Why do I receive the error "Unhandled Exception: System.IO.IOException: The handle is invalid." when executing an operating system command from MATLAB?

I am trying to execute an operating system command from the MATLAB command line that runs my executable, however when executing the following command using the ! operator in MATLAB:

!myProgram.exe

I received the following error in MATLAB:

Unhandled Exception: System.IO.IOException: The handle is invalid.

I also receive this error when using the "system" function instead with the following syntax:

system('myProgram.exe')

I am able to run the executable by entering the executable in my operating system command prompt directly. So why do I get the error when trying from MATLAB?

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

This error is due to the the program you are trying to run which opens a GUI or a separate window to show results. So for this use case, you need to include an & to the end of your commands. Therefore it would look like one of the below:

!myProgram.exe &

or

system('myProgram.exe &')

This requirement is mentioned in both the "Run External Commands, Scripts, and Programs" and the "system" documentation pages, these are linked below:

1. Run External Commands, Scripts, and Programs

https://www.mathworks.com/help/releases/R2023a/matlab/matlab_external/run-external-commands-scripts-and-programs.html

2. "system"

https://www.mathworks.com/help/releases/R2023a/matlab/ref/system.html#bti4r74-1