standalone executable to run on virtual Windows server and save figure plot to .png file

I have written a m file which processes and displays an image to a figure window and then saves the figure to a png file.

I compiled it to a standalone excutable and it runs fine on my PC where I devloped it.

When I run this on run on virtual Windows server (the deployment target) it does not run, it just hangs

The function doing this part is (and it all works fine on server if I don't call this):

function displayROIs(I,iminfo)
% cfig=figure('visible','off')
imshow(I);
hold on;
axis on;
%   drawnow;
[filepath,filename,ext] = fileparts(iminfo.Filename);
expFilename=strcat(filepath,'\',filename,' CNR.','png');
%exportgraphics(cfig,expFilename)
saveas(cfig,expFilename)
end

thanks for any help offered.

[Walter Roberson]

I suggest experrimenting with

function displayROIs(I,iminfo)
cfig = figure('visible','off')
ax = gca(cfig);
imshow(ax, I);
hold(ax, 'on');
axis(ax, 'on');
%   drawnow;
[filepath,filename,ext] = fileparts(iminfo.Filename);
expFilename=strcat(filepath,'\',filename,' CNR.','png');
%exportgraphics(cfig,expFilename)
saveas(cfig,expFilename)
end

[Nick Gibson]

thank you for your suggestion Walter.

However, no different.

(I had to use imshow(I,'Parent',ax);)

from logging I think it's falling over at the line: ax = gca(cfig);

[Spoorthy Kannur]

Hi Nick,

It appears that the executable hangs because graphics commands like “figure”, “imshow”, and “gca” require a graphical display, which might not be available on your virtual Windows Server. In headless environments, such calls can hang or fail silently.

You can try the following workarounds:

• Avoid creating a visible figure. Instead, render directly to an offscreen image using “imwrite” or “exportgraphics” on a “uifigure” created with 'Visible','off'.
• Alternatively, use the “figure('Visible','off')” approach but ensure the MCR has access to an OpenGL software renderer (you can set “opengl('save','software'”) before compiling). (https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/43326-create-figure-without-displaying-it.html)
• If the server runs without GUI support, try using “getframe” or “imwrite” to save the processed image instead of relying on “imshow + saveas”. Something like this:
• If this still hangs, it likely confirms the environment lacks GUI capabilities. In that case, consider running MATLAB or the executable on a machine with graphical support or through a remote desktop session that provides a display context (https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/44860-save-figure-on-a-server-machine-with-no-display.html)

If this does resolve the issue, kindly reach out to MathWorks Technical Support for more help (https://www.mathworks.com/support/contact_us.html)

[Nick Gibson]

Hi, thanks for you response, I will check out these aproaches.