Accept only one keypress for a certain period of time in Matlab - matlab

Question

I have a simple, sort of GUI code shown below.
This "test_keypress" function creates a figure, and it responses to the keypress (space).
Now, I want to add a constraint so that Matlab accepts only one keypress for a certain period of time (say, 1 second).
In other words, I want to reject a keypress if it happens within 1 sec after the previous keypress occurred.
How can I do that?
function test_keypress
f = figure;
set(f,'KeyPressFcn',#figInput);
imshow(ones(200,200,3));
end
function figInput(src,evnt)
if strcmp(evnt.Key,'space')
imshow(rand(200,200,3));
end
end

Answer 1

You can store the current time, and only evaluate the imshow command if the key-press occurs at least 100 seconds after the last one.
function test_keypress
f = figure;
set(f,'KeyPressFcn',#figInput);
imshow(ones(200,200,3));
%# initialize time to "now"
set(f,'userData',clock);
end
function figInput(src,evnt)
currentTime = clock;
%# get last time
lastTime = get(src,'UserData');
%# show new figure if the right key has been pressed and at least
%# 100 seconds have elapsed
if strcmp(evnt.Key,'space') && etime(lastTime,currentTime) > 100
imshow(rand(200,200,3));
%# also update time
set(src,'UserData',currentTime)
end
end