Summary

parwaitbar is a Matlab class that displays a progress bar compatible with for/parfor loops.

If parallel.pool.DataQueue is available, parwaitbar uses the queue to update the waitbar asynchronously. If parallel.pool.DataQueue is unavailable, parwaitbar creates a temporary text file, saved in the current folder, to communicate information between workers. The file is deleted when the last task is completed.

Basic usage

Use parwaitbar(N) to initialize the waitbar for N tasks. Use the progress() method to advance the progress of the waitbar:

N = 100;
wb = parwaitbar(N);
  parfor i=1:N
    ...
    wb.progress();
  end

After completion, the waitbar displays the total time taken to complete all tasks and deletes the parwaitbar object:

Basic customization

• Change the waiting message with the WaitingMessage keyword:

wb = parwaitbar(...,'WaitMessage','Hang on ...')

• Change the final message with the FinalMessage keyword:

wb = parwaitbar(...,'FinalMessage','Done !')

Advanced customization

• Change the marker used for filling the bar.

wb = parwaitbar(...,'Marker','#')

• Change the progress bar Length

wb = parwaitbar(...,'BarLength',10)

• Do not overwrite previous bar updates.

wb = parwaitbar(...,'Overwrite',false)

• Hide the remaining time.

wb = parwaitbar(...,'RemainingTime',false)

• Hide the current date.

wb = parwaitbar(...,'Date',false)

• Display update messages using progress() inputs.

wb.progress(sprintf('Here is a random number:%d',randi(1000)))

Compatibility

Tested on:

• Matlab 2019a on OS X Sierra (10.12)
• Matlab 2018b on Ubuntu, 16.04.5 LTS

To do

• Add option to use Matlab's native waitbar
• Add option to change the update file folder name
• Test compatibility on Windows and previous Matlab releases.