◆ MATLAB

Get handles of all open figures

This is real work, not a feature someone invented — it comes from real job ads and real questions people asked. Below are four ready AI prompts: get it done, make it easy for the next person to say yes to, work out the right move when you are stuck, and stop it coming back.

4prompts

The same task, four prompts

today's deadline · the next reviewer · the stuck moment · the pattern
AExecute — do the immediate taskList all currently open figure windows by their…+
List all currently open figure windows by their handle.
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
BImprove — make it easier to acceptBefore I close everything down for the day, make sure I haven't left any critical plots open.…+
Before I close everything down for the day, make sure I haven't left any critical plots open. Get the handles of all open figures, then identify any that have 'Final Report' in their title or are larger than 800x600 pixels. Give me a count of how many figures meet these criteria.
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
CDecide — diagnose the stuck momentMy latest batch processing script just finished, and now I have 30 figure windows open, many of…+
I just ran a script, and now there are dozens of figure windows open, but I can't tell which ones are important.
My latest batch processing script just finished, and now I have 30 figure windows open, many of them just intermediate diagnostic plots. I'm afraid of accidentally closing a figure that contains the 'critical_results_plot' or the 'calibration_curve' that I need for tomorrow's meeting. What's the fastest way to identify and keep only the figures with specific titles or those that were modified in the last 10 minutes, so I don't lose important work?
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
DBecome — change the patternI consistently find myself with a chaotic desktop of open figure windows after running…+
I frequently end up with a cluttered workspace full of unnecessary open figures after running scripts.
I consistently find myself with a chaotic desktop of open figure windows after running simulations or data analyses, making it hard to find the plots I actually need. What habit should I change to more effectively manage and automatically close transient or unimportant figures, like those from 'intermediate_steps' or 'debugging_plots', so my workspace stays clean and focused?
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?

Questions people actually ask

honest answers, no sign-up

Every task here was seen in the real world. Someone doing the job named it, a real job ad asked for it, or a lot of people asked about it online.

If nothing real showed a task, it is not on the page. That is the whole rule.

They are the same job approached four ways, because what you need depends on where you are.

Get it done today. Make it easy for the next person to say yes to. Work out the right move when you are stuck. Learn the pattern so the job stops coming back.

For most of these jobs it can carry the heavy thinking - draft it, sort it, check it, rehearse it with you.

It cannot sit in your chair, take the blame when a number is wrong, or notice what nobody wrote down. Let it do the first 80%. Keep the last 20% that is truly yours.

No. Copy any prompt and paste it into the AI you already use. No account, no score, no wall in the way.

Any of them. The prompts describe the work rather than naming a product, so they are not tied to one assistant.

That is also why they keep working when you switch.

Change it freely. Every prompt is a starting line, not a rule.

Put in your real numbers, your real names and your real deadline. The more you make it yours, the better the answer comes back.

The tasks come from real job ads, published job data and the questions people ask in public forums.

The steps come from MATLAB's own documentation, with practitioner sources for the traps the manual does not mention.

Push once. Ask it to sharpen the weakest part and to say what it assumed.

Most wrong answers come from a missing detail rather than a bad prompt - tell it the thing it could not know.