% SAVEPPT2 saves plots to PowerPoint.

% SAVEPPT2(save_file,<additional parameters>) % Saves the current Matlab figure window or Simulink model window to a PowerPoi nt % file designated by save_file. If save_file is omitted, the user is prompted to enter % one via UIPUTFILE. If the path is omitted from filespec, the % PowerPoint file is created in the current Matlab working directory. % % powerpoint_object=SAVEPPT2(save_file,'close',false); % Return the PowerPoint presentation object if it isn't to be closed. % % Batch Processing: % powerpoint_object=SAVEPPT2(save_file,'init') % Initializes a powerpoint object for use with batch processing. % SAVEPPT2('ppt',powerpoint_object); % Saves the current Matlab figure to the opened PowerPoint Object % SAVEPPT2(save_file,'ppt',powerpoint_object,'close'); % Saves and closes the PowerPoint object. % % SAVEPPT2 also accepts numerous additional optional parameters, they can % be called from the matlab command line or in function form. All options % can be preceded with a '-', but this is not required. Short and Long % named options are listed on the same line. % % % Annotation: % 'n' 'notes' - Add information to notes section. % 'text' 'textbox' - Add text box. % 'comment' 'comments' - Add comment. (Only works if PowerPoint is visible) % - \t and \n are converted to tab and new line, respectively. % 't' 'title' - Add a title or add a blank title so that one may be added later. Title is placed at the top of the presentation unless a padding is specified. % If 'title' or 'textbox' is specified alone a blank placeholder will be added. % % % Figure Options % 'f' 'fig' 'figure' - Use the specified figure handle. Also accepts an arra y of figures. More than 4 figures is not recommended as it makes it difficult to see in the plot. Default: gcf % If figure is 0, a blank page is added. If a title is specified then a title page is added. % 'd' 'driver' 'drivers' - [meta, bitmap]. Send figure to clipboard Metafile or Bitmap format. See also print help. % 'r' 'render' - [painters,zbuffer,opengl]. Choose print render mode. See also print help. % 'res' 'resolution' - Dots-per-inch resolution. Default: 90 for Simulink, 1 50 for figures. See also print help. % % % Slide Layout % 'st' 'stretch' - Used only with scale, stretch the figure to fill all rem aining space (taking into account padding and title). Default: on % 's' 'sc' 'scale' - Scale the figure to remaining space on the page while ma intaining aspect ratio, takes into account padding and title spacing. Default: o n % 'h' 'halign' - ['left','center','right']. Horizontally align figure. De fault: center % 'v' 'valign' - ['top','center','bottom']. Vertically align the graph. D efault: center % 'p' 'pad' 'padding' - Place a padding around the figure that is used for align ment and scaling. Can be one number to be applied equally or an array in the for mat of [left right top bottom]. Useful when plotting to template files. Default:

0 % 'c' 'col' 'columns' - Number of columns to place multiple plots in. Default: 2 % % % PowerPoint Control % 'i' 'init' - Initialize PowerPoint presentation for use in batch mode. Returns a PowerPoint Presentation Object. % 'close' - Close PowerPoint presentation. Default: true % 'save' - Save PowerPoint Presentation. Useful for saves in batch mode. % 'ppt' - Call saveppt2 with specified PowerPoint Presentation object. % 'visible' - Make PowerPoint visible. % 'template' - Use template file specified. Is only used if the save file does n ot already exist. % % For binary options use: 'yes','on' ,'true' ,true to enable % 'no', 'off','false',false to disable % Examples: % % Simplest Call % plot(rand(1,100),rand(1,100),'*'); % saveppt2 % % % Add a title "Hello World" % plot(rand(1,100),rand(1,100),'*'); % saveppt2('test.ppt','title','Hello World'); % saveppt2('test.ppt','t','Hello World'); % saveppt2 test.ppt -title 'Hello World' % saveppt2 test.ppt -t 'Hello World' % % % Add a note % plot(rand(1,100),rand(1,100),'*'); % saveppt2('test.ppt','notes','Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscin g elit.'); % % % Add multiline note % plot(rand(1,100),rand(1,100),'*'); % saveppt2('test.ppt','notes','Lifetime, relational competence.\n\tTactical, int egrated solution'); % note=sprintf('Latest Quarter Sales: %%fM',rand(1,1)*100); % saveppt2('test.ppt','notes',note); % % Add a TextBox % plot(rand(1,100),rand(1,100),'*'); % saveppt2('test.ppt','texbox','Totally, groupwide mindset'); % % % Add a comment (PowerPoint must be visible) % plot(rand(1,100),rand(1,100),'*'); % saveppt2('test.ppt','visible','comment','Virtual, logic-based culture'); % % % Scaling & Stretching the plot to fill the page. % plot(rand(1,100),rand(1,100),'*'); % saveppt2('test.ppt','note','Scaling & Stretching On (Default)'); % saveppt2('test.ppt','stretch','false','Stretching Off'); % saveppt2('test.ppt','scale',off,'note','Scaling Off'); % % % Stretching the plot to fill the page. % plot(rand(1,100),rand(1,100),'*'); % saveppt2('test.ppt','Stretching On'); % % saveppt2('test.ppt','stretch',false); % saveppt2 test.ppt -stretch off %

% % copy the plot as both a meta and bitmap. % plot(rand(1,100),rand(1,100),'*'); % saveppt2('test.ppt','driver','meta','scale','stretch'); % saveppt2('test.ppt','driver','bitmap','scale','stretch'); % % % scale the plot to fill the page, ignoring aspect ratio, with 150 pixels % % of padding on all sides % plot(rand(1,100),rand(1,100),'*'); % saveppt2('test.ppt','scale','stretch','Padding',150); % saveppt2('test.ppt','scale',true,'stretch',true,'Padding',150); % % % scale the plot to fill the page, ignoring aspect ratio, with 150 pixels % % of padding on left and right sides % plot(rand(1,100),rand(1,100),'*'); % saveppt2('test.ppt','scale','stretch','Padding',[150 150 0 0]); % saveppt2('test.ppt','scale',true,'stretch',true,'Padding',[150 150 0 0]); % % % scale the plot to fill the page, ignoring aspect ratio add blank title % plot(rand(1,100),rand(1,100),'*'); % saveppt2('test.ppt','scale','stretch','title'); % saveppt2('test.ppt','scale',true,'stretch',true,'title',true); % % % Align the figure in the upper left corner % plot(rand(1,100),rand(1,100),'*'); % saveppt2('test.ppt','halign','left','valign','top'); % % % Align the figure in the upper left corner % plot(rand(1,100),rand(1,100),'*'); % saveppt2('test.ppt','halign','right','valign','bottom'); % % % Use the template 'Group Report.ppt' % plot(rand(1,100),rand(1,100),'*'); % saveppt2('test.ppt','template','Group Report.ppt'); % % % Plot 4 figures horizontally aligned left with 2 columns % a=figure('Visible','off');plot(1:10); % b=figure('Visible','off');plot([1:10].^2); % c=figure('Visible','off');plot([1:10].^3); % d=figure('Visible','off');plot([1:10].^4); % saveppt2('test.ppt','figure',[a b c d],'columns',2,'title','Hello World!','hal ign','left') % % % Create blank title page. % figure('test.ppt','figure',0,'title','New Section'); % % % Create blank page. % figure('test.ppt','figure',0); % % % Plot figures in batch mode. Faster than opening a new powerpoint object each time % ppt=saveppt2('batch.ppt','init'); % for i=1:10 % plot(rand(1,100),rand(1,100),'*'); % saveppt2('ppt',ppt) % if mod(i,5)==0 % Save half way through incase of crash % saveppt2('ppt',ppt,'save') % end % end % saveppt2('batch.ppt','ppt',ppt,'close'); %

% More flexibility is built in, but it is impossible to show all possible % calling combinations, you may check out the source or Test_SavePPT2.m % % See also print, saveppt, validateInput % Ver 2.2, Copyright 2005, Mark W. Brown, [email protected] % changed slide type to include title. % added input parameter for title text. % added support for int32 and single data types for Matlab 6.0 % added comments about changing bitmap resolution (for large images only) % swapped order of opening PPT and copying to clipboard (thanks to David Abraha m) % made PPT invisible during save operations (thanks to Noah Siegel) % % Ver 3, Copyright 2010, Jed Frey, [email protected] % Added template & notes features % Added multiple calling functions % Restructured calling sequence function varargout=saveppt2(varargin) Establish valid save file name: if nargin<1 [fname, fpath] = uiputfile('*.ppt'); if fpath == 0; return; end filespec = fullfile(fpath,fname); elseif strcmp(varargin{1},'ppt') % If the first input is the Powerpoint COM object else % Otherwise the first input is the desired filename. filespec=varargin{1}; varargin(1)=''; % If the path is empty, use current working directory. If the extension % is blank, add .ppt then create full windows path. [fpath,fname,fext] = fileparts(filespec); if isempty(fpath); fpath = pwd; end if isempty(fext); fext = '.ppt'; end filespec = fullfile(fpath,[fname,fext]); end Process additional parameters if numel(varargin)>0 % Set up valid parameters list validParameters={ ... {'figure','fig','f'}, ... % Figure & driver settings {'init','i'},'close','save','ppt','visible','template', ... % Power Poin t Control. {'notes','n'},{'text','textbox'}, {'comments','comment'}, ... % Notes, t extbox & comments settings {'stretch','st'},{'scale','s','sc'},{'title','t'}, ... % Stretch, Scale & Title settings {'driver','drivers','d'},{'resolution','res'},{'render','r'},... % Title , Resolution and Render Calls {'halign','h'},{'valign','v'},{'padding','pad','p'},{'columns','col','c' }}; % Align, padding and column calls. % Validate additional input addlParms=validateInput(varargin,validParameters); else % Just make addlParms an empty struct so that 'isfield' doesn't error % out.

addlParms=struct; end Parameter Sanity Checks % PowerPoint File & Init cannot both be specified at the same time. if isfield(addlParms,'init')&&isfield(addlParms,'ppt') error('Both init and ppt can not be specified at the same time. Call init fi rst, then use ppt'); end % PowerPoint Close & Init cannot both be specified at the same time if isfield(addlParms,'init')&&isfield(addlParms,'close') warning('saveppt2:InitQuit','Both init and quit should not be specified at t he same time, ignoring close.'); addlParms=rmfield(addlParms,'close'); end % If close is specified, force to save the powerpoint. if isfield(addlParms,'close') addlParms.save=true; end Initialize PowerPoint If the user has passed a previous PowerPoint session: if isfield(addlParms,'ppt') % Validate that the PPT object passed is actually a PPT object try % Try to get a parameter of the object. if strcmpi(addlParms.ppt.ReadOnly,'msoTrue'); % Error if the powerpoint presentation is read only. error('PowerPoint object is read only.'); end catch % If the passed parameter isn't the correct PowerPoint object it % will give an error. error('Failed invoking object. Verify that it is a PPT object as returne d from a saveppt2(file,''init'') function.'); end % Otherwise assign it to the 'open presentation' variable and get the % powerpoint application object. op=addlParms.ppt; ppt=op.Application; % If save or close is set if checkParm(addlParms,'save') % Save the file if ~exist(filespec,'file') % Save file as new if the file doesn't exist: invoke(op,'SaveAs',filespec,1); else % Save existing file: invoke(op,'Save'); end % If close is specified, close the powerpoint. if checkParm(addlParms,'close') invoke(op,'Close'); % If there are no more open powerpoint presentations, quit the % application if ppt.Presentations.Count==0 invoke(ppt,'Quit'); end end

return; end else % If a powerpoint object isn't passed, open one. ppt = actxserver('PowerPoint.Application'); % Check if the savefile exists. if exist(filespec,'file') % If the save file already exists, the template cannot be applied. if isfield(addlParms,'template') addlParms=rmfield(addlParms,'template'); warning('saveppt2:fileexist','Save file exists, skipping opening tem plate'); end op = invoke(ppt.Presentations,'Open',filespec,[],[],0); else % If a template is specified if isfield(addlParms,'template') % Check that the file exists if ~exist(addlParms.template,'file'); warning('saveppt2:notemplate','Template file does not exist, ski pping.'); op = invoke(ppt.Presentations,'Add'); else % Open the template file op = invoke(ppt.Presentations,'Open',addlParms.template,[],[],0) ; end else op = invoke(ppt.Presentations,'Add'); end end % If saveppt2 was just called to init the plots, return the PowerPoint % presentation object. if isfield(addlParms,'init')&&addlParms.init varargout{1}=op; return; end end % Set Visibility. if checkParm(addlParms,'visible') ppt.visible=1; end Additional Parameter Sanity Checks Validate that halign is a valid setting if isfield(addlParms,'halign')&&~any(strcmpi(addlParms.halign,{'left','center',' right'})) warning('saveppt2:InvalidHalign','Invalid horizontal align "%s" specified, i gnoring',addlParms.halign); addlParms=rmfield(addlParms,'halign'); end % Validate that valign is a valid setting if isfield(addlParms,'valign')&&~any(strcmpi(addlParms.valign,{'top','center','b ottom'})) warning('saveppt2:InvalidValign','Invalid vertical align "%s" specified, ign oring',addlParms.valign); addlParms=rmfield(addlParms,'valign'); end

% If there is more than 1 figure, scale must be enabled so that all of the % figures will fit on a slide. if isfield(addlParms,'figure')&&length(addlParms.figure)>1 if isfield(addlParms,'scale')&&addlParms.scale==false warning('saveppt2:ScaleForced','More than one figure given, scaling forc ed to enable so that the plots will fit'); end addlParms.scale=true; end % Stretch only makes sense when used with scale. Ignore otherwise if ~checkParm(addlParms,'scale')&&checkParm(addlParms,'stretch') warning('saveppt2:ScaleForcedStretch','Stretch is enabled, scaling forced to enabled.'); addlParms.scale=true; end % Comments only works when the PowerPoint is visible. if ~checkParm(addlParms,'visible')&&checkParm(addlParms,'comments') error('Visibility must be enabled to use comments.'); end % Validate padding input if isfield(addlParms,'padding') % Make sure that padding is a number if ~isnumeric(addlParms.padding) addlParms=rmfield(addlParms,'padding'); warning('saveppt2:IncorrectPadding','Padding non-numeric. Must be [l, r, t, b] or a single number, ignoring.') % Validate padding size elseif ~any(size(addlParms.padding,2)==[1 4]) addlParms=rmfield(addlParms,'padding'); warning('saveppt2:IncorrectPaddingSize','Incorrect Padding Size. Must be [l, r, t, b] or a single number, ignoring.') % If padding is just one number, fill in so that all of the numbers are % the same elseif size(addlParms.padding,2)==1 addlParms.padding=repmat(addlParms.padding,1,4); end end Set up defaults If no text for title is specified, set it to blank if checkParm(addlParms,'title'); addlParms.title=''; end % If no text for textbox is specified, set it to blank if checkParm(addlParms,'text'); addlParms.text=''; end % If no text for comment is specified, set it to blank if checkParm(addlParms,'comments'); addlParms.comments=''; end % If no note is specified, clear it and give a warning if checkParm(addlParms,'notes'); warning('saveppt2:NoNoteGiven','No note was specified'); addlParms=rmfield(addlParms,'notes'); end % Stretch was not specified if ~isfield(addlParms,'stretch'); addlParms.stretch=true;

end % Scale was not specified if ~isfield(addlParms,'scale'); addlParms.scale=true; end % Comments only work when the PowerPoint slide is visible. if ~checkParm(addlParms,'visible')&&isfield(addlParms,'comments') warning('saveppt2:VisibleComments','Comments are only available if PowerPoin t is visible. Removing'); addlParms=rmfield(addlParms,'comments'); end % Default the number of columns to 2 if ~isfield(addlParms,'columns')||checkParm(addlParms,'columns') addlParms.columns=2; end % If no close is specified, default to close the fields. if ~isfield(addlParms,'close')&&~isfield(addlParms,'ppt') addlParms.close=true; end Configure Print Options Validate all of the figures if isfield(addlParms,'figure') % Meaning they just put 'Figure', but didn't specify one, default % behavior for print, just remove the field if checkParm(addlParms,'figure') addlParms=rmfield(addlParms,'figure'); else % More than 4 figures makes it hard to read if length(addlParms.figure)>4 warning('saveppt2:TooManyFigures','More than 4 figures is not reccom ended') end end % Check that the figures actually exist for i=1:length(addlParms.figure) try a=get(addlParms.figure(i)); catch error('saveppt2:FigureDoesNotExist',['Figure ' addlParms.figure(i) ' does not exist']); end end else % If no figure is specified, use the current figure. addlParms.figure=gcf; end % Resolution options if isfield(addlParms,'resolution') resOpt=['-r ' num2str(addlParms.resolution)]; else resOpt=''; end % Driver options if isfield(addlParms,'driver') if strmatch(addlParms.driver(1),'d') addlParms.driver(1)=''; end switch lower(addlParms.driver)

case 'meta' addlParms.driver='-dmeta'; case 'bitmap' addlParms.driver='-dbitmap'; otherwise error('saveppt2:UnknownRenderer','Unknown Print Driver: %s',addlParm s.driver); end else addlParms.driver='-dmeta'; end % Render schema options if isfield(addlParms,'render') switch lower(addlParms.render) case 'painters' rendOpt='-painters'; case 'zbuffer' rendOpt='-zbuffer'; case 'opengl' rendOpt='-opengl'; case 'render' rendOpt=''; otherwise error('saveppt2:UnknownDriver','Unknown Renderer: %s',addlParms.rend er); end else rendOpt=''; end Slide functions Get height and width of slide: slide_H = op.PageSetup.SlideHeight; slide_W = op.PageSetup.SlideWidth; % Get current number of slides: slide_count = get(op.Slides,'Count'); % Add a new slide (with title object): slide_count = int32(double(slide_count)+1); % Create the appropriate slide (w or w/o title) if isfield(addlParms,'title') % Slide with Title if addlParms.figure(1)==0 % Title slide only. new_slide = invoke(op.Slides,'Add',slide_count,1); else % Title slide with plots. new_slide = invoke(op.Slides,'Add',slide_count,11); % Set the text frame to autosize new_slide.Shapes.Title.TextFrame.AutoSize=1; % If padding is specified, use that. if isfield(addlParms,'padding') set(new_slide.Shapes.Title,'Top',addlParms.padding(3)); else % Otherwise move the title up towards the top of the scope set(new_slide.Shapes.Title,'Top',get(new_slide.Shapes.Title.TextFram e.TextRange.Font,'Size')/4); end % Resize the title so that it is the width of the slide set(new_slide.Shapes.Title,'Left',0); set(new_slide.Shapes.Title,'Width',slide_W); % Set the 'top' of where the bottom of the title is.

top=get(new_slide.Shapes.Title,'Top')+get(new_slide.Shapes.Title,'Height '); end % Set the text in the title to the specified title set(new_slide.Shapes.Title.TextFrame.TextRange,'Text',addlParms.title); else % Slide with No Title new_slide = invoke(op.Slides,'Add',slide_count,12); if isfield(addlParms,'padding') top=addlParms.padding(3); else top=0; end end % If padding is given, use that (top is specified above) if isfield(addlParms,'padding') left=addlParms.padding(1); right=addlParms.padding(2); bottom=addlParms.padding(4); else bottom=0; left=0; right=0; end Figure Functions Calculate the number of rows and columns fig.count=length(addlParms.figure); fig.rows=(floor((fig.count-1)/addlParms.columns))+1; fig.columns=min(fig.count,addlParms.columns); % For each figure for i=1:fig.count % For title page only, skip. if addlParms.figure(i)==0 continue; end % Determine what row and column the current figure is on row=floor((i-1)/addlParms.columns); column=mod(i-1,addlParms.columns); % Copy the figure to the clipboard print(addlParms.driver,['-f' num2str(addlParms.figure(i))],rendOpt,resOpt); % Paste the contents of the Clipboard: pic1 = invoke(new_slide.Shapes,'Paste'); % Get height and width of picture: pic_H = get(pic1,'Height'); pic_W = get(pic1,'Width'); % If scale is specified: if checkParm(addlParms,'scale') % If stretch is specified, scretch the figure to it's 'box' (full % page if there is only 1) if checkParm(addlParms,'stretch') set(pic1,'LockAspectRatio','msoFalse') set(pic1,'Width',(slide_W-(left+right))/fig.columns); set(pic1,'Height',(slide_H-(top+bottom))/fig.rows); else % Determine if the height or the width will be the constraint, % then set the picture height or width accordingly if ((slide_H)/fig.rows)/((slide_W)/fig.columns)>(pic_H+(top+bottom)) /(pic_W+(left+right))

set(pic1,'Width',(slide_W-(left+right))/fig.columns); else set(pic1,'Height',(slide_H-(top+bottom))/fig.rows); end end end % Get the figure height and widths fig.width=get(pic1,'Width'); fig.height=get(pic1,'Height'); % Do a vertical alignment based on input if isfield(addlParms,'valign') if strcmpi(addlParms.valign,'center') set(pic1,'Top',top+0.5*(slide_H-(fig.height*fig.rows+top+bottom))+fi g.height*row); elseif strcmpi(addlParms.valign,'top') set(pic1,'Top',top+fig.height*row); elseif strcmpi(addlParms.valign,'bottom') set(pic1,'Top',slide_H-(fig.height*fig.rows+bottom)+fig.height*row); end else % Or default to center set(pic1,'Top',top+0.5*(slide_H-(fig.height*fig.rows+top+bottom))+fig.he ight*row); end % Do a horizontal alignment based on input if isfield(addlParms,'halign') if strcmpi(addlParms.halign,'center') set(pic1,'Left',left+0.5*(slide_W-(fig.width*min(fig.count-fig.colum ns*row,fig.columns)+left+right))+fig.width*column); elseif strcmpi(addlParms.halign,'left') set(pic1,'Left',left+fig.width*column); elseif strcmpi(addlParms.halign,'right') set(pic1,'Left',slide_W-(fig.width*min(fig.count-fig.columns*row,fig .columns)+left+right)+fig.width*column); end else % Or default set(pic1,'Left',left+0.5*(slide_W-(fig.width*min(fig.count-fig.columns*r ow,fig.columns)+left+right))+fig.width*column); end end % Clean up notes & text box strings. text={'notes','text','comments'}; for i=1:numel(text) % If the notes are a number, convert it to text if isfield(addlParms,text{i}) if isnumeric(addlParms.(text{i})) addlParms.(text{i})=num2str(addlParms.(text{i})); else % Convert \n & \t into characters for powerpoint warning('off','MATLAB:strrep:InvalidInputType'); addlParms.(text{i})=strrep(addlParms.(text{i}),'\t',9); addlParms.(text{i})=strrep(addlParms.(text{i}),'\n',13); % Convert \n into characters for powerpoint, if added via % sprintf, eg note=sprintf('%s\n%s','Hello','World'); addlParms.(text{i})(addlParms.(text{i})==10)=13; end end end % Add notes if they are specified

if isfield(addlParms,'notes') % Taken from this page: http://www.mahipalreddy.com/vba.htm if get(new_slide.notesPage.Shapes,'Count')==0 % Still haven't figured this Matlab -> VBA out. AddRect returns an % error warning('saveppt2:nonoteadded','No note box found, none added'); else % For each of the shapes, loop through until you find one with a % text frame. for i=1:get(new_slide.notesPage.Shapes,'Count') % If it has a text frame, set the text and break out of the % loop. if strcmp(get(new_slide.notesPage.Shape.Item(i),'HasTextFrame'),'mso True') set(new_slide.notesPage.Shape.Item(i).TextFrame.TextRange,'Text' ,addlParms.notes); break; end end end end % If comment field is specified if isfield(addlParms,'comments') new_comment=invoke(new_slide.Shapes,'AddComment'); set(new_comment.TextFrame.TextRange,'Text',addlParms.comments); end % Add textbox if it is specified if isfield(addlParms,'text') new_text=invoke(new_slide.Shapes,'AddTextbox','msoTextOrientationHorizontal' ,0,0,720,540/4); set(new_text.TextFrame.TextRange,'Text',addlParms.text); end Exit Functions If saveppt2 was called after an init as part of a batch process, just return if isfield(addlParms,'ppt'); return; end % Save the file if ~exist(filespec,'file') % Save file as new: invoke(op,'SaveAs',filespec,1); else % Save existing file: invoke(op,'Save'); end % If asked to close the file. if checkParm(addlParms,'close') % Check if other presentations are open. If so, only close this % powerpoint, otherwise quit the application. if checkParm(addlParms,'close') invoke(op,'Close'); if ppt.Presentations.Count==0 invoke(ppt,'Quit'); end end else % If the user isn't closing the presentation and is assigning the % PowerPoint presentation object to a variable, return it.

if nargout==1 varargout{1}=op; end end % Sanity checking for when called from within a script. If saveppt2 are % called too close together then the file will not be done being written to % or powerpoint will not have completely closed, causing an error. This % simply calls a % If it doesn't exit by 1000, return anyway for i=1:1000; try % Try to get visibility ppt.Visible catch % When an error is thrown (the ActiveX object is destroyed), return return; end end end Supporting Functions. Here Be Dragons. Check to see if the parameters is 'set' function result=checkParm(addlParms,parm) result=0; try if isfield(addlParms,parm) if islogical(addlParms.(parm))&&addlParms.(parm)==true result=1; end end catch end return end