFcn that gets called once the timer is done.

function TimerMain
    T = timer;                          % Create a timer object
    set(T,'StartDelay',5);              % Specify the time to wait
    set(T,'TimerFcn',@TimerCallback);   % Assign a callback-function

    start(T);                           % Start the timer

    %stop(T);                            % Stop the timer
    %delete(T);                          % Delete the object if no longer needed
end      

function TimerCallback(~,~)             % Gets called when timer is done
    disp('Reboot in progress!');
end

Note that instead of using the set-commands you can directly assign them when you call timer like this: T = timer('StartDelay',5,'TimerFcn',@TimerCallback);

Upvotes: 2

Agnieszka Mikołajczyk
Agnieszka Mikołajczyk

Reputation: 98

When you call your function timercommand(arg) you're out of the main function and while your timercommand is running your main would be at the same point. Event if you use command arg == stop your code will work only after the timercommand(arg). The answer depends of your wanted result. For example for measure time between two clicks on button you can use event handlers (http://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_external/using-events.html#responsive_offcanvas). If you describe your problem with more details maybe somebody will help you. Good luck!

Upvotes: 0

underscore_nico
underscore_nico

Reputation: 149

I would do something like this (the definition of t, the timer, is outside the main function so if you copy and paste it in matlab it won't work, but you should define consequently with the rest of your program):

t = timer('TimerFcn', 'stat=false; disp(''Timer!'')',... 
                 'StartDelay',1);

function timercommand(arg)
switch arg
    case 'go'
        start(t)
    case 'stop'
        stop(t)
end

I hope this helps!

Upvotes: 0

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