Try in this way (you can also add progress bar):
function test
uicontrol('Style','pushbutton','String','Start','callback',@pb_clbck)
function pb_clbck(src,evnt)
name = get(src,'String');
set(src,'String','Wait');
h = waitbar(0,'Please wait');
for k=10:-1:1
waitbar((11-k)/10,h)
disp(k)
pause(1)
end
close(h)
set(src,'String',name);
In this case Matlab refreshes strings.
Eventually you can use refresh function to redraw current figure:
name = get(handles.pushbutton, 'String');
set(handles.pushbutton, 'String', 'Wait');
do_whatever();
set(handles.pushbutton, 'String', name);
refresh(gcf)
