Table of Contents
- Table of Contents
- Version
- Exit Matlab
- Directory tree navigation
- Search path
- Files
- Run script file
- Run function file
- Help
- Documentation
- Get locations of files
- Open file in a text editor
- Install a new toolbox
- Install a new Matlab version
Version
Display the verion of Matlab and the installed toolboxes.
ver
Exit Matlab
exit
Directory tree navigation
pwd
cd <path>
ls
delete <file>
mkdir <dir>
rmdir <dir>
Search path
The search path is a set of directories which are searched for script and function files to run.
Display path:
path
Add a new entry to beginning or end of the search path (this does not persist across Matlab sessions):
path('/new/path/entry', path)
path(path, '/new/path/entry')
Files
Matlab has two types of files that can be executed:
- Script files
- Function files
Script files simply contain a series of Matlab commands. Function files contain a single function.
Both files have the extension .m
.
Run script file
Assume script file /Users/dw/test.m
, and directory /Users/dw
is in path (note that the file extension .m
must be omitted):
test
If the directory containing the script file (/Users/dw
) is not in the path, then the script can be executed with run
(the file extension .m
is optional):
run /Users/dw/test
run /Users/dw/test.m
Run function file
- Each function file can contain only a single accessible function
- The function name should match the filename (however, it’s the filename that counts)
Assume file test.m
containing function y = test(x)
, and being in the search path:
test(4)
A function file must be in the search path in order to be executable.
Note that the name specified on the command line for executing a function is actually the filename. Matlab then executes the first function found in this file, even if the function has a different name. For example, if the function contained in test.m
is called foo
, then calling foo(4)
does not work, but calling test(4)
executes the function foo
.
Help
Display a help message about a function or script extracted from the comments of the corresponding file (works also with operators and toolboxes):
help <name>
Wha help
displays is:
- For function files: the first block of contiguous comments before or after the
function
statement - For script files: the first block of contiguous comments in the file
Documentation
Open the documentation of a function or class in an external help browser. The documentation in the help browser is identical to the Web documentation on http://www.mathworks.com/help/. It is usually more comprehensive than the corresponding help
texts.
doc <name>
Get locations of files
Find out the absolute paths of function and script files.
which <name>
Open file in a text editor
Open a file in a text editor.
edit <name>
The text editor to use can be defined in MATLAB > Preferences > Editor/Debugger > Editor.
Install a new toolbox
- Get the Matlab Installer
- https://www.mathworks.com/downloads/
- Log in with MathWorks account
- Download either the “latest release” (e.g R2016a) or another release that matches the currently installed Matlab version. Note that this downloads only the installer, not the actual Matlab program.
- Start the installer, log in, and click through until the window with the list of available Matlab products
- Select desired toolboxes and install
Install a new Matlab version
Same procedure as intalling a new toolbox, just select MATLAB as the product to install.
If the new version belongs to a new release (e.g. R2016a instead of R2015b), then a new MATLAB_R2016a.app
is created in /Applications
. The old installed Matlab release (e.g. /Applications/MATLAB_R2015b.app
) is not affected.
All the Matlab releases in /Applications
can be used independently from each other. Similarly, the toolboxes are installed independently to any of these releases.
Note: the executable for starting Matlab is /Applications/MATLAB_R2016a.app/bin/matlab
.