MATLAB: How to overwrite text in the command window

Question

I am trying to write a counter that uses the format "processing subject ### of 123", where the ### changes in the command window upon every subject change. I know this could be accomplished in a loop with something like

 fprintf('processing subject 000 of 123')
 for number in 1:123
    fprintf('\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b%s of 123',subnum(number)) 
    % subnum is a 3-digit number in character form to preserve the 3-digit format declared elsewhere
 end

But that is ugly and terribly inefficient. How do I rectify the problem?

Answer 1

That is the most efficient way. There is no way to address individual characters or pixels of the command output window (unless perhaps you can get at it from the java level.)