It is very important to properly exit MATLAB every time you finish
working. First I'll say how to exit properly, then explain the
rationale.

To exit:

If you are using a GUI Matlab window on a SunRay (as you do in lab) use
the menu to exit. Exiting any other way may not properly stop the
program.

If you are using Matlab without a GUI window (for example, via ssh or
inside an emacs buffer) type "exit" at the interpreter prompt.

NOTE: Pulling your smart card does not properly stop Matlab. If you are
going to your professor or TA with a question, then pulling your card
is ok; otherise, be sure to exit Matlab properly *before* you pull your
card.

WHY: Two reasons - first, Matlab consumes a huge amount of a computer's
resources, and you are slowing down Strauss and using up memory even if
you are not logged in. Second, the University has a finite number of
Matlab licenses, and if too many people have Matlab open at once, we
can run out.

THE THREAT: I looked on Strauss today, and there were about 200 Matlabs
running that have been on FOR MORE THAN ONE DAY. I will check this list
again, and will start picking out my students who leave Matlab
processes running.

THE SOLUTION: How can you find out if you accidentally are running a
Matlab process, and then stop it?

1) At the Unix prompt (not in Matlab), find the process ID number (PID)
of old matlab processes by typing the following (substitute _your_
userid in place of jsmith).

ps -fu jsmith

2) Look for "matlab" in the right hand column, and find the process ID
under the PID column heading.

3) Suppose you found the process id 23147. type:

kill -9 23147

4) Then, repeat the ps command to make sure all matlab processes are
killed.

Your classmates will thank you!

-Terry Harvey