Unable to see figures

I am using MATLAB R2022b Update 2 (9.13.0.2105380) 64-bit (maci64)

I prefer to use matlab on my mac via the command line through terminal.

In the past I used to run matlab using 'matlab -nojvm' but eventually it no longer supported figures.

Later, I used 'matlab -nodesktop' to do the same. I used this successfully as recently as ver R2021a. No difficulties plotting or using figures.

However, since upgrading to R2022b, I can no longer see figures. The commands 'plot' and 'figure' yield no errors, no messages -- and no figures either.

Any clues on how to get the figures to come back under -nodesktop option?

Answer 1

[Aashita Dutta]

Hello Willy,

I understand that you are unable to see figures using ‘plot’ or ‘figure’ commands using ‘matlab -nodesktop’ command to open MATLAB in mac machine.

Please find below couple of ways to resolve this:

1. From the system prompt, set the $DISPLAY environment variable:

setenv DISPLAY :0.0                                                        
matlab

OR

2. Set the DISPLAY as you start MATLAB:

matlab -display :0.0

Please find below some MATLAB Answers posts for further information:

1. MATLAB Figures not appear when starting MATLAB from terminal on Mac OS- https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/99976-why-does-the-matlab-desktop-and-or-matlab-figures-not-appear-when-starting-matlab-from-the-terminal
2. Figures won’t come up after using plot: https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/7481-figure-won-t-come-up-after-using-plot

Hope that helps.

[Willy Wong]

Thank you kindly for taking the time to respond. Unfortunately I have already tried that (both methods) and setting the display environment does not help.

[Aashita Dutta]

Hi Willy,

Thank you for your response!

You may refer to following MATLAB Answers posts and MathWorks documentation links for starting the MATLAB from MaC OS:

1. https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/442969-how-do-i-run-matlab-from-the-mac-terminal#:~:text=type%20on%20terminal%3A%20cd%20%2FApplications,type%20on%20terminal%3A%20.%2Fmatlab
2. https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/16407-can-i-use-matlab-from-the-terminal-command-line-in-os-x
3. https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_env/start-matlab-on-macintosh-platforms.html
4. https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/matlabmacos.html

There are also some MATLAB Answers post related to figure not showing up, Please refer to the following links:

1. https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/102129-why-do-my-figure-plot-and-other-graphics-windows-do-not-show-up
2. https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/96507-why-do-figure-windows-disappear-behind-the-matlab-window-in-r14sp3-on-a-mac-os-x

Hope that helps!

[Willy Wong]

Thanks for the compedium of results on this issue. Unfortunately none of them work.

For anyone else reading this, I have two machines

1. Mac mini on MacOS Ventura 13.1
2. Macbook pro on MacOS Ventura 13.1

The Mac mini runs MATLAB 2021b and there are no problems calling figures from the command line.

The MBP runs MATLAB 2022b and I cannot get the figures working. Previously on MATLAB 2021b there was no problem.

[Denis Ridzal]

None of the recommendations work for me either. Similar to @Willy Wong, I can open figures from the command line environment in older versions of Matlab. With 2022b, this is no longer possible. Is there an update on this issue? Opening figures from the command line environment is a critical feature.

[Ivan Abraham]

Same issue here.

[Brandon Lopez]

Same here!

Has anyone solved this issue? :(

[Walter Roberson]

Please check

which -all plot

and report the answers back to us.