Desktop layout

What is your MATLAB desktop layout like? I have always kept everything but the command window undocked.

Recently, I got a bigger monitor and have been trying GNOME 3 (where there is no minimize button). It made me realize that maybe I would benefit from docking my figures.

Answer 1

[Matt Fig]

O.k., I will take the counter-point to Sean de's response: Ewwww dockage!

I use only the command window and command history, and the command history is usually just a narrow slit that I can make larger if I need to do so. All figures and the editor are separate windows. I never use the Workspace (that's what WHOS is for), or the Current Directory (I've got WHATS for that) or any of the other little gizmos they have added on.

My Layout

See these related blog posts:

Desktop Blog 1

Desktop Blog 2

[Sean de Wolski]

Four 'w's for the win!

You have it easier being on Windows since every window/figure/application part has it's own tab on your taskbar which contains a button to each that you can swap between by clicking. With Mac, they hide in the background and all you can see is one application: MATLAB, not all of its components. Figures, imtools, movie players, etc. disappear on me all of the time.

That's an interesting idea using whos instead of the workspace, I'm going to have to try that!

[Daniel Shub]

Although my question refers to the lack of a minimize button, I think it is really the lack of a taskbar in GNOME 3 that has got me thinking about dockage.

[Matt Fig]

I just alt+tab when I need to go from command window to editor. There is nothing similar on Mac? I never use the mouse to go back and forth!

[Matt Fig]

I just looked it up and it seems that the Mac alt+tab is equivalent to cmd+tab. Does this go back and forth between individual (undocked) components in a Mac?

[Sean de Wolski]

There is, but it only shows MATLAB. So I just opened four figures, and all I can see is MATLAB. We have an option that spreads everything you have to a thumbnail, but it's confusing and annoying (flashy animated, eww).

If I want to force quit a figure; I can't, I have to force quit the whole application...

[Jan]

@Matt and Sean: What do the number of W's mean in Ewww and Ewwww? Perhaps this should remind me to my first days in CSSM, when I searched the AFAIK function, because it was written in uppercase.

[Sean de Wolski]

It's kind of like how long you would spend saying it if you were talking out loud: give each 'w' a half second so he'd be saying it longer.

Good with AFAIK! I have to use the Google for a whole bunch of those too.

[Jan]

@Sean: Ok. Is "Ew(w) undockage" a positive expression of opinion like "everything undocked" or a negative one as "phew undockage"?

[Matt Fig]

@Jan, Eww is something one might say if he noticed mold on his food, or found a worm in his apple. An expression which indicates that something is revolting, like: yuck!.

[Daniel Shub]

I have now tried dockage and I concur with Matt, ewwwww dockage. You also get points for pointing out the blog posts. Not sure how I missed that.

Answer 2

[Jan]

When I run Matlab on a netbook with a tiny screen, I remove the statusbar and menubar of the docked command window. The editor is maximized also and all other windows are created on demand only, which is very rare: I access the current directory popup programmatically, Matt Fig's WHATS helps also, the history by the arrow keys, the workspace browser is retired, because all variables are stored in the GUIs or on the disk.

Well, I admit it does not look cool, especially with the classic scheme in Windows XP:

[Matt Fig]

Jan, that's a nice,fun desktop background! ;-)

[Jan]

@Matt: The screencapture tool took the both windows separately and I had to join them manually and filled the "background" manually.

Now the ">> " prompt is the most critical part. Fortunately Yair's setPrompt can change it to ">".

And finally imagine, how strange such habits look on a workplace with two 20'' monitors.

[Daniel Shub]

I am surprised you just don't run it form the command line or maybe from emacs.

Answer 3

[Sean de Wolski]

Ewww undockage.

I keep the current directory/workspace tabbed together, the command window is always showing and the editor is always showing but has the variable editor on a tab in the rare event that I inspect variables that way. I hate clutter and can't cope with stuff everywhere (it's especially difficult on a mac where windows tend to hide in strange places with no way to access them).

http://www.dropdo.com/58k/Picture%2019

Good thread idea too; it'll be interesting to see the responses!