Matlab running minimised using task scheduler influences image plots

Hi, I have been running a matlab script on a daily basis using windows task scheduler for the past few weeks and have noticed that the output image plots appear compressed (the arrows and contours are squished together, implying some sort of scale issue(?)) when compared with running the same script with matlab already running on my desktop. My script does specify the dimensions of the figure, but these seem to be ignored. Is there a way to correct for this? Related, if I can resolve the former issues, is there a way to force Task Scheduler to run matlab so that it is maximised (not behind the scene).

I'm using the following in Task scheduler to initiate my script:

matlab -r "cd('C:\MatlabScripts\'); run scriptname.m; pause(10)"

Thank you for any thoughts on this,

Jon

[Avni Agrawal]

Hi @Jonathan, can you attach the task file? Because, it's working fine for me.

[Walter Roberson]

Does your script specify the PaperSize property for the figure ?

[Rahul]

Hey @Jonathan, can you provide your MATLAB release version, and preferrably the script that is being run. That could help me address the exact issue.

Answer 1

[Rahul]

Hi Jonathan,

I am unable to reproduce this issue, in the latest R2024a release of MATLAB, using the commands specified in the question.

Although, you can refer to this previously documented question regarding task scheduling of scripts in MATLAB:

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/99750-how-do-i-execute-a-matlab-script-at-a-specific-time-each-day-in-windows

You can refer to the following code snippet of a MATLAB script that shows an image and plot as subplots in a figure with a custom position used, which seems to be working fine without any compression:

% Reading an image file 
im = imread('full_path_to_image'); 

% Initializing a figure  
f = figure('Position',[200 200 600 500]); 
% Plotting on the same figure 
subplot(2, 1, 1); 
imshow(im); 

% Plotting as second subfigure
subplot(2, 1, 2); 
% Line Plot of a random vector   
plot(rand(1, 255)); 

Subsequently, you can have the MATLAB window run in the background as minimized or maximized by checking or unchecking the ‘Hidden’ Toggle Button in the properties of your scheduled task (in case of Windows 11), respectively:

For further information regarding scheduling tasks related to MATLAB scripts and functions you can refer to similar questions in the MATLAB Answers Community:

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/?search_origin=ans_leaf&term=task+scheduler

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

[Jonathan]

Apologies for not responding sooner, I am running this in R2022b. After a lot of searching on the web, I was able to narrow it down to a specific setting in the windows task scheduler. Under the general tab, I had the "Run whether user is logged on or not" selected, which forced matlab to run in the background. In doing this, it affected how the plots were being produced, which were more compressed. When I changed the setting to "Run only when user is logged on", matlab would run in the foreground and the plots were produced correctly; i.e., my plot script would adhere to the prespecified figure dimensions included in my script. Hope this helps.

Thanks

Jon