MATLAB: How to kill a system process which is frozen

gagenetic algorithmkill exekill system spawned processsystemtaskkill

I'm working on some genetic algorithm optimisation code which interfaces with Xfoil for the analysis, using a system() command to run Xfoil. Sometimes Xfoil freezes (maybe due to a "bad" aerofoil shape), and this halts the entire optimisation process. I've added a simple timer based "kill exe" callback function, which is designed to kill the Xfoil exe run after a certain amount of time – this should give any "good" run a chance to finish, and should close any "bad" run. However, the callback function is not able to be called while Xfoil is running. It appears that even though the timer delay has ended and the TimerFcn() is triggered, Matlab cannot process the "kill exe" callback function while a system process is running.

So basically I can't kill the frozen system process. Anyone have any way around this?

Best Answer

You can use .Net System.Diagnostic.Process to run it. This way you will also be able to terminate the program.

if true
  process = System.Diagnostics.Process(); 
process.StartInfo.FileName = 'java.exe';
process.StartInfo.Arguments = 'some args';
process.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
process.StartInfo.RedirectStandardInput = false;
process.StartInfo.CreateNoWindow = false;
process.Start();
processisrunning = ~process.HasExited;
end

You can use the following command to kill the exe.

if true
  process.Kill();
end

Related Solutions

MATLAB: How to invoke C++ executable file (.exe) from Matlab code or Simulink

As Walter suggested you can use .Net System.Diagnostic.Process to run it.

This way you will also be able to terminate the program.

process = System.Diagnostics.Process(); 
process.StartInfo.FileName = 'java.exe';
process.StartInfo.Arguments = 'some args';
process.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
process.StartInfo.RedirectStandardInput = false;
process.StartInfo.CreateNoWindow = false;
process.Start();
processisrunning = ~process.HasExited;

You can then close it as follows

process.Close();
% or 
process.CloseMainWindow();
% or terminate immediately
process.Kill();

MATLAB: How to redirect standard input and standard output using .Net System.Diagnostics.Process

You can try this. You may have to choose the option on how to decide when xfoil.exe has finished reading.

process = System.Diagnostics.Process();
process.StartInfo.FileName = 'xfoil.exe';
process.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
process.StartInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
process.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
process.StartInfo.CreateNoWindow = false;
process.Start();
stdin = process.StandardInput;
stdout = process.StandardOutput;
fid = fopen('xfoil.inp','r'); % read the xfoil.inp
txt = fread(fid,'*char');
fclose(fid);
stdin.Write(txt); % send the input to xfoil.exe
out = stdout.ReadToEndAsync;
% wait for xfoil.exe to finish processing
% option 1
pause(1); % pause for a predefined amount of time
% option 2
% wait until xfoil.exe has terminated
while(~process.HasExited)
    pause(1);
end
try
process.Kill; % kill the process if needed.
catch
end
xfoil_out = char(out.Result);

Best Answer

Related Solutions

MATLAB: How to invoke C++ executable file (.exe) from Matlab code or Simulink

MATLAB: How to redirect standard input and standard output using .Net System.Dia​gnostics.P​rocess

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MATLAB: How to redirect standard input and standard output using .Net System.Diagnostics.Process