pause

Pause execution for a duration or until a key is pressed.

Syntax

pause
pause(seconds)
pause('on')
pause('off')

Description

Without arguments, pauses indefinitely until any key is pressed in the command window. With a numeric seconds, pauses for that many seconds (fractional values OK).

The 'on'/'off' strings globally enable / disable all pause calls — useful for batch script execution where pauses would block.

Examples

pause(0.5)               % half-second delay
pause                    % wait for keypress

See also

• tic — Start a timer.
• toc — Read the elapsed time from a tic.