Intermittent Bug with Base Workspace Variable editor

Problem

I have a recurring issue that I am not sure how to reproduce: occasionally, functions called from the base workspace (e.g. via a Command Window input) stop registering the returned variable in the Variable editor. However, when I enter the returned variable without suppression to the Command Window, it prints as expected. For example, for the following function (I doubt the issue is specific to this function, just happened to be working with this today when it happened):

function meta = getVidFile(first_vid_fname,varargin)
%GETVIDFILE  Returns metadata table for a related set of videos
%
%  meta = GETVIDFILE();
%  --> Select video using default parameters
%
%  meta = GETVIDFILE(first_vid_fname); 
%  --> Skip video selection UI
%
%  meta = GETVIDFILE('','NAME',value,...);  
%  --> Use video selection UI, set optional parameters.
%
%  meta = GETVIDFILE(first_vid_fname,'NAME',value,...);
%  --> Change default parameters and skip UI selection.
%
%  --------
%   INPUTS
%  --------
%  first_vid_fname  :(optional) '' by default. Can be specified as a char
%                       array that indicates the full filename of a video
%                       of interest from the recording session using the
%                       syntax: 
%                       fullfile('folder/with/all/videos',...
%                          '[AnimalID]_[yyyy]_[mm]_[dd]_...*.[filetype]');
%  
%  varargin    :     (optional) 'NAME' value input argument pairs.
%                    --> To still select first_vid_fname from UI, enter
%                        first argument as '' 
%
%  --------
%   OUTPUT
%  --------
%    meta      :     Table with video metadata, where each row contains
%                       data relating to a single video from a set of
%                       videos related to a full behavioral recording of
%                       interest.

%% Default parameters
params.default_search_path = 'K:\Rat\Video\Audio Discrimination Task\post-surg';
params.valid_extensions = {'*_Right-A_0.MP4','Right Camera Videos Only';...
                           '*_0.MP4','First Video Only';...
                           '*.MP4;*.mp4;*.avi','Video Files (*.mp4,*.avi)';...
                           '*.*','All Files (*.*)'};       
params.selection_ui_title = 'Select VIDEO file';

%% Parse inputs
% For first input, assign empty value if not specified
if nargin < 1
   first_vid_fname = '';
end

% For varargin, match 'name', value input pairs (case-insensitive)
for iV = 1:2:numel(varargin)
   if isfield(lower(varargin{iV}),params)
      params.(lower(varargin{iV})) = varargin{iV+1};
   end
end

%% Allow selection of video
if isempty(first_vid_fname)
   [fileName,pathName,~] = uigetfile(params.valid_extensions,...
                                     params.selection_ui_title,...
                                     params.default_search_path);

   if fileName == 0
      error(['nigeLab:' mfilename ':noSelection'],...
             'No video file selected.');
   end
   first_vid_fname = fullfile(pathName,fileName);
end

%% Parse experiment info from file name
[pname,fName,ext] = fileparts(first_vid_fname);

strInfo = strsplit(fName,'_');
Animal = strInfo{1};
t = datetime(str2double(strjoin(strInfo(2:4),'')),...
   'ConvertFrom','yyyymmdd');
Date = datestr(t,'yyyy-mm-dd');
ID = strInfo{5};

%% Find all other videos in the same folder related to this recording
F = dir(fullfile(pname,[strjoin(strInfo(1:5),'_') '*' ext]));

%% Make sure file names are sorted in ascending order by video index
fname = {F.name}.';
c = cellfun(@(C)regexp(C,'_(?<index>\d+)\.','tokens'),fname);
idx = cellfun(@str2double,c);
[~,iF] = sort(idx,'ascend');
fname = fname(iF);

%% Initialize metadata table and loop to extract data of interest
meta = makeMetaTable(numel(fname),pname,fname,Animal,Date,ID);
fprintf(1,'Extracting video metadata...000%%\n');
for iF = 1:numel(fname)
   % Surely there is a faster way than this:
   V = VideoReader(fullfile(pname,fname{iF})); %#ok<*TNMLP>
   [~,f,~] = fileparts(fname{iF});
   strInfo = strsplit(f,'_');
   
   % Parse "view angle" and video index from known naming convention
   meta.Angle{iF} = strInfo{6};
   meta.Index(iF) = str2double(strInfo{7});
   
   % Get the framerate and frame dimensions from VideoReader
   meta.fs(iF) = V.FrameRate;      
   meta.Height(iF) = V.Height;
   meta.Width(iF) = V.Width;
   
   % Get the start time of the previous video index for THIS camera (could
   % have multiple cameras on the same associated recording session)
   if meta.Index(iF) > 0
      prevIndexElements = meta.Index == (meta.Index(iF)-1);
      sameCamElements = strcmpi(meta.Angle,meta.Angle{iF});
      meta.tStart(iF) = meta.tStop(prevIndexElements & sameCamElements);
   else
      % If first instance of vid for this camera
      meta.tStart(iF) = 0;
   end
   
   % Each GoPro video from a given camera is "chunked" into several parts
   % due to filesize limits. Set "tStop" to indicate approximate start time
   % of next video in sequence, which can be synchronized properly later.
   meta.tStop(iF) = meta.tStart(iF) + V.Duration;
   
   % To make sure this object doesn't stay in memory:
   delete(V);
   
   % Update Command Window with completion status
   pct = floor(iF/numel(fname) * 100);
   fprintf(1,'\b\b\b\b\b%03g%%\n',pct);
end


%% Helper functions

   function meta = makeMetaTable(N,pname,fname,Animal,Date,ID)
      % MAKEMETATABLE  Initialize the "metadata" table for N videos
      %
      %  N      :  Total number of videos
      %  pname  :  Folder (char array)
      %  fname  :  Video filename (char array)
      %  Animal :  Animal identifier (char array)
      %  Date   :  Char array in format 'yyyy-mm-dd'
      %  ID     :  Recording ID (for multiple recordings on same day)
      
      Folder = repmat({pname},N,1);
      Name = fname;
      Animal = repmat({Animal},N,1);
      Date = repmat({Date},N,1);
      ID = repmat({ID},N,1);
      Angle = cell(N,1);
      Index = nan(N,1);
      fs = nan(N,1);
      Height = nan(N,1);
      Width = nan(N,1);
      tStart = nan(N,1);
      tStop = nan(N,1);

      meta = table(Folder,Name,Animal,Date,ID,Angle,Index,fs,Height,Width,tStart,tStop);
      
   end

end

The following does not register meta as a table variable in my Base Workspace Variable editor, although the fprintf calls in the loop do print in the Command Window as expected:

meta = getVidFile(); % Select video file of interest from UI

However, when I put the following into my Command Window, it prints the expected returned value of meta, indicating that this is not an issue of the variable being out of scope of the base workspace:

>> meta

meta =

  12×12 table

                          Folder                                         Name                     Animal         Date        ID       Angle      Index           fs           Height    Width       tStart          tStop    
    __________________________________________________    ___________________________________    ________    ____________    ___    _________    _____    ________________    ______    _____    ____________    ____________

    'K:\Rat\Video\Audio Discrimination Task\post-surg'    'R19-54_2019_04_24_0_Left-A_0.MP4'     'R19-54'    '2019-04-24'    '0'    'Left-A'     0        239.762155941306    720       1280                0     531.7973333
    'K:\Rat\Video\Audio Discrimination Task\post-surg'    'R19-54_2019_04_24_0_Left-B_0.MP4'     'R19-54'    '2019-04-24'    '0'    'Left-B'     0        239.762155941306    720       1280                0     531.7973333
    'K:\Rat\Video\Audio Discrimination Task\post-surg'    'R19-54_2019_04_24_0_Right-A_0.MP4'    'R19-54'    '2019-04-24'    '0'    'Right-A'    0        239.762155941306    720       1280                0     531.7973333
    'K:\Rat\Video\Audio Discrimination Task\post-surg'    'R19-54_2019_04_24_0_Right-B_0.MP4'    'R19-54'    '2019-04-24'    '0'    'Right-B'    0        239.762155941306    720       1280                0     531.7973333
    'K:\Rat\Video\Audio Discrimination Task\post-surg'    'R19-54_2019_04_24_0_Left-A_1.MP4'     'R19-54'    '2019-04-24'    '0'    'Left-A'     1        239.762155941306    720       1280      531.7973333    1063.5785833
    'K:\Rat\Video\Audio Discrimination Task\post-surg'    'R19-54_2019_04_24_0_Left-B_1.MP4'     'R19-54'    '2019-04-24'    '0'    'Left-B'     1        239.762155941306    720       1280      531.7973333    1063.5785833
    'K:\Rat\Video\Audio Discrimination Task\post-surg'    'R19-54_2019_04_24_0_Right-A_1.MP4'    'R19-54'    '2019-04-24'    '0'    'Right-A'    1        239.762155941306    720       1280      531.7973333    1063.5785833
    'K:\Rat\Video\Audio Discrimination Task\post-surg'    'R19-54_2019_04_24_0_Right-B_1.MP4'    'R19-54'    '2019-04-24'    '0'    'Right-B'    1        239.762155941306    720       1280      531.7973333    1063.5785833
    'K:\Rat\Video\Audio Discrimination Task\post-surg'    'R19-54_2019_04_24_0_Left-A_2.MP4'     'R19-54'    '2019-04-24'    '0'    'Left-A'     2        239.762155941306    720       1280     1063.5785833    1415.9412499
    'K:\Rat\Video\Audio Discrimination Task\post-surg'    'R19-54_2019_04_24_0_Left-B_2.MP4'     'R19-54'    '2019-04-24'    '0'    'Left-B'     2        239.762155941306    720       1280     1063.5785833    1415.8985833
    'K:\Rat\Video\Audio Discrimination Task\post-surg'    'R19-54_2019_04_24_0_Right-A_2.MP4'    'R19-54'    '2019-04-24'    '0'    'Right-A'    2        239.762155941306    720       1280     1063.5785833    1415.8985833
    'K:\Rat\Video\Audio Discrimination Task\post-surg'    'R19-54_2019_04_24_0_Right-B_2.MP4'    'R19-54'    '2019-04-24'    '0'    'Right-B'    2        239.762155941306    720       1280     1063.5785833    1415.9412499

Things I have Checked

• No overloaded subsref or numArgumentsFromSubscript on path.
• No overloaded disp or display method on path.
• No overloaded openvar method on path.
• clear and various optional arguments to clear do not resolve the Variable editor issue.
• Restarting my Matlab Editor (R2017a) does resolve the issue (and the same function now returns meta to the base workspace Variable editor).

Suggestions?

This isn't a groundbreaking bug for me, but it's annoying enough that I'd like to figure out what is happening exactly. Next time that this happens, are there suggested debugging steps I should take? My inclination is that something is being added to my search path with some tool that I use occasionally, and when that happens it is messing up how variables are displayed. However, I'm not used to troubleshooting that kind of issue. I am kicking myself that I didn't call what or who while the issue was present today- are there other commands like that I should try next time?

Thanks in advance.