MATLAB®

Desktop Tools and Development Environment

R2012b
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MATLAB® Desktop Tools and Development Environment
© COPYRIGHT 1984–2012 by The MathWorks, Inc.
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Revision History
June 2004 First printing New for MATLAB 7.0 (Release 14). Formerly part of
Using MATLAB.
October 2004 Online only Revised for MATLAB 7.0.1 (Release 14SP1)
March 2005 Online only Revised for MATLAB 7.0.4 (Release 14SP2)
March 2005 Second printing Revised for MATLAB 7.0.4 (Release 14SP2)
June 2005 Third printing Minor revision for MATLAB 7.0.4 (Release 14SP2)
September 2005 Online only Revised for MATLAB 7.1 (Release 14SP3)
March 2006 Online only Revised for MATLAB 7.2 (Release 2006a)
September 2006 Online only Revised for MATLAB 7.3 (Release 2006b)
March 2007 Online only Revised for MATLAB 7.4 (Release 2007a)
September 2007 Online only Revised for MATLAB 7.5 (Release 2007b)
March 2008 Online only Revised for MATLAB 7.6 (Release 2008a)
October 2008 Online only Revised for MATLAB 7.7 (Release 2008b)
March 2009 Online only Revised for MATLAB 7.8 (Release 2009a)
September 2009 Online only Revised for MATLAB 7.9 (Release 2009b)
March 2010 Online only Revised for MATLAB 7.10 (Release 2010a)
September 2010 Online only Revised for MATLAB Version 7.11 (Release 2010b)
April 2011 Online only Revised for MATLAB Version 7.12 (Release 2011a)
September 2011 Online only Revised for MATLAB Version 7.13 (Release 2011b)
March 2012 Online only Revised for MATLAB Version 7.14 (Release 2012a)
September 2012 Online only Revised for MATLAB Version 8.0 (Release 2012b)
 Contents

Startup and Shutdown

1
Starting and Exiting the MATLAB Program . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Starting the MATLAB Program on Windows Platforms . . 1-2
Starting the MATLAB Program on Linux Platforms . . . . . 1-6
Starting the MATLAB Program on Macintosh Platforms . . 1-6
Exiting the MATLAB Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7

Startup Folder for the MATLAB Program . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12

What Is the Startup Folder? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12
Startup Folder on Windows Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13
Startup Folder on Linux Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14
Startup Folder on Macintosh Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14
Changing the Startup Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14

Startup Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-18

Specifying MATLAB Startup Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-18
Commonly Used Startup Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-20
Passing Perl Variables on Startup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-21
Startup and Calling Java Software from the MATLAB
Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-22

Toolbox Path Caching in the MATLAB Program . . . . . . 1-23

About Toolbox Path Caching in the MATLAB Program . . . 1-23
Using the Cache File Upon Startup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-23
Updating the Cache and Cache File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-23
Additional Diagnostics with Toolbox Path Caching . . . . . . 1-26

Desktop
2
Adjust Desktop Appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2

v
 Color Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7
Access Frequently Used Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10
Optimize Desktop Layout for Limited Screen Space . . . . . 2-11

Define Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15

Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15
Choose a Set of Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-16
Compare Sets of Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-19
Display Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-21
Customize Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-24
Evaluate and Resolve Keyboard Shortcut Conflicts . . . . . . 2-29
Examples of Creating, Modifying, and Deleting Keyboard
Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-31
Delete a Set of Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-35
Use Keyboard Shortcuts Settings Files Created on Other
Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-35
Keyboard Shortcut Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-36

Set Print Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-39

Page Setup Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-39
Layout Options for Page Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-39
Header Options for Page Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-40
Fonts Options for Page Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-40

Web Browsers and MATLAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-42

About Web Browsers and MATLAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-42
Display Pages in Web Browsers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-44
Specify Proxy Server Settings for Connecting to the
Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-44
Specify the System Browser for UNIX Platforms . . . . . . . . 2-45

License Management and Software Updates . . . . . . . . . 2-47

Manage Your Licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-47
Check for Software Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-48

Macintosh Platform Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-50

Mouse Instructions and Macintosh Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . 2-50
Navigating Within the MATLAB Root Folder on Macintosh
Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-50

Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-52

vi Contents
 Set Preferences for MATLAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-52
Where MATLAB Stores Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-53
Preferences Folder and Files MATLAB Uses When Multiple
MATLAB Releases Are Installed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-54
General Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-55
MAT-Files Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-56
Confirmation Dialogs Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-57
Source Control Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-59
Java Heap Memory Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-59
Keyboard Shortcuts Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-60
Fonts Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-62
Fonts Custom Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-63
Colors Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-64
Colors Programming Tools Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-65
Toolbars Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-66
Web Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-67

Entering Commands
3
Enter Statements in Command Window ............. 3-2

Find Functions Using the Function Browser . . . . . . . . . 3-4

What Is the Function Browser? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Steps for Using the Function Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Interpreting Search Results in the Function Browser . . . . 3-7
Customizing the Function Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7

Format Output in Command Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9

Format Line Spacing in Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9
Format Floating-Point Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
Wrap Lines of Code to Fit Window Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
Suppress Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
View Output by Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-11
Clear the Command Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-11

Stop Execution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-12

Find Text in Command Window or History . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13

vii
 Find Text in the Command Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13
Find Text in the Command History Window . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-15

Create Shortcuts to Rerun Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-17

Set Command Window Preferences ................. 3-19

Set Keyboard Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-21

Check Syntax As You Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-23

Syntax Highlighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-23
Delimiter Matching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-24
Tab Completion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-25
Function Syntax Hints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-27

Command History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-29

What Is the Command History? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-29
Using Command History Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-29
Changing the Command History Date Format . . . . . . . . . . 3-31
Command History Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-31

Help and Product Information

4
Ways to Get Function Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2

Run Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3

Code Excerpts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Example Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3

Search Syntax and Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5

Bookmark and Share Page Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7

Bookmark Favorite Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
View Page Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8

viii Contents
 Contact Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9

Demos Are Now Called Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-11

Help Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-13

Japanese Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-15

Information About your Installation ................ 4-16

Workspace Browser and Variable Editor

5
What Is the MATLAB Workspace? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2

View, Edit, and Copy Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3

View and Edit Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
Copy, Paste, and Rename Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6

Keyboard Shortcuts for Navigating Variable

Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-8

Save, Load, and Delete Workspace Variables . . . . . . . . . 5-9

Statistical Calculations in the Workspace Browser . . . 5-12

Improve Workspace Browser Performance during Statistical
Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Include or Exclude NaN Values in Statistical
Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12

Set Workspace and Variable Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14

Workspace Browser Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14
Variables Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-15

ix
 Managing Files in MATLAB
6
Understanding File Locations in MATLAB . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
Important MATLAB Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
Path Names in MATLAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5

Working with Files and Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-11

Viewing Folder Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-11
Using the Current Folder Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-16

Finding Files and Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-24

Finding Files and Folders by Name in the Current
Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-24
Simple Search for File and Folder Names in the Current
Folder Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-24
Advanced Search for Files — Find Files Tool . . . . . . . . . . . 6-25
Locating a File or Folder in the Operating System
Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-29
Finding Files and Folders Using Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-30
Additional Ways to Find Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-30

Creating, Opening, Changing, and Deleting Files and

Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-31
Creating New Files and Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-31
Copying, Renaming, and Deleting Files and Folders . . . . . 6-36
Opening and Running Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-40
Running External Commands, Scripts, and Programs . . . . 6-43

Comparing Files and Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-47

Comparing Files and Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-47
Comparing Folders and Zip Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-49
Comparing Text Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-53
Comparing Files with Autosave Version or Version on
Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-58
Comparing MAT-Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-59
Comparing Binary Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-61
Using Comparison Tool Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-62
Function Alternative for Comparing Files and Folders . . . 6-64

Making Files and Folders Accessible to MATLAB . . . . . 6-65

x Contents
 Files and Folders That MATLAB Can Access . . . . . . . . . . . 6-65
How to Make Files Accessible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-65
Determining if MATLAB Can Access a File . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-67
Ensuring MATLAB Uses the File You Want . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-68

Using the MATLAB Search Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-71

What Is the Search Path? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-71
Viewing Files and Folders on the Search Path . . . . . . . . . . 6-73
Changing the Search Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-74
Using the Search Path with Different MATLAB
Installations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-79
Recovering from Problems with the Search Path . . . . . . . . 6-80
Handling Errors and Unexpected Behavior When Updating
Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-82

Editor Preferences
7
Editor/Debugger Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
General Preferences for the Editor/Debugger . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2
Editor/Debugger Display Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-3
Editor/Debugger Tab Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-4
Editor/Debugger Language Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-5
Editor/Debugger Code Folding Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8
Editor/Debugger Autosave Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9

Code Analyzer Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-11

Code Analyzer Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-11
Searching Messages in the Code Analyzer Preferences
Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-12

Internationalization
8
How the MATLAB Process Uses Locale Settings . . . . . . 8-2
Windows Platform-Specific Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-3

xi
 Macintosh Platform-Specific Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-3

Setting the Locale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4

Setting Locale on Windows Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-4
Setting Locale on Linux Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-7
Setting Locale on Macintosh Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8

Troubleshooting I18n Messages and Settings . . . . . . . . . 8-9

Asian Characters Incorrectly Displayed on Linux
Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9
Characters Incorrectly Displayed on Windows Systems . . 8-10
datenum Might Not Return Correct Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-10
Numbers Display Period for Decimal Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-10
MATLAB Displays Messages in English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-11
File or Folder Names Incorrectly Displayed . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-11

Index

xii Contents
 1

Startup and Shutdown

The way you start the MATLAB® program depends on which platform you
use. The following topics describe how to start up and shut down MATLAB
software on all supported platforms, including information about customizing
startup and shutdown.

• “Starting and Exiting the MATLAB Program” on page 1-2

• “Startup Folder for the MATLAB Program” on page 1-12
• “Startup Options” on page 1-18
• “Toolbox Path Caching in the MATLAB Program” on page 1-23
 1 Startup and Shutdown

Starting and Exiting the MATLAB Program

In this section...
“Starting the MATLAB Program on Windows Platforms” on page 1-2
“Starting the MATLAB Program on Linux Platforms” on page 1-6
“Starting the MATLAB Program on Macintosh Platforms” on page 1-6
“Exiting the MATLAB Program” on page 1-7

Starting the MATLAB Program on Windows Platforms

• “Associating Files with MATLAB on Windows Platforms” on page 1-3
• “Speeding Up MATLAB Start Up on Windows Systems” on page 1-6

There are several ways to start the MATLAB program on a Microsoft®

Windows® platform:

• Use the shortcut on the Windows Start Menu. .

- On Windows 7 systems, if you chose to have the installer put a
shortcut to the MATLAB program on the Windows Start menu, select
Start > MATLAB R2012b
- On Windows XP systems, select
Start > Programs > MATLAB > R2012b > MATLAB R2012b
• If you chose to have the installer create a shortcut, double-click the
MATLAB shortcut on your Windows desktop.
• Double-click a file with any of a number of file extensions in the Windows
Explorer tool. The installer sets up associations between these file
types and MathWorks® products during installation. For example,
double-clicking a file with a .m extension in the starts MATLAB and opens
the file in the MATLAB Editor. For more information, see “Associating
Files with MATLAB on Windows Platforms” on page 1-3.

After starting MATLAB, the desktop opens. Desktop components that were
open when you last shut down MATLAB will be opened on startup. For
more information, see “Adjust Desktop Appearance” on page 2-2. You can

1-2
 Starting and Exiting the MATLAB® Program

specify other startup options, such the current folder upon startup—for more
information, see “Startup Options” on page 1-18 and “Startup Folder for the
MATLAB Program” on page 1-12.

If you have trouble starting MATLAB, see Troubleshooting topics in the

Installation Guide.

Associating Files with MATLAB on Windows Platforms

When you install MATLAB software on Windows platforms, the installer sets
up associations between certain file types and MathWorks products. When
you double-click a particular file type, identified by its file extension, Windows
starts MATLAB and opens the file in the appropriate tool. The following
table lists some of the file extensions the installer associates with MathWorks
products and the behavior that results from this association. To learn how
to change this behavior, see “Managing File Associations for MATLAB on
Windows Systems” on page 1-5.

File Extension and Resulting Action

File Result
Extension
.fig Opens file in figure window
.m Opens file in Editor
.mat Opens Import Wizard to load the data into the MATLAB
workspace.
.mdl Opens file in a Simulink® model window
.mex1 Displays icon for MATLAB in Windows Explorer tool
.p Displays icon for MATLAB in Windows Explorer tool

File associations for the Windows Explorer tool do not affect what happens
when you open one of these file types from within MATLAB. MATLAB acts on
the file using the MATLAB tool associated with that file type. For example,
even if your system associates .mat files with the Access™ application, when

1. MEX-file extensions are platform specific. See “Using Binary MEX-Files”.

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 1 Startup and Shutdown

you open a MAT-file from within MATLAB, it opens the Import Wizard to
load the data.

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 Starting and Exiting the MATLAB® Program

Managing File Associations for MATLAB on Windows Systems.

You can associate any file types with MATLAB on computers running
the Windows operating system. For example, you can associate the .xml
extension with MATLAB so that when you double-click an XML file, it opens
in the MATLAB Editor.

Occasionally, another program may already own the association with a

particular file type. For example, the Microsoft Access program might own the
association with files having a .mat extension. To reset this file association,
use the Windows Default Programs control panel.

Note These instructions might not exactly apply to the version of the
Windows operating system you are running on your computer. If you
encounter differences or problems, see your Windows documentation.

1 Click the Windows Start menu.

2 Select Control Panel.

3 In the Control Panel window, select Default Programs.

4 In the Default Programs window, select Associate a file type or protocol

with a program.

5 In the Set Associations window, select a file name extension to view which
program currently opens it by default. In this example, select .mat.

6 To change the default association, click Change Program. This opens the
Open with dialog box which lists other programs that might be recommended
for this file extension. If it’s a file extension associated with MATLAB, such as
.mat, the list includes all the versions of MATLAB you have installed. Select
the version of MATLAB you want to associate with the file extension and click
OK. You create file associations with particular versions of MATLAB.

7 Click Close to close the Set Associations dialog box.

After associating a file type with MATLAB, you can open other applications
that have the same extension via the context menu. For example, if you want
to open a MAT-file with the Access application, right-click myfile.mat, and

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 1 Startup and Shutdown

from the context menu, select Open With. The Access application should
be one of the options.

Speeding Up MATLAB Start Up on Windows Systems

On Windows systems, the MathWorks Installer installs and configures a
utility program that can speed-up MATLAB startup, called the MATLAB
Startup Accelerator. For information about this program, including
information about how to modify the configuration, see “Post-Installation
Tasks” on the MathWorks Web site.

Starting the MATLAB Program on Linux Platforms

To start the MATLAB program on Linux® platforms, type matlab at the
operating system prompt.

If you did not set up symbolic links in the installation procedure, you must
enter the full path name, matlabroot/bin/arch, where matlabroot is
the name of the folder in which you installed MATLAB and arch is an
architecture-specific subfolder, such as glnxa64.

After starting MATLAB, the desktop opens. Desktop components that were
open when you last shut down MATLAB will be opened on startup. For more
information, see “Adjust Desktop Appearance” on page 2-2.

If the DISPLAY environment variable is not set or is invalid, the desktop will
not display. If you have trouble starting MATLAB, see Troubleshooting topics
in the Installation Guide.

You can specify the current folder upon startup as well as other options—for
more information, see “Startup Folder for the MATLAB Program” on page
1-12 and “Startup Options” on page 1-18.

Starting the MATLAB Program on Macintosh

Platforms
There are several ways to start the MATLAB program on Macintosh
computers:

• Double-click the MATLAB icon in the Applications folder.

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 Starting and Exiting the MATLAB® Program

• Open a Terminal window, navigate to your MATLAB installation folder,

and type matlab at the operating system prompt.

/Applications/MATLAB_R2012b.app/bin/matlab

After starting MATLAB, the desktop opens. Desktop components that were
open when you last shut down MATLAB will be opened on startup. For more
information, see “Adjust Desktop Appearance” on page 2-2. If the DISPLAY
environment variable is not set or is invalid, the desktop will not display.

If MATLAB fails to start due to a problem with required system components

such as Java™ software, diagnostics run automatically and advise you of the
problem, along with suggestions to correct it.

If you have trouble starting MATLAB, see Troubleshooting topics in the

Installation Guide.

You can specify the current folder upon startup as well as other options—for
more information, see “Startup Folder for the MATLAB Program” on page
1-12 and “Startup Options” on page 1-18.

Limitation
On Macintosh platforms, if you run MATLAB remotely, for example using
rlogin, you must run with nodisplay, noawt, and nojvm startup options—for
more information, see “Startup Options” on page 1-18.

Exiting the MATLAB Program

• “Ways to Exit the MATLAB Program” on page 1-7
• “Confirm Exiting the MATLAB Program” on page 1-8
• “Running a Script When Exiting the MATLAB Program” on page 1-9
• “Abnormal Termination” on page 1-9

Ways to Exit the MATLAB Program

To exit the MATLAB program at any time, do one of the following:

• Click the Close box in the MATLAB desktop.

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 1 Startup and Shutdown

• Click on the left side of the MATLAB desktop title bar and select Close.
• Type quit or exit at the Command Window prompt.

MATLAB closes after

• Prompting you to confirm exiting, if that preference is specified (see

“Confirm Exiting the MATLAB Program” on page 1-8.)
• Prompting you to save any unsaved files
• Running the finish.m script, if it exists in the current folder or on the
search path (see “Running a Script When Exiting the MATLAB Program”
on page 1-9 .

Confirm Exiting the MATLAB Program

To set a preference that displays a confirmation dialog box when you exit
MATLAB:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, select Preferences.

2 Select General > Confirmation Dialogs.

3 Select the Confirm before exiting MATLAB check box and click OK.

MATLAB then displays the following dialog box when you exit.

For more information, see “Confirmation Dialogs Preferences” on page 2-57.

You can also display your own exit confirmation dialog box using a finish.m
script, as described in the following section.

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 Starting and Exiting the MATLAB® Program

Running a Script When Exiting the MATLAB Program

When MATLAB exits, it runs the script finish.m, if finish.m exists in the
current folder or anywhere on the search path. You create the file finish.m.
It contains statements to run when MATLAB terminates, such as saving the
workspace or displaying a confirmation dialog box. There are two sample
files in matlabroot/toolbox/local that you can use as the basis for your
own finish.m file:

• finishsav.m — Includes a save function so the workspace is saved to

a MAT-file when MATLAB quits.
• finishdlg.m — Displays a confirmation dialog box that allows you to
cancel quitting.

For more information, see the finish reference page.

Abnormal Termination

• “When the MATLAB Program Terminates Unexpectedly” on page 1-9

• “Error Log Reporting” on page 1-10
• “Recovering Data After an Abnormal Termination” on page 1-11

When the MATLAB Program Terminates Unexpectedly. In the event

MATLAB experiences a segmentation violation (segv) or other serious
problem, the MATLAB System Error dialog box opens to notify you about the
problem. When this occurs, the internal state of MATLAB is unreliable and
not suitable for further use. You should exit as soon as possible and then
restart. However, you might want to first try to save your work in progress.

To exit and restart without trying to save your work, follow these steps:

1 If you want to view the stack trace for the problem, click Details.

2 Click Close to terminate MATLAB.

3 Restart MATLAB. If the Error Log Reporter dialog box opens, select the
option to send a report to MathWorks.

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 1 Startup and Shutdown

To try to save your work in progress before exiting and restarting MATLAB,
follow these steps:

1 If you want to view the stack trace for the problem, click Details.

2 Click Attempt to Continue. MATLAB tries to return to the Command

Window or tool you were using.

The Command Window displays the message Please exit and restart
MATLAB to the left of the prompt, which reminds you to discontinue use.

3 From the Command Window or tool, try to save the workspace and unsaved
files.

Caution Because the internal state of MATLAB might be corrupted, do

not save existing files to the same file name. Instead, specify a new file
name. The information in the new file might be corrupted or incomplete.

4 Exit MATLAB immediately after saving because any further usage would
be unreliable.

5 Restart MATLAB. If the Error Log Reporter dialog box opens, select the
option to send a report to MathWorks.

Error Log Reporting. Upon startup, if MATLAB detects an error log

generated by a serious problem during the previous session, an Error Log
Reporter prompts you to email the log to MathWorks for analysis. The error
log contains the stack trace and information about the MATLAB software
configuration. If the problem occurs repeatedly, make note of what seems
to cause it, look for information about it in the MathWorks Bug Reports
database, and if the problem is reproducible, submit a Service Request via
http://www.mathworks.com/support/contact_us/ts/help_request_1.html.

Emailing Error Log Reports

There are some situations where the Error Log Reporter will not open, for
example, when you start MATLAB with a -r option or run in deployed mode.

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 Starting and Exiting the MATLAB® Program

It also will not open if you selected the option to never send error reports
the last time the Error Log Reporter opened. If you experience abnormal
termination but do not see the Error Log Reporter on subsequent startups,
you can instead email the reports.

Send email to [email protected] with this file attached:

C:\Temp\matlab_crash_dump.####. After you send the log file, delete it or
move it to another location. If you do not delete the log file, the Error Log
Reporter can detect it on the next startup and prompt you to send it, even
though you already emailed it.

Recovering Data After an Abnormal Termination. If MATLAB

terminates unexpectedly, you might lose information. After you start
MATLAB again, you can try these suggestions to recover some of the
information.

• Use the Command History or the file on which it is based, history.m,

to run statements from the previous session. You might be able to
approximately recreate data as it was prior to the termination.
• If you used the diary function or -logfile startup option for the session
in which MATLAB terminated unexpectedly, you might be able to recover
output.
• If you saved the workspace to a MAT-file during the session, you can
recover it by loading the MAT-file.
• If you were editing a file in the Editor when MATLAB terminated
unexpectedly, and you had the autosave enabled, you should be able to
recover changes you made to files you had not saved.
• If you were in a Simulink session when a segmentation violation occurred,
and you have the Simulink Autosave Options preference selected, note
that the last autosave file for the model reflects the state of the autosave
data prior to the segmentation violation. Because Simulink models might
be corrupted by a segmentation violation, a model is not autosaved after a
segmentation violation occurs.

Some of the above suggestions refer to actions you might have needed to
take during the session when MATLAB terminated. If you did not take those
actions, consider regularly performing them to help you recover from any
future abnormal terminations you might experience.

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 1 Startup and Shutdown

Startup Folder for the MATLAB Program

In this section...
“What Is the Startup Folder?” on page 1-12
“Startup Folder on Windows Platforms” on page 1-13
“Startup Folder on Linux Platforms” on page 1-14
“Startup Folder on Macintosh Platforms” on page 1-14
“Changing the Startup Folder” on page 1-14

What Is the Startup Folder?

The startup folder is the current folder in the MATLAB application when it
starts. It is convenient if you make the current folder upon startup be a folder
that you frequently use. On Windows and Apple Macintosh platforms, a folder
called userpath is added automatically to the search path upon startup, and
is the default startup folder. On Linux platforms, you can set the userpath
as the startup folder. The default value for userpath is, for example,
Documents/MATLAB on Microsoft Windows Vista™ platforms. You can specify
a different default value for userpath, or specify a different startup folder.

Accepting the default value for userpath and using it as the startup folder
offers these benefits:

• You can store the MATLAB files you work with in one, appropriately-named
location, such as Documents/MATLAB.
• Your MATLAB files are readily available upon startup, because the current
folder is always the same, for example, Documents/MATLAB.
• You can always run your files because MATLAB automatically adds the
userpath folder to the top of the search path upon startup.
• The first time you run a new version of MATLAB, MATLAB automatically
creates the userpath folder if it does not exist.
• When you upgrade to a newer version of MATLAB, MATLAB automatically
continues to use the same MATLAB folder and your existing files, with all
of its other benefits.

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 Startup Folder for the MATLAB® Program

• The default userpath also utilizes the benefits provided by the standard
location in the Windows and Macintosh environments for storing personal
files. Files in the Documents/MATLAB folder (or My Documents/MATLAB
on Windows platforms other than Windows Vista) are available to
you when you use other machines. Because each user has their own
Documents/MATLAB folder, other users, even those using your machine,
cannot access files in your Documents/MATLAB folder.

To view the userpath value, run the userpath function. To specify a location
other than the default for userpath, or if you do not want to take advantage
of userpath, make changes with the userpath function.

There are other ways to change the startup folder as well as the folders on
your search path. For more information, see “Changing the Startup Folder” on
page 1-14 and “Viewing Files and Folders on the Search Path” on page 6-73.

Startup Folder on Windows Platforms

The startup folder on Windows platforms depends on any startup options you
specified and the way you started MATLAB:

How Started Startup Folder

Double-click the MATLAB The startup folder is set to the userpath value,
shortcut on yourWindows whose default value is My Documents\MATLAB,
desktop or Documents\MATLAB on Windows Vista
platforms. The userpath folder is
automatically added to the search path. If
there is a value specified in the Start in
field of the Properties dialog box for the
MATLAB program, that value is the startup
folder, although the userpath is added to
the search path. If MATLAB does not find a
valid userpath value upon startup, and the

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 1 Startup and Shutdown

How Started Startup Folder

Start in field is empty, the startup folder is

the Windows desktop.
Double-click a file type The folder in which the file resides is the
associated with MATLAB startup folder. The userpath folder is
automatically added to the search path.
In a DOS window The folder in which you ran the matlab
command is the startup folder. The userpath
folder is automatically added to the search
path.

Startup Folder on Linux Platforms

On Linux platforms, the default startup folder is the folder from which you
started MATLAB.

You can specify that the userpath be the startup folder by setting the
value of the environment variable MATLAB_USE_USERPATH to 1 prior to
startup. By default, userpath is userhome/Documents/MATLAB, and MATLAB
automatically adds the userpath folder to the top of the search path upon
startup. To specify a different folder for userpath, and for other options,
use the MATLAB userpath function.

Startup Folder on Macintosh Platforms

When you start MATLAB on Apple Macintosh platforms by double-clicking
the MATLAB application, the startup folder is the value returned when you
enter userpath, which by default is userhome/Documents/MATLAB. MATLAB
automatically adds the userpath folder to the top of its search path upon
startup. To specify a different folder for userpath, and for other options,
use the userpath function.

When you start MATLAB in a shell, the default startup folder is the folder
from which you started MATLAB.

Changing the Startup Folder

You can start MATLAB in a folder other than the default in one of these ways:

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 Startup Folder for the MATLAB® Program

• “Changing the Startup Folder Via the userpath Function” on page 1-15
• “Changing the Startup Folder Using the Shortcut — Windows Platforms
Only” on page 1-15
• “Changing the Startup Folder Using the startup.m File” on page 1-17

Changing the Startup Folder Via the userpath Function

Use the userpath function to change the startup folder as well as to add the
startup folder to the search path upon startup. For more information, see the
userpath reference page and “Startup Folder for the MATLAB Program”
on page 1-12.

Changing the Startup Folder Using the Shortcut — Windows

Platforms Only
To change the startup folder on Windows platforms using the shortcut,

1 Right-click the shortcut icon for MATLAB and select Properties from
the context menu.

The Properties dialog box for MATLAB opens to the Shortcut pane.

2 The Target field contains the full path to start MATLAB.

By default, the startup folder is My Documents\MATLAB or

Documents\MATLAB on Windows Vista platforms; for more information, see
“Startup Folder on Windows Platforms” on page 1-13.

In the Start in field, specify the full path to the folder in which you want
MATLAB to start, and click OK.

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 1 Startup and Shutdown

Enter full path to MATLAB startup folder.

Click OK.

The next time you start MATLAB using that shortcut icon, the current folder
will be the one you specified in step 2.

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 Startup Folder for the MATLAB® Program

You can make multiple shortcuts to start MATLAB, each with its own startup
folder, and with each startup folder having different startup options.

Changing the Startup Folder Using the startup.m File

Use the startup.m file to specify the startup folder as well as other startup
options—for details, see “Specifying Startup Options in the MATLAB Startup
File” on page 1-19.

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 1 Startup and Shutdown

Startup Options
In this section...
“Specifying MATLAB Startup Options” on page 1-18
“Commonly Used Startup Options” on page 1-20
“Passing Perl Variables on Startup” on page 1-21
“Startup and Calling Java Software from the MATLAB Program” on page
1-22

Specifying MATLAB Startup Options

You can specify startup options (also called command flags or command line
switches) that instruct the MATLAB program to perform certain operations
when you start it. On all platforms, you specify the options as arguments
to the matlab command when you start is at the operating system prompt.
For example, the following starts MATLAB and suppresses the display of
the splash screen.

matlab -nosplash

On Windows platforms, you can precede a startup option with either a hyphen
(-) or a slash (/). For example, -nosplash and /nosplash are equivalent.

On all platforms, you can also specify startup options using a MATLAB
startup file—see “Specifying Startup Options in the MATLAB Startup File”
on page 1-19

On Windows platforms, you can specify startup options in the MATLAB

shortcut—see “Including Startup Options in a Shortcut on Windows Systems”
on page 1-18.

Including Startup Options in a Shortcut on Windows Systems

You can add selected startup options (also called command flags or switches
for the command line) to the target path for your shortcut in the Windows
environment for MATLAB. For more information about the options, see
“Commonly Used Startup Options” on page 1-20.

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 Startup Options

To use startup options for the MATLAB shortcut icon in a Windows

environment, follow these steps:

1 Right-click the shortcut icon for MATLAB and select Properties from
the context menu. The Properties dialog box for MATLAB opens to the
Shortcut pane.

2 In the Target field, after the target path for matlab.exe, add the startup
option, and click OK. For example, adding -r "filename" runs the
MATLAB code file filename after startup.

This example instructs MATLAB to automatically run the file results after
startup, where results.m is in the startup folder or on the search path for
MATLAB. The statement in the Target field might appear as

C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2010b\bin\matlab.exe -r "results"

Include the statement in double quotation marks ("statement"). Use only

the file name, not the file extension or path name. For example, MATLAB
produces an error when you run

... matlab.exe -r "D:\results.m"

Use semicolons or commas to separate multiple statements. This example

changes the format to short, and then runs the MATLAB code file results:

... matlab.exe -r "format('short');results"

Separate multiple options with spaces. This example starts MATLAB without
displaying the splash screen, and then runs the MATLAB code file results:

... matlab.exe -nosplash -r "results"

Specifying Startup Options in the MATLAB Startup File

At startup, MATLAB automatically executes the file matlabrc.m
and, if it exists, startup.m. The file matlabrc.m, which is in the
matlabroot/toolbox/local folder, is reserved for use by MathWorks and by
the system manager on multiuser systems.

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 1 Startup and Shutdown

The file startup.m is for you to specify startup options. For example, you can
modify the default search path, predefine variables in your workspace, or
define defaults for Handle Graphics® objects. Use the following statements in
a startup.m file to add the specified folder, /home/username/mytools, to the
search path, and to change the current folder to mytools upon startup.

addpath /home/username/mytools
cd /home/username/mytools

Place the startup.m file in the default or current startup folder, which is
where MATLAB first looks for it. For more information, see “Startup Folder
for the MATLAB Program” on page 1-12.

Commonly Used Startup Options

The following table provides a list of some commonly used startup options
for both Windows and UNIX® platforms. For more information, including a
complete list of startup options, see the matlab (Windows) reference page or
the matlab (UNIX) reference page.

Platform Option Description

All -c licensefile Set LM_LICENSE_FILE to licensefile. It can have the form
port@host.
All -h or -help Display startup options (without starting MATLAB).
All -logfile Automatically write output from MATLAB to the specified
"logfilename" log file.
Windows -minimize Start MATLAB with the desktop minimized. Any desktop
platforms tools or documents that were undocked when MATLAB was
last closed will not be minimized upon startup.

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 Startup Options

Platform Option Description

UNIX -nojvm Start MATLAB without loading the Sun Microsystems™
platforms JVM™ software. This minimizes memory usage and improves
initial startup speed, but restricts functionality. With nojvm,
you cannot use the desktop, figures, or any tools that require
Java software.
For example, you cannot set preferences if you start MATLAB
with the -nojvm option. However, you can start MATLAB
once without the -nojvm option, set the preference, and quit
MATLAB. MATLAB remembers that preference when you
start it again, even if you use the -nojvm option.
All -nosplash Start MATLAB without displaying its splash screen.
All -r "statement" Automatically run the specified statement immediately after
MATLAB starts. This is sometimes referred to as calling
MATLAB in batch mode. Files you run must be in the startup
folder for MATLAB or on the search path. Do not include path
names or file extensions. Enclose the statement in double
quotation marks ("statement"). Use semicolons or commas
to separate multiple statements
All -singleCompThread Limit MATLAB to a single computational thread. By default,
Windows makes use of the multithreading capabilities of the
computer on which it is running.

Passing Perl Variables on Startup

You can pass Perl variables to MATLAB on startup by using the -r option
of the matlab function. For example, assume a MATLAB function test that
takes one input variable:

function test(x)

To start MATLAB with the function test, use the command

matlab -r "test(10)"

On some platforms, you might need to use double quotation marks:

matlab -r "test(10)"

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 1 Startup and Shutdown

This command starts MATLAB and runs test with the input argument 10.

To pass a Perl variable instead of a constant as the input parameter, follow

these steps.

1 Create a Perl script such as

#!/usr/local/bin/perl
$val = 10;
system('matlab -r "test(' . ${val} . ')"');

2 Invoke the Perl script at the prompt using a Perl interpreter.

For more information, see the matlab (Windows) or matlab (UNIX) reference
page.

Startup and Calling Java Software from the MATLAB

Program
When the MATLAB program starts, it constructs the class path for Java
software using librarypath.txt as well as classpath.txt. If you call Java
software from MATLAB, see more about this in “The Java Class Path” and
“Locating Native Method Libraries” in the MATLAB External Interfaces
documentation.

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 Toolbox Path Caching in the MATLAB® Program

Toolbox Path Caching in the MATLAB Program

In this section...
“About Toolbox Path Caching in the MATLAB Program” on page 1-23
“Using the Cache File Upon Startup” on page 1-23
“Updating the Cache and Cache File” on page 1-23
“Additional Diagnostics with Toolbox Path Caching” on page 1-26

About Toolbox Path Caching in the MATLAB Program

For performance reasons, the MATLAB program caches toolbox folder
information across sessions. The caching features are mostly transparent to
you. However, if MATLAB does not see the latest versions of your MATLAB
code files or if you receive warnings about the toolbox path cache, you might
need to update the cache.

Using the Cache File Upon Startup

Upon startup, MATLAB gets information from a cache file to build the toolbox
folder cache. Because of the cache file, startup is faster, especially if you run
MATLAB from a network server or if you have many toolbox folders. When
you end a session, MATLAB updates the cache file.

MATLAB does not use the cache file at startup if you clear the Enable
toolbox path cache check box in File > Preferences > General. Instead,
it creates the cache by reading from the operating system folders, which is
slower than using the cache file.

Updating the Cache and Cache File

How the Toolbox Path Cache Works

MATLAB caches (essentially, stores in a known files list) the names and
locations of files in matlabroot/toolbox folders. These folders are for files
provided with MathWorks products that should not change except for product
installations and updates. Caching those folders provides better performance
during a session because MATLAB does not actively monitor those folders.

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 1 Startup and Shutdown

We strongly recommend that you save any MATLAB code files you create
and any files provided by MathWorks that you edit in a folder that is
not in the matlabroot/toolbox folder tree. If you keep your files in
matlabroot/toolbox folders, they may be overwritten when you install
a new version of MATLAB.

When to Update the Cache

When you add files to matlabroot/toolbox folders, the cache and the
cache file need to be updated. MATLAB updates the cache and cache file
automatically when you install toolboxes or toolbox updates using the installer
for MATLAB. MATLAB also updates the cache and cache file automatically
when you use MATLAB tools, such as when you save files from the MATLAB
Editor to matlabroot/toolbox folders.

When you add or remove files in matlabroot/toolbox folders by some other

means, MATLAB might not recognize those changes. For example, when you

• Save new files in matlabroot/toolbox folders using an external editor

• Use operating system features and commands to add or remove files in
matlabroot/toolbox folders

MATLAB displays this message:

Undefined function or variable

You need to update the cache so MATLAB will recognize the changes you
made in matlabroot/toolbox folders.

Steps to Update the Cache

To update the cache and the cache file,

1 Select File > Preferences > General.

The General Preferences pane is displayed.

2 Click Update Toolbox Path Cache and click OK.

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 Toolbox Path Caching in the MATLAB® Program

Function Alternative
To update the cache, use rehash toolbox. To also update the cache file, use
rehash toolboxcache. For more information, see rehash.

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 1 Startup and Shutdown

Additional Diagnostics with Toolbox Path Caching

To display information about startup time when you start MATLAB, select
the Enable toolbox path cache diagnostics check box in General
Preferences.

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 2

Desktop

• “Adjust Desktop Appearance” on page 2-2

• “Define Keyboard Shortcuts” on page 2-15
• “Set Print Options” on page 2-39
• “Web Browsers and MATLAB” on page 2-42
• “License Management and Software Updates” on page 2-47
• “Macintosh Platform Conventions” on page 2-50
• “Preferences” on page 2-52
 2 Desktop

Adjust Desktop Appearance

In this section...
“Fonts” on page 2-2
“Color Settings” on page 2-7
“Access Frequently Used Features” on page 2-10
“Optimize Desktop Layout for Limited Screen Space” on page 2-11

Fonts
You can specify the font characteristics (type, style, and size) for:

• Sets of MATLAB desktop tools, based on their predominant content—code

or text
• Each desktop tool individually
• A combination of sets and individual tools

You can set some font options differently for printing—see “Set Print Options”
on page 2-39.

Setting Fonts for Sets of Tools Based on Content

You can specify fonts for tools based on their predominant content — text or
code. For an example of how fonts affect text in the Editor, see “Monospace
Font Compared to Proportional Font” on page 2-4.

To set fonts for a tool:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Fonts.

2 Under Desktop code font select a font type, style, and size from the
drop-down menus.

For font size, you can type a size, including a size not shown as a choice in
the drop-down menu.

2-2
 Adjust Desktop Appearance

3 Under Desktop text font, do one of the following:

• Select Use system font.

• Select the font type, style, and size from the drop-down menus.
For font size, you can type a size, including a size not shown as a choice
in the drop-down menu.

4 Review the list of tools currently using each font group—Desktop code
font, Desktop text font, and Custom fonts.

If you want to move a tool from one group to another, or if you want to
customize fonts for a particular tool, follow the steps in “Setting Fonts for
Individual Tools” on page 2-3. Otherwise, click OK.

Note If you are running MATLAB on a Linux2 or UNIX3 platform, consider

selecting Use antialiasing to smooth desktop fonts. Note however, that
this option requires you to restart MATLAB.

Setting Fonts for Individual Tools

Custom font preferences enable you to change the font for individual desktop
tools. For an example of how fonts affect text in the Editor, see “Monospace
Font Compared to Proportional Font” on page 2-4.

To set custom fonts:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Fonts > Custom.

2 Select the tool you want to customize from the Desktop tools list.

The type of font the tool currently uses appears under Font to Use.

3 Under Font to Use, select one of the following:

2. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

3. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other
countries.

2-3
 2 Desktop

• Desktop code.
• Desktop text
• Custom (Then, specify the font characteristics.)

4 Click OK.

The font that you select for the Profiler and Comparison Tool also applies to:

• Function Browser function help

• Extended Code Analyzer messages
• The content pane of the Supplemental Software help browser

For the Profiler and associated tools, you can change the font size, but not
the style (for example, bold or italic).

Monospace Font Compared to Proportional Font. A monospace font is

useful when you care about alignment, but it does take more space than a
proportional font.

With a monospaced font, all characters are the same width.

With a proportional font, characters are different widths.

Factory Default Font Settings

This table lists the factory default code and text font settings, and the tools
that use those font settings. If you previously changed settings, and now
want to revert to the default values, update the settings using the values
in the table.

2-4
 Adjust Desktop Appearance

Factory Default Tools Using Font Type by

Font Type Characteristics Factory Default
Desktop code font Monospaced, Plain, 10 point • Command History
• Command Window
• Editor (which also applies to the
Shortcuts Editor)
Desktop text font Your system’s current font. • Current Folder browser (which
also applies to the Path browser)
• Workspace browser
• Variables editor
• Function Browser in the
Command Window and Editor
Custom fonts SansSerif, Plain, 10 point • Profiler and Comparison Tool

Changing the Font

This example changes the settings for the desktop code font; changes the
Command History font preference so that it uses the desktop text font instead
of the code font; and specifies a custom font for the Current Folder browser.

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click Preferences > Fonts.

2 Under Desktop code font, select Times New Roman, Plain, 14 point.

3 Under Desktop text font, select Use system font.

4 Click Apply.

5 Make the Command History window use the desktop text font:

a Click the Custom Fonts link.

b Under Desktop tools, select Command History.

c Under Font to use, select the Desktop text radio button.

d Click Apply.

6 Apply a custom font to the Current Folder browser:

2-5
 2 Desktop

a Under Desktop tools, select Current Folder.

b Under Font to use, select the Custom radio button.

c Select Arial Narrow and Plain, and then type 11 in the size field.

d Click OK.

The following table details the results of the changes.

Tools Assigned
Font Type Font Characteristics Font
Desktop code Times New Roman® font, Plain, Command Window
14 point
Editor
Desktop text Same as your current system Command History
font, which appears in the
Workspace browser
dimmed fields below the Use
system font check box. Variables editor
Function Browser
Custom Monotype Corporation Arial® Current Folder
Narrow font, Plain, 11 point browser

Font Troubleshooting — Document Displays Boxes and Odd

Symbols Instead of Text
If you open a file created by someone else, and you see boxes or meaningless
symbols instead of text, it is probably because you are using different
language fonts from the file creator. This situation can occur, for example, if
you open a file created by someone whose native language is Japanese and
your native language is English. The Japanese user is probably using fonts
for East Asian languages and you are not.

To resolve this problem, in the Windows Control Panel, find the region and
language options, and then install the supplemental files for East Asian
languages.

For more information, refer to the Windows help.

2-6
 Adjust Desktop Appearance

Where MATLAB Gets Fonts

Unless you change it, MATLAB gets fonts from the operating-system font list.
Any fonts on the system list that MATLAB cannot display are excluded from
its list. The system fonts are installed in one of the following locations:

• The operating system’s standard location

Ask your system administrator where this is on your system.
• The /jre/lib/fonts folder where Java software is installed on your
system.

If a new compatible font becomes available to MATLAB, consider updating

fonts on your Windows platform, as follows:

1 Use the Windows Control Panel to install the font.

For more information, refer to the Windows help.

2 Restart MATLAB.

A compatible font on Windows platforms for desktop components (such as the

Command Window), figure windows, and uicontrols is one compatible with
TrueType and Microsoft OpenType® fonts. A bitmapped font is compatible
font for graphics objects, such as xlabel, ylabel, title, and text.

Color Settings
You can change any of the colors that the desktop uses for text, background,
or denoting links and different types of case-specific highlighting.

Changing Text, Background, and Hyperlink Colors in Desktop

Tools
To change the colors that MATLAB uses for text and background in desktop
tools follow these steps:

Note The colors you specify also apply to the Import Wizard, but do not
apply to the Help display pane or the Web browser.

2-7
 2 Desktop

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Colors.

2 Clear Use system colors.

System colors are the text and background colors that your platform (for
example, Microsoft Windows) uses for other applications.

3 Select the colors you want to use from the Text and Background color
palettes.

When you choose a color, the Sample area in the dialog box updates to
show you how it looks.

Tip If you use a gray background color, a selection in an inactive window is

not visible.

4 Under Other colors, select the color you want to use for hyperlinks.

5 Click OK.

Changing Syntax Highlighting Colors

In the Command Window, Command History, Editor, and Shortcuts callback
area, MATLAB conveys syntax information using different colors. This
feature, known as syntax highlighting, helps you to identify syntax elements,
such as if/else statements at a glance. The Editor also provides syntax
highlights colors for other languages.

In the Command Window, only the MATLAB input you type is highlighted.
The output from running MATLAB functions is not highlighted.

To change syntax highlighting colors, follow these steps:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Editor/Debugger > Language.

2 From the Language drop-down menu, select the language for which you
want to change syntax highlighting colors.

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 Adjust Desktop Appearance

3 In the Syntax highlighting section, select Enable syntax highlighting.

4 Change the colors.

• If you set the Language to MATLAB, click the Set syntax colors link, and
then change the colors under MATLAB syntax highlighting colors.
• If you did not set the Language to MATLAB, change the colors under
Syntax highlighting .

5 Click OK.

Changing Code Analyzer Colors

Code Analyzer helps you to identify potential problems and refine your
MATLAB code. By default, the Editor indicates:

• Code for which there are warnings, by underlining that code with an orange
wavy line and placing an orange line in the message bar.
• Code for which there are errors, by underlining that code with an red wavy
line and placing a red line in the message bar.
• Code that MATLAB can fix automatically (autofix), by highlighting that
code in tan.

To change code analyzer colors:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Colors > Programming Tools.

2 Under Code analyzer colors, select the colors you want for warnings,
autofix highlighting, or both.

3 Decide if you want autofix highlights to appear in the Editor.

Clear Autofix highlight if you do not want autofix highlights to appear in

the Editor; select Autofix highlight if you do.

4 Click Apply.

5 Decide if you want to change the color that the code analyzer uses for errors.

• If you do not, go to step 6.

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 2 Desktop

• If you do, then:

a In the left navigation pane, click Colors.

b Under MATLAB syntax highlighting colors, change the color for

Errors.

In addition to changing the color of code analyzer indicators for errors,

this action also changes the color for errors in the Command Window,
Command History window, Editor, and Shortcuts callback area.

6 Click OK.

For more information, see “Automatically Check Code in the Editor — Code
Analyzer”.

Access Frequently Used Features

The quick access toolbar provide access to frequently used operations. This
toolbar is always visible, even when you navigate between different MATLAB
Toolstrip tabs.

You can change the location of the quick access toolbar. On the Home tab,
in the Environment section, click Layout, and then select an option for
the Quick Access Toolbar.

To add a Toolstrip button to the quick access toolbar, right-click the button,
and then select Add to Quick Access Toolbar.

To add, remove, or rearrange buttons on the quick access toolbar, follow

these steps:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Toolbars.

2 From the Toolbar drop-down menu, select Quick Access.

The controls for the selected toolbar appear in the Layout and Controls
sections of the Toolbars Preferences pane.

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 Adjust Desktop Appearance

3 In the Controls list, select or clear the check box for controls that you want
to display or remove from the toolbar, respectively.

4 Under Layout, rearrange the order of the controls and separator bars on
the selected toolbar, by doing either of the following:
• Drag the icon for a control or separator bar to another position.
• Select a Layout icon, and then click one of the Layout buttons below
the layout icons.
For instance, to move the MATLAB desktop cut icon to the beginning of
the toolbar, select the Cut icon , and then click .

5 Click Apply or OK.

Optimize Desktop Layout for Limited Screen Space

You can close, minimize, and undock desktop tools to optimize the desktop
layout. Once you design a layout you like, you can save it for reuse.

• “Desktop Layout” on page 2-11

• “Document Layout” on page 2-13

Desktop Layout
This table shows how you can optimize the MATLAB desktop layout on your
screen.

2-11
 2 Desktop

Action Procedure
Minimize or restore the At the upper right corner of the Toolstrip,
MATLAB Toolstrip click or .
Open or hide a tool On the Home tab. in the Environment
section, click Layout. Then, under Show,
select or deselect desktop tools you want
to show or hide.
You also can use a function to open desktop
tools. For example, to open the Editor, use
edit. To open the Profiler, use profile
with the viewer option.
Maximize a tool Do one of the following:

• Double-click the title bar in that tool.

• On the title bar of a docked tool, click ,
and then select Maximize.
Minimize a tool On the title bar of a docked tool, click ,
and then select Minimize .
Use a minimized tool Click the button for the tool to temporarily
The button for the tool appears along the
open the tool on the desktop. When you
edge of the MATLAB desktop indicated by
Restore a tool as it appeared finish
Do using the tool, click another tool.
the one
arrow of the following:
in the Minimize icon. Move the
before maximizing or button to a different edge of the desktop by
minimizing
Move a tool Double-click
dragging
•
Drag a tool the
it.by its title
title barbar
to aofnew
thelocation.
Themaximized
status bartool, or thewhere
indicates buttontheof the
tool
Close a tool minimized
moves if you tool. the mouse.
release
On the title bar of a docked tool, click ,
and
• On the select
then title bar of the tool, click , and
Close.
Show or hide title bars Onthen
the Home tab, in the Environment
select Restore.
section, click Layout. Then, under Show,
• Click
select or the Restore
deselect button
Panel Titles.on the title
Show or hide a toolbar in a bar the
From View
in that menu,
tool. select the toolbar of
figure window interest.
Undock tools to move them Do one of the following:
outside the desktop
• Drag a tool by its title bar to a new
location outside of the MATLAB desktop.
• On the title bar of the tool, click , and
then select Undock.

2-12
 Adjust Desktop Appearance

Action Procedure
Move undocked tools back to At the upper right of the tool panel, click
the desktop , and then select Dock.
Manage a desktop On the Home tab, in the Environment
arrangement section, click Layout, and then select an
option.
• Save
When youanend
arrangement
a session, MATLAB saves the current desktop arrangement.
The next time you start MATLAB, the desktop appears as you left it.
• Use an arrangement
Note MATLAB
However, tools such as the Help browser, storesand
Web browser, the Variables
arrangements
editor
Rename
• not
do reopenorautomatically,
delete a savedevenyou savewere
if they as XML
openfiles
whenin you
the ended
preferences
the last
arrangement
session. folder
You can use startup options for MATLAB.
to specify Theyou
tools that layout
wantlast used on
to open
startup. For more information, seein “Startup
a sessionOptions”
is MATLABDesktop.xml
on page 1-18. . The
MATLABDesktop.xml file loads when you
start MATLAB and is overwritten when
Document Layout you close MATLAB.
When you open MATLAB documents, they open in the associated tool, such
as the Editor or Variables editor, and a document bar lists all the open
documents. The Editor and Variables editor appear in the position they
occupied when last used. Entries for undocked documents appear on the
Windows task bar, or the equivalent for your platform. Click the task bar
entry for a document to make that document active.

This table shows how to optimize the layout of documents and document
bar within a tool.

Action Procedure
Move or hide document bar On the View tab, in the Document
Bar section, click Bar Position,
and then select an option.
Reorder document names on the Drag a document name to a different
document bar position on the document bar.
To alphabetize names of documents
on the document bar, in the
Document Bar section of the View
tab, select Alphabetize.

2-13
 2 Desktop

Action Procedure
Arrange or tile documents In the Editor and Variables editor,
select the View tab. In the Tiles
section, click a tile option.
In a Figure panel, Help browser, or
Web browser, select a tile option, ,
, , or , on the right side of the
toolbar.
Move a tiled document Drag the title bar of the document to
another tile. If you drag it to a tile
that already contains a document,
the document you are dragging
covers up the other document.
Undock a document Right-click the document name in
the document bar, and then select
Undock.
Close and save the document Click .
currently displaying
Close a document in the Editor Click Ctrl + .
without saving

2-14
 Define Keyboard Shortcuts

Define Keyboard Shortcuts

In this section...
“Keyboard Shortcuts” on page 2-15
“Choose a Set of Keyboard Shortcuts” on page 2-16
“Compare Sets of Keyboard Shortcuts” on page 2-19
“Display Keyboard Shortcuts” on page 2-21
“Customize Keyboard Shortcuts” on page 2-24
“Evaluate and Resolve Keyboard Shortcut Conflicts” on page 2-29
“Examples of Creating, Modifying, and Deleting Keyboard Shortcuts” on
page 2-31
“Delete a Set of Keyboard Shortcuts” on page 2-35
“Use Keyboard Shortcuts Settings Files Created on Other Systems” on
page 2-35
“Keyboard Shortcut Restrictions” on page 2-36

Keyboard Shortcuts
To quickly access desktop features, you can use keyboard shortcuts. Press
Alt to display tooltips on MATLAB Toolstrip buttons, indicating what keys
to press to access those features. For example, pressing Alt followed by H
accesses the Home tab and displays tooltips for the features available on that
tab. You cannot customize these shortcuts.

An action can have multiple keyboard shortcuts. All defined shortcuts work,
but only one appears on the desktop Toolstrip tooltip.

You can:

• Choose from a set of shortcuts that install with MATLAB.

• Create customized sets of shortcuts.
• Use a set of shortcuts copied from another system

2-15
 2 Desktop

Choose a Set of Keyboard Shortcuts

By default, MATLAB uses keyboard shortcut settings that correspond to the
platform on which you are running. To choose different keyboard shortcut
settings, follow these steps:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.

2 Click the down arrow in the Active settings field, and make a selection
from the drop-down list, as summarized in this table.

Settings File Option to Select Details

Installed with • On Mac, Mac Default For a description of
MATLAB Set the files that install
with MATLAB, see
• On all other systems,
“Installed Settings Files
Windows Default Set
for Keyboard Shortcuts”
or Emacs Default Set
on page 2-17.
Previously added The file name No additional
information.
On your system, Browse “Browse to Keyboard
but not in the Shortcuts Settings Files”
drop-down list on page 2-17.
Created by Search File Exchange “Download Keyboard
someone else for Downloadable Shortcut Settings Files
and uploaded to Shortcut Sets from File Exchange” on
File Exchange page 2-18.
MATLAB Search File Exchange “Download Keyboard
keyboard for Downloadable Shortcut Settings Files
shortcuts Shortcut Sets from File Exchange” on
available in page 2-18.
Version 7.9
(R2009a) and
earlier releases

3 Click Apply.

2-16
 Define Keyboard Shortcuts

Installed Settings Files for Keyboard Shortcuts

The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts settings files installed with
MATLAB.

Operating Keyboard Shortcut Settings Files Installed with

System MATLAB
Windows • Windows Default Set (Default)
• Emacs Default Set
UNIX • Emacs Default Set (Default)
• Windows Default Set
Macintosh • Macintosh Default Set (Default)

Browse to Keyboard Shortcuts Settings Files

Browse to use a keyboard shortcuts settings file that is on your system, but
not an Active settings choice in the Keyboard Shortcuts Preferences dialog
box. This situation typically arises when you copy a settings file from another
system to a folder other than the prefdir directory. To browse to a settings
file and make it your active settings file, follow these steps:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.

2 In the Active settings field, click the down arrow, and then select Browse.

3 In the Open dialog box, navigate to the folder containing the settings file.

4 Select the settings file, and then click Open.

5 In the Keyboard Shortcuts preferences pane, click OK.

The settings file you selected in step 4 is now the active settings file for
MATLAB.

Future MATLAB sessions will provide this settings file as a choice in the
Active settings drop-down menu.

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 2 Desktop

Download Keyboard Shortcut Settings Files from File Exchange

Download keyboard shortcut settings files from File Exchange when you want
to do either of the following:

• Restore the MATLAB default keyboard shortcuts that were in place for
MATLAB Version 7.9 (R2009a) and earlier releases.
• Find and download keyboard shortcuts that others created and uploaded to
File Exchange.

Follow these steps:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.

2 In the Active settings field, click the down arrow, and then select Search
File Exchange for Downloadable Shortcut Sets.

MATLAB opens File Exchange.

3 Enter your MathWorks account information, and then click Submit.

If you do not have a MathWorks account, create one by clicking Create an

account, and then completing the form that opens in your Web browser.

4 Search File Exchange for the keyboard shortcut set that you want to use.

When you follow the steps presented so far, File Exchange lists all files
tagged with keyboard shortcuts configurable including:
• MATLAB Desktop R2009a Non-Default Keyboard Shortcut sets
• MATLAB Desktop R2009a Default Keyboard Shortcut sets

For a description, click the file name in the File Summary column of File
Exchange. Click the Back button to return to the list of files.

5 Click the download button next to the file you want to download.

6 Respond to the Download MATLAB Desktop confirmation dialog boxes as

follows:
a Click Download.

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 Define Keyboard Shortcuts

b Click Change Current Folder to Download Location.

The downloaded .ZIP file appears in the Current Folder Browser. Expand
it to preview its contents.

7 In the Current Folder browser, right-click the downloaded .ZIP file, and
then select Extract.

MATLAB creates a subfolder with the same name as the .ZIP file and
extracts the files from that .ZIP file into the newly created folder.

8 In the Current Folder browser, expand the newly created folder, and then
double-click the settings file you want to use.

A keyboard key icon preceding a file name indicates a valid keyboard

shortcut settings file.

9 In the Keyboard Shortcuts Preferences dialog box, review the settings,

and then click OK.

The newly downloaded settings file is now in effect.

Compare Sets of Keyboard Shortcuts

Compare sets of keyboard shortcuts to:

• Upgrade MATLAB from a version before Version 7.9 (R2009b).

MATLAB 7.9 made keyboard shortcuts consistent across the desktop.
Therefore, you might find that shortcuts you used before Version 7.9 are
different.
• See how a set of keyboard shortcuts you found on File Exchange differs
from your current set of keyboard shortcuts.
• See how a set of keyboard shortcuts differs from the default set.

Steps for Comparing Keyboard Shortcuts

To compare your current set of keyboard shortcuts to another set:

2-19
 2 Desktop

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.

2 Click the Actions button .

3 From the drop-down menu, choose the set of keyboard shortcuts to which
you want to compare the current set.

4 The Comparison Tool opens and displays the two keyboard shortcut sets
side-by-side.

Read the Results of Comparing Sets of Keyboard Shortcuts

When you compare keyboard shortcut sets, they appear in the Comparison
Tool as follows:

• One set displays on the left side of the tool and the other set displays on the
right side of the tool.
• Each column header displays the name of the keyboard shortcut set
contained within the column.
• Highlighting identifies rows that differ:
- Rows that exist in one file, but not the other, appear in green
highlighting.
- Rows that appear in both files, but that differ in content appear in pink
highlighting.
• When multiple desktop tools support the same keyboard shortcut for a
single desktop action, there is a row for each tool. For example, if both the
MATLAB desktop and the Editor support the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+W
for closing a selected window, a column of the Comparison Tool might
appear like this:

• When there are multiple keyboard shortcuts for the same action in a single
tool, there is a row for each keyboard shortcut. For example, if there are
two different keyboard shortcuts in the Editor for applying a code analyzer
autofix, a column of the Comparison Tool might appear like this:

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 Define Keyboard Shortcuts

• On Macintosh platforms, the textual format of keyboard shortcuts

is slightly different from other platforms, and also differs from the
representation shown on MATLAB desktop menus. These differences
are due to the Macintosh platform displaying shortcuts using symbols.
For instance, the Macintosh platform uses the symbol for a keyboard
key. Because the Comparison Tool represents symbols as text strings;
it specifies the symbol as CMD.

See also “Using Comparison Tool Features” on page 6-62.

Display Keyboard Shortcuts

The following sections describe the various ways you can display keyboard
shortcuts:

• “List All Keyboard Shortcuts in a Set” on page 2-21

• “Display Keyboard Shortcuts on Menus” on page 2-22
• “Display Keyboard Shortcuts in the Preferences Dialog Box” on page 2-22

List All Keyboard Shortcuts in a Set

You can copy all the keyboard shortcuts from a keyboard shortcuts set and
paste them in a text file or spreadsheet application, such as Microsoft Excel®.
To create a list of keyboard shortcuts for easy browsing and future reference,
follow these steps:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.

2 Click the Actions button .

3 From the drop-down menu, choose Copy to Clipboard.

4 Open a spreadsheet application or a text editor.

For the best formatting use a spreadsheet application.

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 2 Desktop

5 Paste in the data from the clipboard.

In Microsoft Excel, for example, choose Home > Paste.

Display Keyboard Shortcuts on Menus

If no keyboard shortcut appears on the menu, one does not currently exist for
that action. To create a keyboard shortcut for an action, follow the steps in
“Customize Keyboard Shortcuts” on page 2-24.

Display Keyboard Shortcuts in the Preferences Dialog Box

To identify a keyboard shortcut when there is no menu option for an action,
use the Keyboard Shortcuts Preferences pane:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.

2 In the filter field, type the name of the tool for which you want to list
the keyboard shortcuts. For example, type Editor to see the keyboard
shortcuts currently defined for actions you can perform in the Editor.

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 Define Keyboard Shortcuts

3 Narrow the list of Action names that the preferences pane displays by
adding a string describing the action. For example, add clear, if you want
to find the keyboard shortcut for clearing selected text in the Editor. Type
a short string to increase the likelihood of the filter returning the action
you seek.

4 Select the action name of interest. In this example, select Clear

Selection.

5 View the table labeled Shortcuts for Clear Selection. It indicates that
the Escape key is the current keyboard shortcut for the Clear Selection
action in the Editor.

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 2 Desktop

Customize Keyboard Shortcuts

You can customize or view keyboard shortcuts for MATLAB desktop
tools. On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click
Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts. If you have an active Internet
connection, you can watch the Customizable Keyboard Shortcuts video for
an overview.

The following sections provide details:

• “Steps for Customizing Keyboard Shortcuts” on page 2-24

• “Filter Keyboard Shortcut Actions” on page 2-27
• “Specify Keystrokes for a Keyboard Shortcut” on page 2-28
• “Evaluate and Resolve Keyboard Shortcut Conflicts” on page 2-29
• “Examples of Creating, Modifying, and Deleting Keyboard Shortcuts” on
page 2-31
• “Display Keyboard Shortcuts” on page 2-21

Steps for Customizing Keyboard Shortcuts

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.

2 In the Active settings field, choose the file that contains the set of
keyboard shortcuts that you want to customize.

Typically, the first time you modify keyboard shortcuts, you begin with
the default settings for your platform. For details, see “Choose a Set of
Keyboard Shortcuts” on page 2-16.

3 Under Action name, select the action for which you want to define or
modify a keyboard shortcut. An action is the operation for which you want
to customize the shortcut, such as Clear Command History.

For tips on finding the action you want, see “Filter Keyboard Shortcut
Actions” on page 2-27.

4 Click the Add button .

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 Define Keyboard Shortcuts

An editable field opens under the Shortcut column.

5 Type the shortcut that you want to use for the action you selected in Step 3.
Alternatively, you can choose a shortcut from the drop-down menu.

For details, see “Specify Keystrokes for a Keyboard Shortcut” on page 2-28.

6 Assign the shortcut to the tool or tools with which you want to use it. For
example, in the Tools with shortcut column:
a Click the down arrow for the list of desktop tools to which you can
assign a shortcut. Not all actions are available with all desktop tools.
b Select a check box to assign the shortcut to a tool. Clear a check box
to remove it.

7 Evaluate and resolve any conflicts, indicated by the informational and

error icons.

For more information, see “Evaluate and Resolve Keyboard Shortcut

Conflicts” on page 2-29.

8 Click Apply.

• The keyboard shortcut becomes available immediately.

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 2 Desktop

• If a changed shortcut corresponds to a menu option that previously

displayed no keyboard shortcut, MATLAB reflects the new keyboard
shortcut on the menu.

Restore Default Keyboard Shortcut Sets

If you modify keyboard shortcuts, and then decide you do not want to keep
the changes, you can restore the default shortcuts. To restore the default
state of a keyboard shortcut:

1 Click the Actions button .

2 Select Undo Modifications to Windows Default Set (modified) or

Undo Modifications to Emacs Default Set (modified), as appropriate
for your system.

3 Click OK.

Note Undoing modifications reverts all keyboard shortcuts changes that you
made to the set. You cannot undo modifications on a shortcut-by-shortcut
basis.

Save Keyboard Shortcuts to a Settings File

Save keyboard shortcuts to a settings file to:

• Save changes you make to a default settings file, such as the Windows
default set, to a new set.
MATLAB preserves changes you make to the default sets across sessions.
However, if you undo modifications to a default keyboard shortcut set (as
described in “Restore Default Keyboard Shortcut Sets” on page 2-26) you
lose all changes, unless you first save them to a new set.
• Copy the keyboard shortcuts settings file to another system running
MATLAB and use it there.
• Overwrite a settings file that you previously saved.
You cannot overwrite the default settings files that install with MATLAB.
MATLAB saves modifications that you make to a default set using the

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 Define Keyboard Shortcuts

name of the default set appended with the text (modified). For instance,
Windows default (modified).
• Share a keyboard shortcuts settings file with others.
For example, you can submit your file to the File Exchange repository.
Click this link to go directly to the page where you can submit your file:
MATLAB Central File Exchange — Submit New File.

To save a keyboard shortcuts settings file, follow these steps:

1 Open the Keyboard Shortcuts Preferences dialog box. On the Home tab, in
the Environment section, click Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.

2 Click the Actions button , and then select Save As.

3 In the Save dialog box, navigate to the folder where you want to save the
file, specify the file name, and then click Save.

MATLAB saves the file as an .xml file in the folder that you specified.

Filter Keyboard Shortcut Actions

Use the filter field to see the list of actions for which you can customize or
define a keyboard shortcut:

1 Type all or part of any one of the following:

• An action name, for example, Delete.

MATLAB displays only the action names or desktop menus that contain
the text you specify.
• The name of a desktop tool or menu, for example, File or Command
Window.
MATLAB displays a list of the action names associated with the tool
or menu you specify. In addition, the list includes any action names
that contain the name of the tool or menu. For example, if you specify
Command History, the list of action names includes Next History
Command, which is a Command Window action.
• A keyboard shortcut, for example, Ctrl+R

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 2 Desktop

MATLAB displays only the action names that have the shortcut you
specify. Be aware of the following:
– You can enter most keyboard shortcuts by either pressing keystrokes
or typing the key names.
For example, to enter Ctrl+S, use the keystroke (by pressing the
Ctrl key and the S key). Or, type Ctrl+S character by character
(C-t-r-l-+-Y).
– If using keystrokes for a keyboard shortcut does not work, try typing
the characters instead. You must type some keyboard shortcuts
character by character, such as shortcuts including the Tab,
Backspace, or Delete keys.
– Type numpad to refer to the number pad that is on the far right of
some keyboards.
– Type Up or Down to refer to the Up arrow or Down arrow keypad
keys, respectively.

2 Verify that an Action name performs the action you expect:

a Hover the mouse pointer over the Action name. For example, Remove
Next Word.
b View the tooltip that appears.

Specify Keystrokes for a Keyboard Shortcut

A keystroke can be a single key or the combination of a modifier (Alt, Shift,
or Ctrl) and another key. When you create a keyboard shortcut, specify the
keystrokes for the shortcut as follows:

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 Define Keyboard Shortcuts

1 Click the Add button .

2 Specify the number of keystrokes you want to use for the shortcut:

• To use the default number of keystrokes, which is one keystroke, skip to

step 3.
• To specify multiple keystrokes, or to specify explicitly one keystroke
follow these steps:

a Click the down arrow next to the key icon in the Shortcuts field.
b Choose Limit to 1 keystroke, Limit to 2 keystrokes, or Limit
to 3 keystrokes.

For instance, Ctrl+F is one keystroke, Ctrl+Y, Shift+Z is two

keystrokes, and Ctrl+Y, Shift+Z, F9 is three keystrokes.

3 Specify the keystrokes by doing one of the following:

• Type the keystrokes, by pressing the keys, not by typing the key names
character by character.
For example, press the Ctrl key and the Y key. Do not type C-t-r-l-+-Y.
• Choose a keystroke, such as the Tab key, by clicking the down arrow next
to the key icon in the Shortcuts field. Then, choose the key name.
The listed keys already have a defined action within dialog boxes. For
example, the Tab key navigates from one field to the next in dialog boxes.

Evaluate and Resolve Keyboard Shortcut Conflicts

Conflicts arise when two or more different actions have the same shortcut.
There is no requirement that you resolve keyboard shortcut conflicts.
However, if the same shortcut specifies two different actions, the shortcuts
can be confusing to use.

View keyboard shortcut conflicts — On the Home tab, in the Environment

section, click Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.

The Keyboard Shortcuts preferences pane indicates conflicts using

informational and error icons.

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• —An informational icon indicates that two different actions in two

different tools have the same shortcut. For information on resolving these
conflicts, see “Actions in Different Tools Have the Same Shortcut —
Evaluating Conflicts” on page 2-30.
• —An error icon indicates that two different actions within the same
tool have the same shortcut. For information on resolving these conflicts,
see “Actions in the Same Tool Have the Same Shortcut — Evaluating
Conflicts” on page 2-30.

Actions in Different Tools Have the Same Shortcut — Evaluating

Conflicts
Typically, you want to resolve conflicts indicated by the informational icon
when all the following are true:

• You use both tools frequently.

• You perform both actions frequently.
• You have difficulty remembering the action that the shortcut performs
in each tool.

For instance on Microsoft Windows platforms, by default, Ctrl+Shift+U

undocks a tool from the MATLAB desktop. However if you select text in
the Editor, and then press Ctrl+Shift+U, it changes the selected text to
uppercase. If you frequently use both of these actions, you can specify a
different keyboard shortcut for one or both actions.

Actions in the Same Tool Have the Same Shortcut — Evaluating

Conflicts
Typically, you want to resolve conflicts indicated by the error icon .

It can be unnecessary to resolve these conflicts if one or more of the following

are true:

• The situation is temporary.

For instance, you are performing a two-step procedure. In the first step,
you assign the keyboard shortcut to an action that results in a conflict.
Then, in the second step, you remove the shortcut from the original action.

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 Define Keyboard Shortcuts

• The two actions are associated with different modes of the same tool.
By default, when the MATLAB Editor is in cell mode, Ctrl+Up and
Ctrl+Down move the cursor to the Next and Previous cell, respectively.
When the Editor is not in cell mode, those keyboard shortcuts scroll up and
scroll down, respectively. The shortcuts are in conflict, but the behavior
probably is expected, for the given MATLAB Editor mode.
Although not evident from the preferences pane, Ctrl+C presents a similar
situation on Windows systems. Ctrl+C is the keyboard shortcut for
interrupting MATLAB execution. However, the default keyboard shortcut
for the copy action is also Ctrl+C. Therefore, if you:
- Select an item, and then press Ctrl+C, it copies the selected item to the
clipboard, — regardless of whether MATLAB is busy.
- Do not select an item and press Ctrl+C, it interrupts MATLAB
execution.
If you change the default keyboard shortcut for the copy action from
Ctrl+C to another keystroke, then Ctrl+C interrupts MATLAB execution,
regardless of whether you have selected an item.

Resolve Keyboard Shortcut Conflicts

To resolve a conflict, change or delete shortcuts such that there is a one-to-one
correspondence between a shortcut and a frequently used action. For
examples, see “Changing a Keyboard Shortcut” on page 2-32 and “Deleting
a Keyboard Shortcut” on page 2-34.

Examples of Creating, Modifying, and Deleting

Keyboard Shortcuts
• “Creating a New Keyboard Shortcut” on page 2-32
• “Changing a Keyboard Shortcut” on page 2-32
• “Deleting a Keyboard Shortcut” on page 2-34

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Creating a New Keyboard Shortcut

By default, no keyboard shortcut is available for adding a Help topic to the
list of favorites. If you frequently mark topics as favorites, you can define a
keyboard shortcut for this action, as follows:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.

2 In the filter field, type Help.

3 Scroll through the Action name list, and select Add to Favorites.

4 Click the plus button

MATLAB adds a row to the table above the plus button.

5 In the Shortcut field, click the down arrow, and then change Limit to 1
keystroke to Limit to 2 keystrokes.

6 In the Shortcut field, press Ctrl+S, and then Alt+V.

Notice that the All possible conflicts table is empty, which indicates that no
other desktop action is currently using this combination of keystrokes.

7 Click Apply.

Notice that:

• The Add to Favorites dialog box opens when you press Ctrl+S, Alt+V
in the Help browser.
• Ctrl+S, Alt+V appears next to Add to Favorites when you click the
Favorites menu in the Help browser.

Changing a Keyboard Shortcut

Suppose you frequently adjust indenting in the MATLAB Editor. However,
you have difficulty remembering the default keyboard shortcut of Ctrl+[
for decreasing the indent. So, you decide to change it to something that is
easier to remember.

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 Define Keyboard Shortcuts

This example changes the keyboard shortcut for Decrease Indent in the
MATLAB Editor from Ctrl+[ to Ctrl+Backspace:.

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.

2 Under Active settings, choose Windows Default Set.

3 In the filter field, press Ctrl+[.

4 Under Action name, select Decrease Indent.

5 In the table labeled Shortcuts for Decrease Indent, under Shortcut,

click Ctrl+[. MATLAB makes the field editable.

6 In the Shortcut field, press Ctrl+Backspace twice.

The first time you press the key combination, it deletes Ctrl+[. The second
time you press it, Ctrl+Backspace appears in the field.

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7 Click Apply.

MATLAB saves your changes to the Windows Default Set (modified)

settings.

Deleting a Keyboard Shortcut

Suppose you find yourself frequently pressing the wrong keyboard shortcut.
For example, on Windows, you press Alt+Enter (to apply a code analyzer
autofix) instead of Ctrl+Enter (to evaluate the current cell in the MATLAB
Editor ). To avoid accidentally applying an autofix, delete the Alt+Enter
shortcut by following these steps:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.

2 Under Active settings, choose Windows Default Set or Windows

Default Set (modified).

3 In the filter field, press Alt+Enter.

4 Under Action name, select the row containing Autofix Message.

5 In the next table, under Shortcuts for Autofix Message, select the row
containing Alt+Enter.

6 Click the remove button .

7 Click Apply.

If it does not exist, MATLAB creates a Windows Default Set (modified)

keyboard shortcut set. This set consists of the Windows Default Set

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 Define Keyboard Shortcuts

of keyboard shortcuts, less the shortcut for Alt+Enter. If the Windows

Default Set (modified) settings file exists, then MATLAB deletes the
Alt+Enter keyboard shortcut from that set of keyboard shortcuts.

See also “Delete a Set of Keyboard Shortcuts” on page 2-35.

Delete a Set of Keyboard Shortcuts

If you previously saved or copied a set of keyboard shortcuts to your system
and you no longer want it, delete it as follows:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.

2 Under Active settings, choose the set of keyboard shortcuts that you
want to delete.

You cannot delete default keyboard shortcut sets, such as Windows

Default Set.

3 Click the Actions button and choose Delete filename, where filename
is the name of a keyboard shortcut set you previously saved or copied to
your system.

For information on deleting a single keyboard shortcut from a set that you
want to keep, see “Deleting a Keyboard Shortcut” on page 2-34.

Use Keyboard Shortcuts Settings Files Created on

Other Systems
If you find a keyboard shortcuts settings file that is useful to you, or if you
want to use one you created on a different system, make it the active settings
file as follows:

1 Copy the settings file to a folder on your system, such as:

I:\my_matlab_files\active_settings_files\new_settings.xml

2 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.

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 2 Desktop

3 In the Active settings field, click the down arrow, and then click Browse.

4 In the Open dialog box, navigate to the folder where you copied the settings
file.

5 Select the settings file, and then click Open.

6 In the Keyboard Shortcuts preferences pane, click Apply. The settings file
you specified is now the active settings file for MATLAB.

Keyboard Shortcut Restrictions

These sections describe the tools, portions of tools, and actions for which you
cannot change keyboard shortcuts:

• “Tools for Which You Cannot Customize Keyboard Shortcuts” on page 2-36
• “Actions for Which You Cannot Customize Keyboard Shortcuts” on page
2-36

Tools for Which You Cannot Customize Keyboard Shortcuts

You cannot change the keyboard shortcuts associated with the following tools
or portions of tools:

• Figure windows—For example, you cannot modify the keyboard shortcut,

Ctrl+S, for saving a MATLAB .fig file.
• Toolboxes—For example, you cannot modify keyboard shortcuts in the
SimBiology® desktop.
• Incremental search—You can modify the keyboard shortcuts for initiating
a forward or backward incremental search. However, you cannot change
the keyboard shortcuts that you use within incremental search mode, such
as Ctrl+Shift+S to search forward.
• Dialog boxes—For example, you cannot create a keyboard shortcut for
the OK button.

Actions for Which You Cannot Customize Keyboard Shortcuts

The following table describes some frequently used actions for which you
cannot customize keyboard shortcuts.

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 Define Keyboard Shortcuts

Action Keyboard Shortcut

Cancel the current Esc (escape)
action.
For example, if you select the Edit menu, the menu items display.
Pressing Esc retracts the menu items.
In the Function Browser, pressing Esc up to three times has the following
effects:

1 Dismisses the search history

2 Clears the search field

3 Closes the Function Browser

Interrupt MATLAB Ctrl+C

execution on all
supported platforms.
Interrupt MATLAB Ctrl+Cancel
execution on
Windows and UNIX
systems.
Interrupt MATLAB Cmd+. (period)
execution on
Macintosh systems.
Open context menu Ctrl+Shift+F10
on Windows and
UNIX systems.
Close the desktop Alt+F4
and consequently
shut down the
MATLAB program.
Outside the desktop,
close the active
window (except
on Macintosh
platforms).

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 2 Desktop

Action Keyboard Shortcut

Accessibility Tab for navigating through fields in dialog boxes, for example.
affordances
Make an open tool • Command Window: Ctrl+0
the active tool
• Command History: Ctrl+1
• Current Folder: Ctrl+2
• Workspace: Ctrl+3
• Profiler: Ctrl+4
• Figure Palette: Ctrl+6
• Plot Browser: Ctrl+7
• Property Editor: Ctrl+8
• Editor: Ctrl+Shift+0
• Figures: Ctrl+Shift+1
• Web browser: Ctrl+Shift+2
• Variables Editor: Ctrl+Shift+3
• Comparison Tool: Ctrl+Shift+4
• Help browser: Ctrl+Shift+5

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 Set Print Options

Set Print Options

In this section...
“Page Setup Options” on page 2-39
“Layout Options for Page Setup” on page 2-39
“Header Options for Page Setup” on page 2-40
“Fonts Options for Page Setup” on page 2-40

MATLAB provides special page setup options for printing from the Command
Window and Editor. The setup options are essentially the same for both tools,
with minor variations. This section covers their use:

Page Setup Options

To specify page setup options, perform these steps:

1 In the tool you want to print from, for example, the Command Window, select
Page Setup.

The Page Setup dialog box opens for that tool.

2 Click the Layout, Header, or Fonts tab in the dialog box and set those
options for that tool, as detailed in subsequent sections.

3 Click OK.

4 After specifying the options, select Print in the tool you want to print from,
for example, the Command Window.

The contents from the tool print, using the options you specified in Page Setup.

Layout Options for Page Setup

You can specify the following layout options. A preview area shows you the
effects of your selections.

• Print header — Print the header specified in the Header pane.

• Print line numbers — Print line numbers.

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• Wrap lines — Wrap any lines that are longer than the printed page width.
• Syntax highlighting — For keywords and comments that are highlighted
in the Command Window, specify how they are to appear in print. Options
are black and white text (that is, no highlighting), colored text (for use with
a color printer), or styled text. For styled text, keywords appear in bold,
comments appear in italics, and all other text appears in the normal style.
Only keywords and comments you input in the Command Window are
highlighted; output is not highlighted.

Header Options for Page Setup

If you want to print a header, select the Layout tab and then select Print
header. Next, select the Header tab and specify how the elements of the
header are to appear. A preview area shows you the effects of your selections:

• Page number — Format for the page number, for example # of n

• Border — Border style for the header, for example, Shaded box
• Layout — Layout style for the header. For example, Standard one line
includes the date, time, and page number all on one line

Fonts Options for Page Setup

Specify the font to use for the printed contents:

1 From Choose font, select the element, either Body or Header, where Body
text is everything except the Header.

2 Select the font to use for the element.

For example, if you access this dialog box while using the Command Window,
you can select Use Command Window font for Body text. The printed text
matches the Command Window font.

3 Repeat for the other element.

If you did not select Print header on the Layout pane, you do not need to
specify the Header font.

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 Set Print Options

As an example, for Header text, select Use custom font and then specify the
font characteristics—type, style, and size. After you specify a custom font, the
Sample area shows how the font will look.

Tip You can change the font that a desktop tool uses. On the Home tab, in
the Environment section, click Preferences > Fonts > Custom.

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 2 Desktop

Web Browsers and MATLAB

In this section...
“About Web Browsers and MATLAB” on page 2-42
“Display Pages in Web Browsers” on page 2-44
“Specify Proxy Server Settings for Connecting to the Internet” on page 2-44
“Specify the System Browser for UNIX Platforms” on page 2-45

About Web Browsers and MATLAB

From MATLAB, Web sites and documents can display in any of the following
browsers:

• MATLAB Web browser

• Help browser
• Your system Web browser, such as Mozilla® Firefox®

MATLAB uses the different browsers to display different types of information:

• Web sites display in your system browser.

• Documentation displays in the Help browser.
• Other HTML files display in the MATLAB Web browser. For example,
after publishing a MATLAB program file to HTML, the HTML file displays
in the MATLAB Web browser:

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 Web Browsers and MATLAB®

MATLAB Web and Help Browsers

The MATLAB Web and Help browsers may not support all the features that
a particular Web site or HTML page uses. For example, the MATLAB Web
browser does not display .bmp (bitmap) image files. Instead use .gif or .jpeg
formats for image files in HTML pages.

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 2 Desktop

System Browser
The system browser that MATLAB uses depends on your platform:

• On Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh platforms, MATLAB uses the

default browser for your operating system.
• On UNIX platforms, MATLAB uses the Mozilla Firefox browser. You can
specify a different system browser for MATLAB using Web preferences.

Display Pages in Web Browsers

To display an HTML document in the MATLAB Web browser, double-click
the document name in the Current Folder browser.

To display a Web page or any file type in the MATLAB Web browser:

1 Open the browser using the web command.

2 Type a URL or full path to a filename in the Location field.

Specify Proxy Server Settings for Connecting to the

Internet
If your network uses a firewall or another method of protection that restricts
Internet access, provide information about your proxy server to MATLAB. Be
aware that:

• MATLAB supports non-authenticated, basic, digest, and NTLM proxy

authentication types.
• You cannot specify the proxy server settings using a script.
• There is no automated way to provide the proxy server settings your system
browser uses to MATLAB.

To specify the proxy server settings:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click Preferences > Web.

2 Select the Use a proxy server to connect to the Internet check box.

3 Specify values for Proxy host and Proxy port.

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 Web Browsers and MATLAB®

Examples of acceptable formats for the host are: 172.16.10.8 and ourproxy.
For the port, enter an integer only, such as 22. If you do not know the values
for your proxy server, ask your system or network administrator for the
information.

If your proxy server requires a user name and password, select the Use a
proxy with authentication check box. Then enter your proxy user name
and password.

Note MATLAB stores the password without encryption in your matlab.prf

file.

4 Ensure that your settings work by clicking the Test connection button.

MATLAB attempts to connect to http://www.mathworks.com:

• If MATLAB can access the Internet, Success! appears next to the button.
• If MATLAB cannot access the Internet, Failed! appears next to the button.
Correct the values you entered and try again. If you still cannot connect, try
using the values you used when you authenticated your MATLAB license.

5 Click OK to accept the changes.

Specify the System Browser for UNIX Platforms

To specify the system browser:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click Preferences > Web.

2 Under System Web browser, in the Command field, specify the system
command to open the browser, for example, opera, which opens the Opera
Web browser.

Note The System Web browser preference is for UNIX platforms

(excluding Macintosh) and does not appear in the preferences pane for other
platforms.

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 2 Desktop

3 Add options for opening your system browser in the Options field. For
example, geometry 1064x860 specifies the size of the window for Opera.

4 Click OK.

2-46
 License Management and Software Updates

License Management and Software Updates

In this section...
“Manage Your Licenses” on page 2-47
“Check for Software Updates” on page 2-48

Manage Your Licenses

You can use the MATLAB licensing features to perform license management
activities, such as activating licenses, deactivating licenses, or updating
licenses. You also can visit the License Center at the MathWorks Web site to
perform other license-related activities.

To access the licensing feature:

1 On the Home tab, in the Resources section, click Licensing.

2 Select a Licensing option. The following table describes the Licensing options.
Depending on your license type, your system might not include all of these
options.

Note Some options require an Internet connection. If your Internet

connection requires a proxy server, use MATLAB Web preferences to specify
the server host and port. See “Specify Proxy Server Settings for Connecting to
the Internet” on page 2-44 for more information.

Option Description
Update Displays a list of all your MathWorks licenses on this
Current computer, with their current status. When you select a
Licenses license and click Update Selected License, MATLAB
contacts MathWorks to retrieve the most current version
of the License File for the license. The update process

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 2 Desktop

Option Description

overwrites the current License File on your system. You

will need to restart MATLAB.
Activate Starts the activation application, which walks you through
Software the activation process. Answer the questions on each
dialog box, select the license you want to activate, and
click Activate.
Deactivate Displays a list of all your MathWorks licenses on this
Software computer, with their current status. When you select a
license and click Deactivate Selected License, MATLAB
deactivates all releases on this computer associated with
the license, and updates the licensing information at
the MathWorks Web site. You will not be able to use
MathWorks software with that license on this computer.
If you are not connected to the Internet, MATLAB
deactivates the licences on your computer but cannot
update the corresponding license information stored at the
MathWorks Web site. In this scenario, MATLAB returns a
deactivation string. To complete deactivation, save a copy
of this string, go to a computer with an Internet connection,
and visit the License Center at the MathWorks Web site.
There you can log in to your MathWorks Account and enter
the deactivation string.
Manage Starts a Web browser, opening the My Licenses page
Licenses associated with your MathWorks Account. You can use
this page, called the License Center, to perform many
licensing activities.

Check for Software Updates

To determine if more recent versions of your MathWorks products are
available, and to view latest version numbers for all MathWorks products,
follow these steps:

1 Make sure you have an active Internet connection.

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 License Management and Software Updates

2 Select Help > Check for Updates. The Check for Updates dialog box
displays.

3 From the Select View list, choose to view the latest version numbers for all
MathWorks products installed on your system, or all MathWorks products.

The latest versions display.

4 Click any column heading to sort or reverse the sort order by that column.

5 Use the What’s New column to access the release notes for a product.

Release notes document new features and changes, bug reports, and
compatibility considerations.

6 Decide whether you want to upgrade to the most recent version.

• If you do, click Download Products at MathWorks.com

• If you do not, go to step 7.

7 Click Close.

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 2 Desktop

Macintosh Platform Conventions

In this section...
“Mouse Instructions and Macintosh Platforms” on page 2-50
“Navigating Within the MATLAB Root Folder on Macintosh Platforms”
on page 2-50

Mouse Instructions and Macintosh Platforms

The documentation typically presents conventions for Microsoft Windows
platforms. Therefore, some conventions and operations differ on the
Macintosh platform from those that appear in the rest of the documentation.
The intended action for the Macintosh platform is typically obvious. Mouse
operations follow Macintosh conventions.

Make the following replacements to adjust documented mouse instructions

for Macintosh platforms if you are using a one-button mouse:

• Replace right-click with Ctrl+click

• Replace middle-click with Command+click

Navigating Within the MATLAB Root Folder on

Macintosh Platforms
On Macintosh platforms, MATLAB is installed as an application bundle.
The root folder, the string returned by the matlabroot command, has a
.app extension.

To view the contents of the MATLAB root folder in the Mac Finder, right-click
the MATLAB application bundle, and then select Show Package Contents
from the context menu.

To view the content of the MATLAB root folder from within MATLAB:

1 On the Home tab, in the File section, click

2 In the File Browser dialog box, press Command+Shift+G to open the Go

To Folder dialog box.

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 Macintosh Platform Conventions

3 Enter the full path to the MATLAB folder, for example,

/Applications/MATLAB_R2012a.app.

4 Press Go.

To open a file with a MATLAB command, such as edit, specify the full path of
the MATLAB root folder. For example:

edit(fullfile(matlabroot,'/toolbox/matlab/demos/lotka.m'))

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Preferences
In this section...
“Set Preferences for MATLAB” on page 2-52
“Where MATLAB Stores Preferences” on page 2-53
“Preferences Folder and Files MATLAB Uses When Multiple MATLAB
Releases Are Installed” on page 2-54
“General Preferences” on page 2-55
“MAT-Files Preferences” on page 2-56
“Confirmation Dialogs Preferences” on page 2-57
“Source Control Preferences” on page 2-59
“Java Heap Memory Preferences” on page 2-59
“Keyboard Shortcuts Preferences” on page 2-60
“Fonts Preferences” on page 2-62
“Fonts Custom Preferences” on page 2-63
“Colors Preferences” on page 2-64
“Colors Programming Tools Preferences” on page 2-65
“Toolbars Preferences” on page 2-66
“Web Preferences” on page 2-67

Set Preferences for MATLAB

MATLAB provides a variety of options called preferences for customizing
MATLAB. To access and set preferences:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click Preferences.

2 From the left pane of the Preferences dialog box, select a tool, product, or an
entry revealed when you click a plus sign (+) preceding a tool or product name.

3 Change settings in the right pane of the Preferences dialog box.

4 Click Apply or OK.

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 Preferences

Preferences take effect immediately. They remain persistent across sessions

of MATLAB.

Function Alternative
Open the Preferences dialog box using the preferences function.

Where MATLAB Stores Preferences

MATLAB and other MathWorks products store their preferences in the file
matlab.prf. This file loads when you start MATLAB. The folder containing
this file is called the preferences folder. The preference folder also contains
other related files.

The Path to and File Name for the Preferences Folder

To see the full path for the folder where matlab.prf and related files are
located, type prefdir in the MATLAB Command Window.

On Apple Macintosh platforms, the folder can be in a hidden folder, for

example, myname/.matlab/R2009b. If so, to access the hidden folder:

1 In the Apple Mac OS Finder tool, select Go > Go to Folder.

2 In the resulting dialog box, type the path returned by prefdir, and then
press Enter.

The name of the preferences folder, matches the name of the release. For
instance, for MATLAB R2010b, the name of the preferences folder is R2010b.

Effects of Changing Preferences

When you change preferences using the MATLAB Desktop, it updates
matlab.prf. When you close MATLAB, it saves those changes to matlab.prf.

Effects of Installation and Deinstallation on the Preferences

Folder
Installing MATLAB has no effect on the preferences folder. That is, MATLAB
creates, checks, copies, and writes to the preferences folder when you start
up MATLAB, not when you install it. When you uninstall MATLAB, there

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is an option in the uninstaller to remove the preferences folder. However,

this option is not selected by default.

Preferences Folder and Files MATLAB Uses When

Multiple MATLAB Releases Are Installed
The files in the preferences folder that MATLAB uses depends on the version
of MATLAB you are starting up. How and if MATLAB migrates (reuses)
preferences files from one version to the next also depends on the version.

Process MATLAB Uses to Create and Migrate the Preferences

Folder and its Files
When you start it up, MATLAB looks for a preferences folder name that
matches the release starting up, and then does one of the following:

• If MATLAB finds a preferences folder name matching the release starting

up, it uses that folder and the files within it.
If that folder is empty, MATLAB recreates the default files for the release
starting up.
• If MATLAB does not find a preferences folder name matching the release
starting up, it creates one. Then, MATLAB checks to see if the release
of MATLAB that immediately precedes the one you are starting up is
installed.
- If that previous release is not installed, MATLAB recreates the folder
and default files for the version starting up.
For example, if you start up R2010b and R2010a is not installed, then
MATLAB recreates the default files for the R2010b preferences folder.
This is true even if R2009b or earlier is installed.
- If that previous release is installed, MATLAB migrates the files from
the preferences folder corresponding to that previous release to the
preferences folder for the release starting up.
For example, if you start up R2010b and R2010a is installed, then
MATLAB migrates the files from R2010a preferences folder to the
R2010b preferences folder.

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Control the Preferences Files MATLAB Uses

This table describes how to control which versions of preferences files
MATLAB uses.

To Use: Do This:
Default preference files for a given Make sure the preferences folder
release of MATLAB for that release exists, but is empty
before starting up that MATLAB
version.
All the preference files from the Ensure that the preferences folder
release of MATLAB immediately exists for that preceding release.
preceding the release you plan to If so, delete the entire preferences
start up folder for the release of MATLAB
you plan to start up.
The release-specific default for just Delete just that file from the
a particular file in the preferences preferences folder for the release of
folder MATLAB you plan to start up.
One file to consider keeping is
history.m. For more information,
see “Command History” on page
3-29.

General Preferences
You can set preferences for toolbox path caching, figure window printing,
and deleting files.

On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > General. Then, adjust preference options as
described in this table.

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Preference Usage
Toolbox path caching Select Enable toolbox path caching
to have MATLAB cache toolbox folder
information across sessions for quicker startup
performance.
Select Enable toolbox path cache
diagnostics to display information about
startup time when you start MATLAB.
Click Update Toolbox Path Cache to
add files to the toolbox folders under the
matlabroot folder. (Use after you use tools not
provided with MATLAB to create MATLAB
files.)
For details, see “Toolbox Path Caching in the
MATLAB Program” on page 1-23.
Figure window printing Select an option to specify how colored lines
and text appear in printed output.
Deleting Files Select an option to specify what MATLAB does
with files you delete using the delete function.
Selecting Delete permanently makes the
delete function run faster.
For details, see “Deleting Files and Folders
Using Functions” on page 6-38.

MAT-Files Preferences
You can set the default MATLAB version for MAT-files and FIG-files.
These preferences apply to both the save function and the Save
menu options. However, the matfile function creates only Version
7.3 MAT-files. On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click
Preferences > General > MAT-Files. Then, adjust preference options as
described in the table below.

For more details on the features supported in each version, see the save
reference page.

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 Preferences

Option Use to:

MATLAB Version 7.3 or later Load or save parts of variables, or

(save -v7.3) save variables larger than 2 GB on
64-bit systems. As with Version
7, files are compressed and use
Unicode® character encoding.
MATLAB Version 7 or later (save Save compressed MAT-files that use
-v7) Unicode character encoding. This
is the default on new installations
of MATLAB software and upgrades
from versions earlier than 7.3.
MATLAB Version 5 or later (save Save MAT-files for use with versions
-v6) prior to MATLAB Version 7, or
create uncompressed files.

Confirmation Dialogs Preferences

You can specify whether or not MATLAB displays specific confirmation dialog
boxes.

On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > General > Confirmation Dialogs. Then, adjust
preference options as described in the table below.

This table summarizes the core MATLAB confirmation dialog boxes. There
might be additional confirmation dialog boxes for other products you install.

Option Confirmation Dialog Box Appears

Warn before deleting When you delete entries from the Command History window.
Command History
For details, see “Using Command History Commands” on page 3-29.
items
Warn before clearing When, on the Home tab, in the Code section, you click Clear
the Command Window Commands. Does not appear when you use the clc function.

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Option Confirmation Dialog Box Appears

Confirm when When you save variables by dragging them from the Workspace
overwriting variables browser onto a MAT-file in the Current Folder browser.
in MAT-files
For details, see “Creating and Updating MAT-Files with the Current
Folder Browser” on page 6-32.

Confirm when When you load variables by dragging them from the Details Panel of
overwriting the Current Folder browser to the Workspace browser or Command
workspace variables Window.
via drag-and-drop
Prompt when editing When you type edit filename and filename does not exist in the
files that do not exist current folder or on the search path.
Prompt to exit debug When you try to save a modified file while in debug mode.
mode when saving file
For details, see “End Debugging”.
Prompt to save on When you have unsaved changes to a figure and program file and
activate you activate the GUI by clicking the Run button, for example.
For details, see “GUIDE Preferences”.
Prompt to save on When you have unsaved changes to a figure and program file and
export you select File > Export.
For details, see “GUIDE Preferences”.
Confirm changing When you have modified a callback signature in GUIDE.
default callback
For details, see “GUIDE Preferences”.
implementation
Confirm before exiting When you quit MATLAB.
MATLAB
Confirm when When you delete variables from the workspace using menu items.
deleting variables Does not appear with the clear function.
For details, see “Save, Load, and Delete Workspace Variables” on
page 5-9.

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 Preferences

Source Control Preferences

You can select which previously installed and configured source control
system to use with MATLAB.

On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > General > Source Control. Then, select an
option from the list.

For detailed information on setting up and using a source control system with
MATLAB, see “Set Up Source Control (Microsoft Windows)” and “Source
Control Interface on UNIX Platforms”.

Java Heap Memory Preferences

You can adjust the amount of memory that MATLAB software allocates for
Java objects.

Note The default heap size is sufficient for most cases.

To adjust the Java heap size:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > General > Java Heap Memory.

2 Select a Java heap size value using the slider or spin box.

Note Increasing the Java heap size decreases the amount of memory
available for storing data in arrays.

3 Click OK.

4 Restart MATLAB.

If the amount of memory you specified is not available upon restart, MATLAB
resets the value to the default, and displays an error dialog box. To readjust
the value, repeat the previous steps.

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If increasing the heap size does not eliminate memory errors, check your Java
code for memory leaks. Eliminate references to objects that are no longer
useful. For more information, see the Java SE Troubleshooting guide at
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/index-138283.html.

Keyboard Shortcuts Preferences

You can set keyboard shortcuts for actions you perform using MathWorks
software. You can specify or import sets of predefined keyboard shortcuts,
set individual shortcuts on an action-by-action basis, or use a combination of
both approaches.

On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts. Then, adjust preference
options as described in the table below.

For step-by-step instructions, see “Customize Keyboard Shortcuts” on page

2-24.

Preference Usage
Active settings Select or import a set of predefined
keyboard shortcuts.
For details, see “Choose a Set
of Keyboard Shortcuts” on page
2-16 and “Use Keyboard Shortcuts
Settings Files Created on Other
Systems” on page 2-35.
Select any one of these options:
• Save As—Save active settings to
a file.
• Copy to clipboard— so you can
import into Microsoft Excel, for
example.
For details, see, “Display
Keyboard Shortcuts” on page 2-21.
• Compare active settings to
another set.

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 Preferences

Preference Usage

For details, see,“Compare Sets of

Keyboard Shortcuts” on page 2-19.
• Undo Modifications to a default
keyboard shortcut set.
• Delete a set of keyboard shortcuts
you previously saved or added.
For details, see “Delete a Set of
Keyboard Shortcuts” on page 2-35.

Search by action name or Search the list of displayed actions.

shortcut
Shortcuts for <action-name> View the keyboard shortcut assigned
to a selected action.
Add or delete a keyboard shortcut to
a selected action.
For details, see,“Examples of
Creating, Modifying, and Deleting
Keyboard Shortcuts” on page 2-31.

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Preference Usage
All possible conflicts Display conflicts when two or more
different actions have the same
shortcut.
For details, see “Evaluate and
Resolve Keyboard Shortcut
Conflicts” on page 2-29.
Remove the keyboard shortcut from
the selection in the All possible
conflicts list.
For details, see “Evaluate and
Resolve Keyboard Shortcut
Conflicts” on page 2-29.

Fonts Preferences
You can set and specify different fonts for desktop tools.

On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click Preferences > Fonts.
Then, set options as described in the table below.

For step-by-step instructions on setting these preferences, see “Fonts” on

page 2-2.

Preference Usage

Desktop code font Specify the font (type, style, and size in points) for tools
assigned to use the desktop code font.
To change the list of tools that use the desktop code
font, see “Fonts Custom Preferences” on page 2-63.
Desktop text font Specify the font (type, style, and size in points) for tools
assigned to use the desktop text font.
To have the desktop text font use the same font as
your system, select Use system font. Otherwise, clear
Use system font and specify the type, style, and size
in points in the fields provided. To change the list of

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 Preferences

Preference Usage

tools that use the desktop text font, see “Fonts Custom
Preferences” on page 2-63.
Custom fonts See which tools currently do not use the desktop text
font or the desktop code font. By default, the Profiler
and Comparison Tool use a custom font.
Use antialiasing to smooth desktop Give the desktop a smoother appearance.
fonts
This option is not provided on Microsoft Windows or
Linux4 and UNIX5 platforms only.
Apple Macintosh platforms, because MATLAB follows
the operating system’s font settings on these platforms.

Fonts Custom Preferences

You can override font settings for individual desktop tools, as described in the
table that follows. Desktop tools otherwise use the settings that the “Fonts
Preferences” on page 2-62 specify.

On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Fonts > Custom. Then, set options as described
in the table below.

For step-by-step instructions on setting these preferences, see “Fonts” on

page 2-2.

4. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

5. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other
countries.

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 2 Desktop

Preference Usage
Desktop tools Select the desktop tool for which you want to view or customize
fonts, such as the Command Window or Editor.
Font to use Indicates the font currently being used in the selected desktop
tool. Use one of these fonts to change it.
• Desktop code
Uses the characteristics of the desktop code font, as
described in “Fonts Preferences” on page 2-62.
• Desktop text
Uses the characteristics of the desktop text font, as described
in “Fonts Preferences” on page 2-62.
• Custom
Uses the type, style, and size you specify in the fields.

For the Profiler and Comparison Tool, you can change the font
size, but changes to the font style (for example, bold or italic)
have no effect.

Colors Preferences
You can specify the text and background color for desktop tools, as well as
colors for highlighting syntax elements of MATLAB code.

On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click Preferences > Colors.
Then, set options as described in the table below.

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 Preferences

Preference Usage

Desktop tool colors Specify that desktop tools use the same text and
background colors that your platform uses for other
applications by selecting Use system colors.
Customize colors by clearing Use system colors, and
then choose Text and Background colors from the
drop-down menus.
These colors do not apply to the Help display pane, nor
to the Web browser.
For details, see “Changing Text, Background, and
Hyperlink Colors in Desktop Tools” on page 2-7.
MATLAB syntax highlighting Set colors to help you quickly identify elements of
colors MATLAB syntax in the Editor, Command Window,
Command History window, and the MATLAB shortcuts
callback area.
For details, see “Changing Syntax Highlighting Colors”
on page 2-8.
MATLAB Command Window Set colors to help you quickly identify errors, warnings,
colors and hyperlinks in the Command Window.

Colors Programming Tools Preferences

You can specify options used for editing and debugging code, including code
analysis colors, variable and function colors, and cell display options.

On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Colors > Programming. Then, set options as
described in the table below.

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 2 Desktop

Preference Usage
Code analyzer colors • Warnings—Specifies the color Code Analyzer uses to
identify code in the Editor for which there are warning
messages.
• Autofix highlight—Specifies the color Code Analyzer uses
to identify code in the Editor for which there is an automatic
fix.

For details, see “Automatically Check Code in the Editor —

Code Analyzer”.
Variable and function • Automatically highlight—Specifies the color the Editor
colors uses to highlight all occurrences of a specific variable or
function. For details, see “Find and Replace Functions or
Variables in the Current File”.
• Variables with shared scope—Specifies the color of
variables with shared scope. The text is colored, not shaded.
For details, see “Check Variable Scope in Editor”
Section display options Highlight sections—Specifies the color the Editor uses to
shade code sections.
Show lines between sections—Specifies that code section
divisions appear with a gray line between each section in the
Editor. These lines do not appear in the published or printed
file.
See also “Run Code Sections”.

Toolbars Preferences
You can customize some toolbars in the MATLAB application.

On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Toolbars. Then, set options as described in the
table below.

For step-by-step instructions on setting these preferences, see “Access

Frequently Used Features” on page 2-10.

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 Preferences

Preference Usage
Toolbar Select the toolbar you want to customize.
Layout Rearrange the order of controls in the toolbar by dragging
and dropping them to a new location in the Layout.
Controls Select which buttons appear on the selected toolbar.

Web Preferences
Web preferences enable you to specify Internet connection information to
MATLAB.

Note

Limitations
• MATLAB supports nonauthenticated, basic, digest, and NTLM proxy
authentication types.
• You cannot specify proxy server settings using a script.
• There is no automated way to provide MATLAB with the proxy server
settings that your system browser uses.

You can set Web preferences, on the Home tab, in the Environment section.
Click Preferences > Web, and then adjust preference options as described in
the table below.

Preference Usage
Use a proxy server to Provide information that MATLAB needs to access the internet
connect to the Internet when your network uses a firewall or another method of
protection that restricts Internet access.
Proxy host Specify a value for the Proxy host. For example, 172.16.10.8
or ourproxy. If you do not know the values for your proxy
server, ask your system or network administrator for the
information.

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 2 Desktop

Preference Usage
Proxy port Specify an integer value for the Proxy port. For example, 22.
If you do not know the values for your proxy server, ask your
system or network administrator for the information.
Use a proxy with Specifies that your proxy server requires a user name and
authentication password.
Proxy username Specify the proxy server user name.
Proxy password Specify the proxy server password.

Note MATLAB stores the password without encryption in

your matlab.prf file.

Test connection Ensure that your settings work.

If MATLAB cannot access the Internet, Failed! appears next
to the button. Correct the values you entered and try again. If
you still cannot connect, try using the values you used when
you authenticated your MATLAB license.
System Web browserUNIX6 • Command—Specifies the system command to open the
platforms only — excluding browser.
Macintosh
For example, opera, opens the Opera Web browser.
• Options—Specifies options for the system browser.
For example, geometry 1064x860 specifies the size of the
window for Opera.

6. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other
countries.

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 3

Entering Commands

• “Enter Statements in Command Window” on page 3-2

• “Find Functions Using the Function Browser” on page 3-4
• “Format Output in Command Window” on page 3-9
• “Stop Execution” on page 3-12
• “Find Text in Command Window or History” on page 3-13
• “Create Shortcuts to Rerun Commands” on page 3-17
• “Set Command Window Preferences” on page 3-19
• “Set Keyboard Preferences” on page 3-21
• “Check Syntax As You Type” on page 3-23
• “Command History” on page 3-29
 3 Entering Commands

Enter Statements in Command Window

As you work in MATLAB, you can enter individual statements in the
Command Window. For example, create a variable named a by typing this
statement at the command line:

a = 1

MATLAB immediately adds variable a to the workspace and displays the

result in the Command Window.

a =

When you do not specify an output variable, MATLAB uses the variable ans,
short for answer, to store the results of your calculation.

sin(a)

ans =

0.8415

The value of ans changes with every command that returns an output value
that is not assigned to a variable.

If you end a statement with a semicolon, MATLAB performs the computation,

but suppresses the display of output in the Command Window.

b = 2;

To enter multiple statements on multiple lines before running any of the

statements, use Shift+Enter between statements. This action is unnecessary
when you enter a paired keyword statement on multiple lines, such as for
and end.

You also can enter more than one statement on the same line by separating
statements. To distinguish between commands, end each one with a comma
or semicolon. Commands that end with a comma display their results, while

3-2
 Enter Statements in Command Window

commands that end with a semicolon do not. For example, enter the following
three statements at the command line:

A = magic(5), B = ones(5) * 4.7; C = A./B

A =
17 24 1 8 15
23 5 7 14 16
4 6 13 20 22
10 12 19 21 3
11 18 25 2 9

C =
3.6170 5.1064 0.2128 1.7021 3.1915
4.8936 1.0638 1.4894 2.9787 3.4043
0.8511 1.2766 2.7660 4.2553 4.6809
2.1277 2.5532 4.0426 4.4681 0.6383
2.3404 3.8298 5.3191 0.4255 1.9149

MATLAB displays only the values of A and C in the Command Window.

To recall previous lines in the Command Window, press the up- and
down-arrow keys, ↑ and ↓. Press the arrow keys either at an empty command
line or after you type the first few characters of a command. For example, to
recall the command b = 2, type b, and then press the up-arrow key.

You can evaluate any statement already in the Command Window. Select the
statement, right-click, and then select Evaluate Selection.

In the Command Window, you also can execute only a portion of the code
currently at the command prompt. To evaluate a portion of the entered code,
select the code, and then press Enter.

For example, select a portion of the following code:

hello

3-3
 3 Entering Commands

Find Functions Using the Function Browser

In this section...
“What Is the Function Browser?” on page 3-4
“Steps for Using the Function Browser” on page 3-4
“Interpreting Search Results in the Function Browser” on page 3-7
“Customizing the Function Browser” on page 3-7

What Is the Function Browser?

The Function Browser provides quick access to the syntax and description for
a function by using the reference pages for installed MathWorks products.
Using the Function Browser, you can browse or search for a MATLAB
function.

Be aware that:

• You cannot use the Function Browser for blocks. Instead use the doc
function or the Help browser.
• You cannot use the Function Browser to find functions you created or that
other users provided. Instead, use “Finding Files and Folders” on page 6-24.

Steps for Using the Function Browser

1 Open the Function Browser by clicking the Browse for functions button,
in the Command Window or Editor.

The Function Browser closes when you move the pointer outside of it. To keep
the Function Browser open, drag it by the top edge to a different location.

2 Find functions by browsing in the list of categories or by typing a search term.

The following illustration shows how you browse for functions by expanding
categories of interest.

3-4
 Find Functions Using the Function Browser

The following illustration shows results when you search, for example, for
filter.

3-5
 3 Entering Commands

3 View more information about a function by moving the pointer over a

function. A brief description for each of the syntax options displays in a yellow
pop-up window.

The pop-up window automatically closes when you move your pointer to a
new item in the results list. To keep the pop-up window open, drag it by
the top edge to a different location.

4 Choose a function you want to use and then:

• Add a function name after the cursor in the Command Window or Editor by
double-clicking the name in the Function Browser results list.

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 Find Functions Using the Function Browser

• Drag the function name from the Function Browser into any tool or
application.
• Right-click the function name in the Function Browser to display other
options.

Interpreting Search Results in the Function Browser

Parentheses Indicate Location of Function

For results in products other than MATLAB, the product folder appears in
parentheses.

When more than one function in MATLAB has the same name, the folder for
the overloaded function appears in parentheses.

For example:

• filter is in MATLAB
• filter (signal) is in the Image Processing Toolbox™
• filter (timeseries) is in the timeseries folder in MATLAB

Highlights in Search Results

In the results, the search term is highlighted in blue.

When a result does not include any blue highlighting, the matching term is
not part of the name, syntax, or brief description. The term is somewhere else
in the reference page.

Results for a Two-Letter Search Term

For faster performance, when you type only two letters, the Function Browser
looks only for exact matches.

Customizing the Function Browser

• You can show or hide the Browse for functions button in the Command
Window. On the Home tab, in the Environment section, select

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 3 Entering Commands

Preferences > Command Window, and then select or clear Show

Function Browser button.
• Change the font that the Function Browser uses by selecting
Preferences > Fonts. By default, the Function Browser uses the desktop
text font and the pop-up window uses the HTML proportional text font.
• You can restrict the products the Function Browser looks in. Click the
product area at the bottom of the Function Browser, and then set the
Selected Products options in the Help Preferences dialog box that opens.

Product
area

3-8
 Format Output in Command Window

Format Output in Command Window

In this section...
“Format Line Spacing in Output” on page 3-9
“Format Floating-Point Numbers” on page 3-10
“Wrap Lines of Code to Fit Window Width” on page 3-10
“Suppress Output” on page 3-10
“View Output by Page” on page 3-11
“Clear the Command Window” on page 3-11

Format Line Spacing in Output

By default, MATLAB displays blanks lines in command output.

You can select one of two numeric display options in MATLAB.

• loose—Keeps the display of blank lines (default)

>> x = [4/3 1.2345e-6]

x =

1.3333 0.0000

• compact—Suppresses the display of blank lines

>> x = [4/3 1.2345e-6]

x =
1.3333 0.0000

To format the output display, do one of the following:

• On the Home tab, in the Environment section, select

Preferences > Command Window, and then choose a Numeric format
option.
• Use the format function at the command line, for example:

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 3 Entering Commands

format loose
format compact

Format Floating-Point Numbers

You can change the way numbers display. By default, MATLAB uses the
short format (5-digit scaled, fixed-point values).

For example, suppose you enter x = [4/3 1.2345e-6] in the Command

Window. The MATLAB output display depends on the format you selected.

Output Display Format Example Output

short (default) x = 1.3333 0.0000
short e x = 1.3333e+00 1.2345e-06
+ x = ++

Note The text display format affects only how numbers are shown, not how
MATLAB computes or saves them.

Wrap Lines of Code to Fit Window Width

A line of code or its output can exceed the width of the Command Window,
requiring you to use the horizontal scroll bar to view the entire line. To break
a single line of input or output into multiple lines to fit within the current
width of the Command Window:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, select

Preferences > Command Window.

2 Select Wrap Lines.

3 Click OK.

Suppress Output
To suppress code output, add a semicolon (;) to the end of a command. This is
particularly useful when code generates large matrices.

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 Format Output in Command Window

Running the following code creates A, but does not show the resulting matrix
in the Command Window:

A = magic(100);

View Output by Page

Output in the Command Window might exceed the visible portion of the
window. You can view the output, one screen at a time:

1 In the Command Window, type more on to enable paged output.

2 Type the command that generates large output.

3 View the output:

• Advance to the next line by pressing Enter.

• Advance to the next page by pressing Space Bar.
• Stop displaying the output by pressing q.

To disable paged output, type more off.

Clear the Command Window

If the Command Window seems cluttered, you can clear all the text (without
clearing the workspace) by doing one of the following:

• On the Home tab, in the Code section, select Clear Commands > Clear
Command Window to clear the Command Window scroll buffer.
• Use the clc function to clear the Command Window scroll buffer.
• Use the home function to clear your current view of the Command Window,
without clearing the scroll buffer.

See Also clc | format | home | more

3-11
 3 Entering Commands

Stop Execution
To stop execution, press Ctrl+C or Ctrl+Break

On Apple Macintosh platforms, you also can use Command+. (the Command
key and the period key).

Ctrl+C does not always stop execution for files that run a long time, or
that call built-ins or MEX-files that run a long time. If you experience this
problem, include a drawnow, pause, or getframe function in your file, for
example, within a large loop.

Also, Ctrl+C might be less responsive if you start MATLAB with the
-nodesktop option.

Note For certain operations, stopping the program might generate errors in
the Command Window.

See Also drawnow | getframe | pause

3-12
 Find Text in Command Window or History

Find Text in Command Window or History

In this section...
“Find Text in the Command Window” on page 3-13
“Find Text in the Command History Window” on page 3-15

Find Text in the Command Window

You can search text currently in the Command Window. This includes text
that is currently visible on the screen, as well as text that is in the scroll buffer.

• “Search Using Find Dialog” on page 3-13

• “Incremental Search Using Keyboard Shortcuts” on page 3-14

Search Using Find Dialog

To search for specified text in the Command Window, on the Command
Window title bar, click , and then select Find. The Find dialog box opens.
The search begins at the current cursor position. MATLAB finds the text you
specified and highlights it.

MATLAB beeps when a search for Find Next reaches the end of the
Command Window, or when a search for Find Previous reaches the top
of the Command Window. If you have Wrap around selected, MATLAB
continues searching after beeping.

To search for the specified text in other MATLAB desktop tools, change the
selection in the Look in field.

You can increase the amount of information available in the Command

Window so that more text is available for searching. Be aware that doing so
requires more memory. On the Home tab, in the Environment section,
select Preferences > Command Window, and then increase the setting for
Number of lines in the command window scroll buffer.

Clearing the command window (for example, with the clc function), empties
the scroll buffer. The cleared text is no longer available for searching. To

3-13
 3 Entering Commands

clear your display in the Command Window without clearing the buffer, use
the home function.

Incremental Search Using Keyboard Shortcuts

This topic shows how to perform an incremental search in the Command
Window.

With the incremental search feature, you do not have to leave the Command
Window while you perform your search.

1 Begin an incremental search using one of the following keyboard shortcuts,

depending on your operating system’s active settings file.

Action Windows Default Macintosh or Emacs

Active Settings Default Active Settings
Initiate a forward Ctrl+Shift+S Ctrl+S
incremental search.
Initiate a backward Ctrl+Shift+R Ctrl+R
incremental search.

An incremental search field appears at the bottom of the Command

Window. For a forward search, the text F incSearch appears. The F
indicates a forward search.

2 Begin typing your search term.

When you enter lowercase letters in the Inc Search field, incremental
search looks for both lowercase and uppercase instances of the letters. For
example, if you enter b, incremental search looks for b and B. However, if
you enter uppercase letters, incremental search only looks for instances
that match the case you entered.

3 Perform incremental search actions using the following keyboard shortcuts.

3-14
 Find Text in Command Window or History

Action Keyboard Shortcut

Complete a partially highlighted string Ctrl+W
of characters.
Find the next occurrence of a string of Ctrl+S
characters.
Remove characters from the Inc Search Ctrl+G
field, back to the last successful search

If you search for a string that does not appear in the Command Window
text, Failing appears in the incremental search field.

4 End incremental searching by pressing Esc (escape), Enter, or any other

key that is not a character or number.

The Inc Search field disappears. The cursor remains at the position where
the text was last found, with the search text highlighted.

Find Text in the Command History Window

This topic shows two methods to find text in the Command History Window.

• “Quick Search Using Keyboard Controls” on page 3-15

• “Search Partial or Whole Word, or Match Case Using Find Menu” on page
3-16

Quick Search Using Keyboard Controls

To quickly find entries in the Command History Window based on the first
few letters or numbers in the entry:

1 Type the first few letters or numbers of the entry you want to find in the
Command History window.

The Command History window searches backwards and selects the previous
entry that begins with the letters you typed. A tooltip with the text: Search
history for:, appears at the top of the Command History window.

2 Search for additional instances by doing one of the following:

3-15
 3 Entering Commands

• Find the previous or next occurrence of the entry with the up and down
arrow keys, respectively.
• Highlight each occurrence of the entry found, while you search for
additional instances, press the Ctrl key with the up or down arrow key.
• Highlight all instances of the entry, press Ctrl+A.

Search Partial or Whole Word, or Match Case Using Find Menu

You can find text in the Command History Window that matches the case,
whole word, or partial word.

On the Command History title bar, click , and then select Find. The search
begins at the current cursor position. Find does not identify entries in
collapsed nodes.

3-16
 Create Shortcuts to Rerun Commands

Create Shortcuts to Rerun Commands

This example shows how to create, run, edit, and organize MATLAB
shortcuts. A MATLAB shortcut is an easy way to run a group of MATLAB
language statements that you use regularly. For example, use a shortcut
to set up your environment when you start working, or to set the same
properties for figures you create.

1 On the Home tab, click New, and then select Command Shortcut.

If the Shortcuts tab is currently on the desktop, you can also click New
Shortcut in the Manage section.

2 Complete the Shortcut Editor dialog box:

a In the Label field, enter a name for the shortcut.

For this example, enter my_Shortcut.

b In the Callback field, type statements you want the shortcut to run.

You also can drag and drop statements from the Command Window,
Command History Window, or a file.

For this example, enter these statements:

format compact
clear
workspace
filebrowser
clc

Tip If Command Window prompts (>>) appear, MATLAB automatically

removes them from the Callback field when you save the shortcut.

c In the Category field, type the name of a new category or select an existing
category from the drop-down list. If you leave this field blank, the shortcut
appears in the General section of the toolbar.

3-17
 3 Entering Commands

d In the Icon field, select an icon.

e Click Save.

The shortcut icon and label appear on the toolbar. If you have more shortcuts
on the toolbar than the desktop can display concurrently, use the drop-down
list to access them all.

To organize and edit shortcuts, on the Shortcuts tab, in the Manage section,
click Organize Shortcuts to open the Shortcuts Organizer dialog box.

3 Run a shortcut by clicking its icon on the Shortcuts tab.

All the statements in the shortcut Callback field execute as if you ran those
statements from the Command Window, although they do not appear in the
Command History window.

3-18
 Set Command Window Preferences

Set Command Window Preferences

You can customize the visual display of the Command Window and command
output within it.

On the Home tab, in the Environment section, select

Preferences > Command Window, and then adjust preference
options as described in the table below.

Preference Usage

Text display Select a Numeric format option to specify the output format of
numeric values in the Command Window.
For details, see “Format Floating-Point Numbers” on page 3-10.
Select a Numeric display option to specify whether blank lines
appear in Command Window output. To suppress blank lines,
select compact. To display blank lines, select loose.
Display Select Wrap lines to make each line of input or output in the
Command Window break into multiple lines to fit within the
current width of the Command Window.
For details, see “Wrap Lines of Code to Fit Window Width” on
page 3-10.
Select Set matrix display width to eighty columns to limit the
width of matrix output.

Note If you also select Wrap lines, and the width of the Command
Window is less than 80 characters, each row of 80 characters of
matrix output wraps to fit within the width of the Command
Window.

Select Show getting started message bar to display the

Command Window message bar that provides links to introductory
information.

3-19
 3 Entering Commands

Preference Usage

Select Show function browser button to display the Function

Browser button to the left of the prompt in the Command
Window. You can use the Function Browser to search for MATLAB
functions.
Select Suggest corrections for mistyped functions and
variables to display suggestions in the Command Window. If you
enter an undefined function or variable name, MATLAB displays:

Did you mean:

followed by a suggested command at the command line. You

can press Enter to execute that command, or Esc to delete the
suggestion.
Number of lines in command window scroll buffer specifies
the maximum number of lines displayed in the Command Window.
A larger scroll buffer provides a larger base for search features,
but requires more memory. By default, the scroll buffer is set to
5,000 lines.
The scroll buffer size does not impact the number of lines you can
recall. By default, you can use the up arrow key ↑ to recall all lines
shown in the Command History window, regardless of how many
lines you can see in the Command Window.
Tab key Tab size specifies the number of spaces assigned to the tab key.

Note This setting does not apply if you have enabled tab
completion. To change tab completion settings, on the Home tab,
select Preferences > Keyboard.

3-20
 Set Keyboard Preferences

Set Keyboard Preferences

Keyboard preferences enable you to set tab completion, function hints, and
delimiter matching in the Command Window and Editor.

To set Keyboard Preferences, on the Home tab, in the Environment section,

select Preferences > Keyboard, and then adjust preference options as
described in this table.

Preference Usage
Tab completion Select the tool or tools in which you want the Tab key to complete
names known to MATLAB after you type the first few letters of
the name.
For details, see “Tab Completion” on page 3-25.

Select Tab key narrow completions to have MATLAB continue

to reduce the list of possible names for completion as you type
each additional character and press the Tab key.
Function hints Specify the selected tool or tools that you want to display syntax
function hints.
When enabled, if you type a function name with an opening
parenthesis, and then pause, a tooltip opens showing the basic
syntax for the function. For example:

For details, see “Function Syntax Hints” on page 3-27.

3-21
 3 Entering Commands

Preference Usage
Delimiter Matching Specify when and if MATLAB alerts you to matched and
mismatched delimiters. Delimiters include parentheses,
brackets, braces, and, in the Editor only, paired keywords.
If you select Match while typing, MATLAB alerts you to
matched and mismatched delimiters as you type.
If you select Match on arrow key, MATLAB alerts you to
matched and mismatched delimiters when you move the cursor
over a delimiter using an arrow key.
For details, see “Delimiter Matching” on page 3-24.
Select one of these Show match with options to specify how
MATLAB indicates matching delimiters:

• Balance — The corresponding delimiter highlights briefly

(default).
• Underline — Both delimiters in the pair display underlines
briefly.
• Highlight — Both delimiters in the pair highlight briefly.
Select one of these Show mismatch with options to specify how
MATLAB indicates mismatched delimiters

• Beep — MATLAB beeps (default).

• Strikethrough — The delimiter you type appears crossed out
briefly.
• None — There is no alert.

3-22
 Check Syntax As You Type

Check Syntax As You Type

In this section...
“Syntax Highlighting” on page 3-23
“Delimiter Matching” on page 3-24
“Tab Completion” on page 3-25
“Function Syntax Hints” on page 3-27

Syntax Highlighting
To help you identify MATLAB elements, some entries appear in different
colors in the Command Window. This is known as syntax highlighting. By
default:

• Keywords are blue.

• Strings are purple.
• Unterminated strings are maroon.
• Comments are green.

if A > B
'greater'
elseif A < B
'less'
end

Except for errors, output in the Command Window does not appear with
syntax highlighting.

When you paste or drag a selection from the Editor to another application,
such as Microsoft Word, the pasted text maintains the syntax highlighting
colors and font characteristics from the Editor. MATLAB software pastes the
selection to the Clipboard in RTF format, which many Microsoft Windows
and Macintosh applications support.

3-23
 3 Entering Commands

You can change syntax highlighting preferences. On

the Home tab, in the Environment section, select
Preferences > Editor/Debugger > Languages.

Delimiter Matching
MATLAB indicates matched and mismatched delimiters, such as parentheses,
brackets, and braces, to help you avoid syntax errors. MATLAB also indicates
paired language keywords, such as for, if, while, else, and end statements.

By default, MATLAB indicates matched and mismatched delimiters and

paired language keywords as follows:

• Type a closing delimiter—MATLAB briefly highlights the corresponding

opening delimiter.
• Type more closing delimiters than opening delimiters—MATLAB beeps.
• Use the arrow keys to move the cursor over one delimiter—MATLAB
briefly underlines both delimiters in a pair. If no corresponding delimiter
exists, MATLAB puts a strike line through the unmatched delimiter.

If a matching delimiter exists, but it is not visible on the screen, a pop-up

window appears and shows the line containing the matching delimiter. Click
in the pop-up window to go to that line.

You can change delimiter matching indicators, and when and if they
appear. On the Home tab, in the Environment section, select
Preferences > Keyboard.

3-24
 Check Syntax As You Type

Tab Completion
MATLAB can help you avoid typographical errors by completing the names
of functions, models, MATLAB objects, files, folders, variables, structures,
and Handle Graphics property names.

To complete names in the Command Window, type the first few characters of
the name you want to complete, and then press the Tab key.

If MATLAB presents a list of possible matches, use the arrow keys to select
the name you want, and then press the Tab key.

In addition, you can:

• Clear the list without selecting anything, by pressing the Esc (escape) key.
• Narrow a long list before making a selection, by adding additional
characters to your original term.
• Complete parts of a name that uses dot notation by adding a dot, and then
pressing the Tab key.
• Complete the names and values of Handle Graphics properties. Begin
typing the first part of a property, and then press the Tab key. Type a
comma after each property.

For MATLAB to complete a file or folder name, it must be on the search path
or in the current folder. Variables and properties must be in the current
workspace.

In the Editor, MATLAB completes:

• Nested functions only when they are available at the current location of
the cursor.

3-25
 3 Entering Commands

• Names of variables defined in the active document. The variable must be

valid at the current location of the cursor (that is, already defined).

In the Editor, MATLAB does not complete:

• Field names of structure arrays defined only within the active file.
• Method or property names for objects defined only within the active file.

Note To add spaces within statements using the Tab key in the Editor, first
add a space, and then press Tab. Otherwise, when tab completion is enabled,
MATLAB attempts to complete a name.

Tab completion is enabled by default. To change this setting, on the Home

tab, in the Environment section, select Preferences > Keyboard.

Example of Name Completion

This example shows how to complete the name for the containers.Map.keys
method.

1 In the Command Window, type help cont, and then press Tab.

MATLAB displays a list of selections.

3-26
 Check Syntax As You Type

2 Select containers, and then press Tab.

The Command Window displays help containers.

3 At the command prompt, add a dot after containers, and then press Tab.

The Command Window displays:

help containers.Map

4 At the command prompt, add a dot after Map, and then press Tab.

MATLAB displays a new list.

5 Scroll down the list, select keys, and then press the Tab key.

The Command Window displays help containers.Map.keys.

Function Syntax Hints

As you enter a function in the Command Window or Editor, syntax hints open
in a pop-up window to display allowable input arguments for a function.

Function hints appear for both MATLAB installed functions and functions
you create. The syntax hints for MATLAB functions comes from the
documentation. The syntax for functions you create comes from the function
definition statement (first executable line) in the MATLAB program file. That
file must be on the search path or in the current folder.

3-27
 3 Entering Commands

To use function syntax hints, type a function name with an opening

parenthesis, and then pause. A tooltip opens showing the basic syntax for
the function.

You can type a variable for any argument that appears in blue. Enter your
variable names, and not the argument names shown in the window.

The displayed syntax options change, based on the argument you just entered.

Some function names are overloaded. That is, there are methods with the
same name as a function that support different types of inputs. Overloaded
methods require that you pass an object as the first input. When you specify
the object name, the syntax hints update to reflect the associated method,
as shown.

Function syntax hints are suggestions only. Some allowable arguments might
not appear, or could be in black text when they should be blue.

Function hints are enabled by default. To change this setting, on the Home
tab, in the Environment section, select Preferences > Keyboard, and then
set the options for Function hints.

3-28
 Command History

Command History
In this section...
“What Is the Command History?” on page 3-29
“Using Command History Commands” on page 3-29
“Changing the Command History Date Format” on page 3-31
“Command History Preferences” on page 3-31

What Is the Command History?

The Command History window displays a log of statements you ran in the
current and previous MATLAB sessions. The time and date for each session
appear at the top of the statements listed for that session, in your operating
system’s short date format. All entries remain until you delete them, or until
the command history file exceeds its maximum size of 200,000 bytes. When
the file exceeds its maximum size, MATLAB automatically deletes the oldest
entries.

MATLAB saves statements that run in the Command Window to the to the
history file, history.m. This includes statements you run using the Evaluate
Selection item on context menus in tools such as the Editor, Command
History, and Help browser. By default, MATLAB automatically saves the
command history file after each command. The history file does not include
every action taken in MATLAB. For example, modifications of values in the
Variable Editor are not included in the Command History.

Using Command History Commands

You can select entries in the Command History window, and then perform the
following actions for the selected entries.

3-29
 3 Entering Commands

Action How to Perform the Action

Create a script from a Select an entry or entries, and then right-click and select Create
statement or statements. Script from the context menu. The Editor opens a new file that
contains the statements you selected from the Command History
window.
Run Command History Do one of the following:
commands in the
Command Window. • Double-click an entry or entries in the Command History
window.
• Right-click an entry and select Evaluate Selection from the
context menu.
• Select an entry and press Enter or Return.
Copy statements to Do one of the following:
another window.
• Select an entry or entries, and then select Copy from the context
menu. Paste the selection into an open file in the Editor or any
application.
• Drag the selection from the Command History window to an
open file or another application.
Create a shortcut from a Do one of the following:
statement or statements.
• Select an entry or entries, and then right-click and select Create
Shortcut from the context menu.
• Drag the selection to the desktop Toolstrip. The Add Shortcut
dialog box opens and the selected statements appear in the
Callback field.
Delete Entries

Note You cannot recall entries you delete from the Command
History window.

Select the entries to delete, and then right-click and select Delete
Selection from the context menu, or press the Delete key.

3-30
 Command History

Action How to Perform the Action

To select all entries for a MATLAB session, select the timestamp

for that session.
To delete all entries, right-click in the Command History window,
and then select Clear Command History from the context menu.

Changing the Command History Date Format

MATLAB uses your operating system’s short date format to display dates in
the Command History window. To change the date format, for instance from
MM/DD/YYYY to DD/MM/YYYY:

1 Change the short date format for your operating system as described in its
documentation.

2 Right-click in the Command History window and select Clear Command

History.

Note Clearing the command history deletes all entries from the Command
History window. You can no longer recall those entries in the Command
Window.

Command History Preferences

You can exclude statements from the command history and specify how often
to save the file in which the command history is stored, history.m. MATLAB
uses the command history file for both the Command History window and
statement recall in the Command Window.

Note When you exclude statements from the command history file, you
cannot recall them in the Command Window, nor can you view them in the
Command History window.

3-31
 3 Entering Commands

To set Command History preferences, on the Home tab, in the Environment

section, select Preferences > Command History, and then adjust
preference options as described in the table below.

Preference Usage
Settings Save exit/quit commands saves exit and quit commands in the
command history.
Save consecutive duplicate commands saves consecutive
executions of the same statement in the command history.

• With this option selected, if you run magic(5) two times in a row,
both entries for magic(5) remain in the command history.
• With this option cleared, the command history retains only one
entry for magic(5). If you then run magic(10), the command
history retains both entries.
Saving Save history file on quit saves the command history file only
when you end a MATLAB session. If the session ends abnormally,
such as due to a power failure, then MATLAB does not save the
history file for that session.
Save after n commands saves the command history file after
MATLAB adds n statements to it. This option reduces the loss of
entries to the saved history in case of an abnormal termination of
the MATLAB session.
Don’t save history file is useful when multiple users share the
same machine. It prevents each user from viewing the statements
others have run.
Any entries already in the command history remain unless you first
delete entries from the Command History window.

3-32
 4

Help and Product

Information

• “Ways to Get Function Help” on page 4-2

• “Run Examples” on page 4-3
• “Search Syntax and Tips” on page 4-5
• “Bookmark and Share Page Locations” on page 4-7
• “Contact Technical Support” on page 4-9
• “Demos Are Now Called Examples” on page 4-11
• “Help Preferences” on page 4-13
• “Japanese Documentation” on page 4-15
• “Information About your Installation” on page 4-16
 4 Help and Product Information

Ways to Get Function Help

Each MATLAB function has supporting documentation that includes
examples and describes the function inputs, outputs, and calling syntax. This
table describes ways to access that documentation.

Type of Help How to Access Example or Icon

Reference page in Help Use the doc command. doc mean
browser — or —
Select a function name
in the Editor, Command
Window, or Help
browser; right-click;
and then select Help
on Selection.
Function syntax hints Pause after you type an mean(
in Command Window open parentheses for
function inputs.
Abbreviated help text Use the help command. help mean
in Command Window
Function browser in Click the function
Command Window icon to the left of the
command prompt.
Complete Click the Help button
documentation in Help on the quick access
browser toolbar or on the Home
tab.
— or —
Enter search terms
in the Search
Documentation box.

See Also doc

Related • “Run Examples” on page 4-3

Examples

4-2
 Run Examples

Run Examples
In this section...
“Code Excerpts” on page 4-3
“Example Scripts” on page 4-3

Code Excerpts
Run code from any page in the documentation by selecting the code,
right-clicking, and then selecting Evaluate Selection.

Note On Macintosh systems, press Shift+F7, which copies code to the

Command Window for evaluation.

Example Scripts
Featured example scripts include a button at the top of the Help browser
for opening the script in the Editor.

4-3
 4 Help and Product Information

In the Editor, there are two ways to run the code:

• Run one section of the script at a time and view the incremental results.
Select the first section, and then step through the script by clicking Run
and Advance, .

• Run the entire script by clicking Run, .

See Also demo | echodemo

Related • “Run Code Sections”

Examples

4-4
 Search Syntax and Tips

Search Syntax and Tips

Find keywords in the documentation by entering text in the Search box on
the Desktop or in the Help browser.

The search engine ignores common, insignificant words such as a, an, the,
and of, unless they are part of an exact phrase in quotation marks. It also
ignores capitalization, punctuation, and special characters such as +. To find
a symbol or special character:

• Search for the word instead of the symbol or character, such as plus
instead of +.
• View the documentation on Operators and the Symbol Reference.
• Search the PDF documentation, available from the documentation home
page.

Searches can include the following operators:

"" Exact phrase

Example: "plot tools" finds pages that contain plot tools, in that
sequence, with no words between them.
* Wildcard
Requires at least two nonwildcard characters, and cannot appear at
the start of a keyword or in an exact phrase.
Example: plot* finds plot, plot3, and plotting.
OR Boolean OR
Example: plot OR graph finds pages with either plot or graph.

4-5
 4 Help and Product Information

NOT Boolean NOT

Example: "plot tools" NOT "time series" finds pages with plot
tools but excludes pages with time series.
AND Boolean AND
Implied when no operator is present between keywords.
Example: plot AND tools is equivalent to "plot" "tools".

The Help browser search evaluates NOT operators first, OR operators second,
and AND operators last. For example,

"plotting tool" OR "plot tools" NOT "time series" AND workspace

finds pages that contain either plotting tool or plot tools and contain
workspace, but do not contain time series.

The search engine searches the following text in the documentation:

• Documentation — Text and code shown in the Help browser

• GUI-based examples — Help comments in the program file
• Videos — Title

4-6
 Bookmark and Share Page Locations

Bookmark and Share Page Locations

In this section...
“Bookmark Favorite Pages” on page 4-7
“View Page Locations” on page 4-8

Bookmark Favorite Pages

In MATLAB, bookmarks are called favorites. Add, find, and organize favorites
by clicking the Favorites button in the Help browser, .

When you add a favorite, do not change the Callback. MATLAB requires
special values to create a shortcut that opens the page in the Help browser. In
addition, if you want the bookmark to appear in your list of favorites, keep the
Category set to Help Browser Favorites, as shown.

Note You cannot migrate favorites that you save in one MATLAB release
to a new release.

4-7
 4 Help and Product Information

View Page Locations

To identify the location of a page in the Help browser to share with someone
else, right-click within the page, and then select Get Page Address.

Note This feature is not available on Macintosh systems.

The Help Page Location dialog box provides two ways to access the page:

• A web command to run from the command line that opens the page from
the installed documentation. This command is subject to change between
releases, so it is not always accurate for someone running a different
version of MATLAB.
• A URL for the page corresponding to your product version at the
MathWorks Web site. This documentation is available to anyone, even
if they do not have MathWorks products. However, to access archived
documentation from previous releases, you must log in with a MathWorks
Account.

Note If you are running a prerelease version, the URL is invalid because
the documentation does not yet exist on the Web site.

4-8
 Contact Technical Support

Contact Technical Support

This example shows how to contact MathWorks Technical Support to report a
bug or request help. This procedure requires Internet access.

1 Click Help > Submit Support Request.

2 When requested, log in using your MathWorks Account email address and
password. If you do not have a MathWorks Account, create one.

3 Provide information to help technical support reproduce your issue, such as

a description of the steps you followed or a code excerpt. Optionally, you
can attach up to five files to your request, where each file is no larger than
3 MB. To submit files larger than 3 MB, upload them to the MathWorks
FTP site.

4-9
 4 Help and Product Information

4 Specify the product that is related to the issue.

5 Submit the request.

External • How do I access the MathWorks FTP site?

Web Sites • MathWorks Support Page

4-10
 Demos Are Now Called Examples

Demos Are Now Called Examples

Starting in R2012b, executable scripts and videos that were previously called
demos are now called examples. There are two ways to access these examples
from the Help browser:

• At the top of the product landing page, click Examples.

• On any documentation page, click the Table of Contents button , and

then select Examples.

You can filter documentation search results to display only examples.

4-11
 4 Help and Product Information

For more information about changes to the Help browser, see the R2012b
MATLAB Release Notes.

4-12
 Help Preferences

Help Preferences
To set Help preferences:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click Preferences > Help.

2 Adjust the preference options as described in the table.

Preference Usage
Documentation Location Specify whether to view the documentation provided with
your installed products or the documentation on the Web
at http://www.mathworks.com/help. Viewing the Web
documentation requires an Internet connection and a
MathWorks Account.
If your preference is set to view Web documentation, but your
Internet connection becomes unavailable, MATLAB changes
the preference to view the installed documentation. You can
reset the preference after your connection is restored.
Changes to this preference apply only to new Help browser
Selected Products Select the products to include for viewing and searching
tabs.
documentation in the Help browser or Function browser.
If your Documentation Location is set to view documentation
on the Web, then you can select Show products that are
not installed to select and access documentation for all
MathWorks products, even if you do not have those products
installed.
When the Help browser is already open, changes to this
preference apply only to new Help browser tabs.

4-13
 4 Help and Product Information

Preference Usage
Quick Help Display Specify whether help links display content in the Help browser
or in a small window. This preference applies to content that
you access using:

• Help on Selection in context menus or F1

• Function hints or the Function browser
• Links in error messages

Links to help from the Current Folder browser or the Help

browser always open in the Help browser.
Language (selected Specify whether documentation in the Help browser and
non-English systems only) context-sensitive help should appear in English. Installed
non-English documentation is not always current.

Concepts • “Japanese Documentation” on page 4-15

4-14
 Japanese Documentation

Japanese Documentation
Many MathWorks products provide versions of the documentation translated
from English to Japanese. However, the translated documentation usually is
not available until about 2 months after the initial release of a new product
version.

The new version of most products installs the translated documentation from
the previous version and the English documentation for the current version.
To view the English documentation, set the Help Language preference to
English. To set Help preferences, access the Environment section on the
Home tab, and click Preferences > Help.

The Language preference is available when the system locale is Japanese

and the translated documentation is installed. The preference changes
the language only in the Help browser and context-sensitive help. If the
documentation for a product is not translated, the Help browser displays
the English documentation.

When the translated documentation is available, you can view it by setting

your Help Documentation Location preference to view documentation
on the Web. Alternatively, download it from the MathWorks Web site at
http://www.mathworks.co.jp/help.

For information about documentation in other languages, contact your

MathWorks sales and service office.

4-15
 4 Help and Product Information

Information About your Installation

MATLAB software can tell you what products are installed, their versions,
and other information about your license and platform. This information is
important to have in the event you contact technical support.

Type of To Get the Information

Information You
Want
Version and license From the product, select Help > About.
for Installed product
Or use functions:

• license — for the license number

• ver — for version numbers for MATLAB and
libraries
• version — for version numbers for MathWorks
products
MATLAB platform In MATLAB, select Help > About MATLAB. The
About MATLAB dialog box shows 32-bit or 64-bit.
arch value used for In MATLAB, select Help > About MATLAB. The
the mex function About MATLAB dialog box shows the arch value,
for example win32.
Or use the computer function.
Passcodes and From any desktop tool, select Help > Web
licenses Resources > MathWorks Account.

4-16
 5

Workspace Browser and

Variable Editor

• “What Is the MATLAB Workspace?” on page 5-2

• “View, Edit, and Copy Variables” on page 5-3
• “Keyboard Shortcuts for Navigating Variable Elements” on page 5-8
• “Save, Load, and Delete Workspace Variables” on page 5-9
• “Statistical Calculations in the Workspace Browser” on page 5-12
• “Set Workspace and Variable Preferences” on page 5-14
 5 Workspace Browser and Variable Editor

What Is the MATLAB Workspace?

The MATLAB workspace consists of the variables you create and store in
memory during a MATLAB session. You add variables to the workspace by
using functions, running MATLAB code, and loading saved workspaces. For
example, if you run these statements:

A = magic(4);
R = randn(3,4,5);

the workspace includes two variables, A and R.

The Workspace browser displays the variables in your workspace. From the
Workspace browser, you can select variables to view, modify, or plot.

To open the Workspace browser if it is not currently visible, do either of the

following:

• On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click Layout. Then,

under Show, select Workspace.
• Type workspace at the Command Window prompt.

By default, the Workspace browser displays the base workspace. You also can
view function workspaces if MATLAB is in debug mode. For more information,
see “Debugging Process and Features” and the dbstack and evalin functions.

You can display additional columns, such as size (dimensions) and size in
bytes in the Workspace browser. On the Workspace browser title bar, click ,
and then click Choose Columns.

5-2
 View, Edit, and Copy Variables

View, Edit, and Copy Variables

In this section...
“View and Edit Variables” on page 5-3
“Copy, Paste, and Rename Variables” on page 5-6

View and Edit Variables

This table shows how to view variables and their values.

Action Procedure
List current workspace Use the who function.
variables
To also list information about size and
class, use the whos function.
Display variable contents in Type the variable name at the Command
the Command Window prompt.
Open a variable in the Do one of the following:
Variables editor
• Use the openvar function. For example,
to open the variable A, type

openvar('A')

• In the Workspace browser, double-click

a variable name.
Some toolboxes allow you to double-click
an object in the Workspace browser to
open a viewer or other tool appropriate
for that object. For details, see the
toolbox documentation for that object
type.
There are special attributes for
timeseries objects; for more
information, see “Viewing Time
Series Objects”.

5-3
 5 Workspace Browser and Variable Editor

Action Procedure

Note MATLAB software does not limit the

maximum number of elements in a variable
that you can open in the Variables editor.
The limit is based on your operating system
or the amount of physical memory installed
on your system.

After opening a variable, you can view and edit its values graphically.
This example shows how to open a variable, and then navigate and edit
its contents graphically. Note that you cannot edit elements or subsets of
multidimensional arrays in the Variables editor.

1 Create a cell array, C.

A = magic(4);
C = {A A A};

2 In the Workspace browser, open variable C to view its contents, by doing

one of the following:
• Use the openvar function.

openvar('C')

• In the Workspace browser, double-click the variable name C.

The variable C opens in the Variables editor.

Lock icons, which can appear during debugging, denote protected and
private properties of an object, indicating you do not have get access to
those values outside class methods.

5-4
 View, Edit, and Copy Variables

3 Double-click element C{1,1} to view the contents of that cell. The element
opens in a new document within the Variables editor.

4 Edit the value of an array element by clicking the element, and then typing
a new value. Press Enter, or click another element.

5-5
 5 Workspace Browser and Variable Editor

Increase the size of the array in C{1,1} by entering a value in element (5,5).
Empty elements in numeric arrays fill with zeros. In a cell array, empty
elements fill with empty arrays.

5 Remove a row by clicking in its row header. Right-click, and then select
Delete Row.

6 Cut the elements of the first column by selecting column header.

Right-click, and then select Cut. The value of each element you cut becomes
0 if numeric, or [ ] if a cell array. The cut values move to the clipboard.

7 Paste the cut elements into another column by selecting the element where
you want the insertion to begin. Right-click, and then select Paste.

8 Change how numbers display when editing variables. On the View tab, in
the Format section, select a number display format.

9 On the View tab, use the Go Up button to return to the cell array or
structure.

Changes you make in the Variables editor are automatically saved in the
workspace.

Changes you make to variables via the Command Window or other operations
automatically update the information for those variables in the Variables
editor.

Copy, Paste, and Rename Variables

Action Procedure
Copy variables to clipboard In the Workspace browser, select the
variables, right-click and then select Copy.
Then, you can paste the names, for example,
into the Command Window or an external
application. Multiple variables are comma
separated.
Paste cells from Microsoft In a variable open in the Variables editor,
Excel spreadsheet right-click, and then select Paste from
Excel.

5-6
 View, Edit, and Copy Variables

Action Procedure
Create a new variable from For a variable open in the Variables editor,
an existing variable. select an element, data range, row, or column
in an array, and then select New from
Selection.
Rename a variable In the Workspace browser, do either of the
following:

• Right-click the variable name, and then

select Rename.
• Type the new variable name over the
existing name, and then press Enter.

Tip If you cut and paste values from the Variables editor into text files or
other applications, you can change the character that delimits decimals in the
data that is exported. You might do this, for instance, if you provide data to a
locale that uses a character other than the period (.). To change the delimiter
character, specify a Decimal separator for exporting numeric data via
system clipboard in the “Variables Preferences” on page 5-15.

5-7
 5 Workspace Browser and Variable Editor

Keyboard Shortcuts for Navigating Variable Elements

Use the following keyboard shortcuts to move among variable elements in the
Variables editor. You cannot modify these keyboard shortcuts.

Action Keyboard Shortcut

Commit changes to an element and move to next Enter
element.
“Variables Preferences” on page 5-15 enable you
to specify what the next element is (the default
is down).
Move right. Tab
Within a selection, also moves from the last
column to the first column in the next row.
Move in opposite direction of Enter or Tab. Shift+Enter or
Shift+Tab
Move up m rows, where m is the number of visible Page Up
rows.
Move down m rows, where m is the number of Page Down
visible rows.
Move to column 1. Home
Move to row 1, column 1. Ctrl+Home
Edit current element, positioning cursor at the F2 (Ctrl+U on Apple
end of the element. Macintosh platforms)

5-8
 Save, Load, and Delete Workspace Variables

Save, Load, and Delete Workspace Variables

The workspace is not maintained across sessions of MATLAB. When you
quit MATLAB, the workspace clears. However, you can save any or all of
the variables in the current workspace to a MAT-file (.mat). You can load
MAT-files at a later time during the current MATLAB session, or during
another session, if you want to reuse the workspace variables.

The following table describes how to save, view, and load workspaces.

Action Desktop Workflow Programmatic

Workflow
Save all workspace On the Home tab, in the Use the save function
variables Variable section, click followed by the file name
Save Workspace. you want to save to.
For example, to save
all current workspace
variables to the file
june10.mat:

save('june10')

Save selected Select the variables in Use the save function.

variables the Workspace browser, For example, to save
right-click, and then variables A and R to the
select Save As. file june10.mat:

save('june10','A','R')

Load a MAT-file Select the MAT-file Use the load function.

in the Current Folder For example, to load
browser, right-click, and all workspace variables
then select Load. from the file june10.mat:

load('june10')

5-9
 5 Workspace Browser and Variable Editor

Action Desktop Workflow Programmatic

Workflow
Load selected Do one of the following: Use the load function.
variables • In the Current Folder For example, the load
browser, select the variables A and R from
MAT-file containing the file june10.mat:
the variables. Drag
specific variables from load('june10','A',"R')
the Details panel
at the bottom of
the Current Folder
browser to the
Workspace browser.
• On the Home tab, in
the Variable section,
click Import Data.
Select the MAT-file
you want to load and
click Open.

Note If any variables

being loaded have the
same names as variables
in the current workspace,
MATLAB asks if you
want to replace the
values in the current
workspace with the
values in the MAT-file,
or cancel.

5-10
 Save, Load, and Delete Workspace Variables

Action Desktop Workflow Programmatic

Workflow
View a MAT-file Select the MAT-file Use the whos function
without loading it in the Current Folder with the -file option.
into the workspace browser.
The contents display in
the Details panel at the
bottom of the Current
Folder browser.
Delete all variables Select the variables in Use the clear function
in the workspace the Workspace browser, to clear variables from
and then press the Delete the workspace. For
key on your keyboard. example, to clear the
Or right-click, and then variables A and R from
select Delete. the workspace:

clear A R

Delete selected On the Home tab, in the Use the clearvars

variables Variable section, click function with the
Clear Workspace. -except option to keep
specified variables and
clear all other variables.

5-11
 5 Workspace Browser and Variable Editor

Statistical Calculations in the Workspace Browser

In this section...
“Improve Workspace Browser Performance during Statistical Calculations”
on page 5-12
“Include or Exclude NaN Values in Statistical Calculations” on page 5-12

Improve Workspace Browser Performance during

Statistical Calculations
For each variable or object, the Workspace browser displays statistics such as
the Min, Max, and Mean calculations, when relevant. MATLAB performs
these calculations using the min, max, and mean functions, and updates the
results automatically.

If you show statistical columns in the Workspace browser, and you work with
very large arrays, you might experience performance issues when the data
changes as MATLAB updates the statistical results. To improve performance,
consider one or both of the following:

• Show only the statistics of interest to you.

On the Workspace browser title bar, click , and then select Choose
Columns. Clear the statistics you do not want MATLAB to calculate.
• Exclude large arrays from statistical calculations.
On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click
Preferences > Workspace, and then use the arrow buttons to
change the value of the maximum array size for which you want the
Workspace browser to perform statistical calculations. Any variable
exceeding the maximum array size reports <Too many elements> in
Workspace browser statistics columns instead of statistical results.

Include or Exclude NaN Values in Statistical

Calculations
If your data includes NaNs, you can specify that the Workspace browser
statistical calculations consider or ignore the NaNs. On the Home tab, in the

5-12
 Statistical Calculations in the Workspace Browser

Environment section, click Preferences > Workspace, and then select

one of the following:

• Use NaNs when calculating statistics

If a variable includes a NaN, and you select this option, the values for Min,
Max, Var and some other statistics will appear as NaN. However, Mode,
for example, shows a numeric result.
• Ignore NaNs when calculating statistics
If a variable includes a NaN, and you select this option, numeric results
appear for most statistics including Min and Max. Var, however, is still
appears as NaN.

5-13
 5 Workspace Browser and Variable Editor

Set Workspace and Variable Preferences

In this section...
“Workspace Browser Preferences” on page 5-14
“Variables Preferences” on page 5-15

Workspace Browser Preferences

Workspace browser preferences enable you to restrict the size of arrays on
which you perform calculations and to specify if you want those calculations
to include or ignore NaNs.

To open Workspace browser preferences, on the Home tab, in the

Environment section, click Preferences > Workspace.

Preference Usage
n element and smaller arrays Limit the size of arrays for which
show statistics the Workspace browser displays
statistics to improve performance
when MATLAB updates the
statistical results in the Workspace
browser.
For more information, see
“Statistical Calculations in the
Workspace Browser” on page 5-12.
Handling NaN values in Specify whether NaN values
calculations be included or excluded from
calculations for the statistics
• Use NaNs when calculating displayed in the Workspace browser.
statistics
• Ignore NaNs when calculating
statistics

5-14
 Set Workspace and Variable Preferences

Variables Preferences
When working in the Variables editor, Variables preferences enable you to
specify the array formatting, cursor movement, and the decimal separator for
exporting data using the system clipboard.

To open Variables preferences, on the Home tab, in the Environment

section, click Preferences > Variables.

Preference Usage
Format Select an option from the Default array format
to specify the default array output format of
numeric values displayed in the Variables editor.
This format preference affects only how numbers
display, not how MATLAB computes or saves
them. For information on formatting options, see
the reference page for the format function.
Editing Specify where the cursor moves to after you type
an element, and then press Enter:

• To keep the cursor in the element where you

typed, clear the Move selection after Enter
check box.
• To move the cursor to another element, select
the Move selection after Enter check box.
In the Direction field, specify how you want
the cursor to move.
International In the Decimal separator for exporting
number handling numeric data via system clipboard field,
specify the decimal separator for numbers you
cut or copy from the Variables editor when you
paste them into text files or other applications.
This preference has no effect on numeric data
copied from and pasted into MATLAB. Within
MATLAB, decimal separators are always periods.

5-15
 5 Workspace Browser and Variable Editor

5-16
 6

Managing Files in MATLAB

• “Understanding File Locations in MATLAB” on page 6-2

• “Working with Files and Folders” on page 6-11
• “Finding Files and Folders” on page 6-24
• “Creating, Opening, Changing, and Deleting Files and Folders” on page
6-31
• “Comparing Files and Folders” on page 6-47
• “Making Files and Folders Accessible to MATLAB” on page 6-65
• “Using the MATLAB Search Path” on page 6-71
 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

Understanding File Locations in MATLAB

In this section...
“Important MATLAB Folders” on page 6-2
“Path Names in MATLAB” on page 6-5

Important MATLAB Folders

When you work with files and folders, be aware of key locations that MATLAB
uses.

The Current Folder

The current folder is a reference location that MATLAB uses to find files. This
folder is sometimes referred to as the current directory, current working folder,
or present working directory. It is not the same location as the operating
system current folder.

You can always load files and execute scripts and functions that are in the
current folder, even if that folder is not currently on the MATLAB search
path. Functions in the current folder take precedence over functions with the
same file name that reside anywhere on the search path.

Viewing and Changing the Current Folder. You can view and change
the current folder using various desktop tools and functions, as described in
the following table. To specify the current folder programmatically when
MATLAB starts, see “Startup Folder for the MATLAB Program” on page 1-12.

6-2
 Understanding File Locations in MATLAB®

To: Do this:
Identify the current Use one of the following:
folder
• The current folder toolbar — if the full path
is not visible, click .

• The pwd or cd function.

Change the current Do one of the following:
folder to one you specify
• In the current folder toolbar, type or browse to
a different folder. You also can click an arrow
that appears between portions of the path,
and then choose a drive or subfolder from the
drop-down list.
• Use the cd function.
Change the current From the current folder toolbar, click the down
folder to a recently used arrow, and then select a folder from the history.
folder
Change the current Right-click the document tab in the Editor, and
folder to an active then select Change Current Folder to folder.
document’s folder
Make a subfolder the In the Current Folder browser, right-click the
current folder subfolder, and then select Open.
Copy the current folder Click an empty area on the right edge of the
as a string Current Folder address field, right-click, and
then select Copy.
Get help using the Right-click an empty area on the address bar,
current folder toolbar and then select Help Using Address Field

matlabroot
matlabroot is the folder where you installed MATLAB. The location differs
for each installation of MATLAB. Determine its location by running the
matlabroot function. When you start MATLAB, your current folder can be
matlabroot, but in practice it is usually a different folder.

6-3
 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

The Startup Folder

Each time you start MATLAB, your current folder is always the same. This
location is called the startup folder. The operating system commands that
runs MATLAB specifies the location of the startup folder. You can configure
MATLAB to make your initial current folder a different location. For more
information, see “Startup Folder for the MATLAB Program” on page 1-12.

Locations of MathWorks Products

Files and folders for products provided by MathWorks are in
matlabroot/toolbox. The files and folders under matlabroot are important
to your installation. In particular:

• Do not store your personal files and folders in matlabroot/toolbox.

• Do not change files, folders, and subfolders in matlabroot/toolbox. The
exception is the pathdef.m file, which you can update and save in its
default location, matlabroot/toolbox/local.

To improve performance, at the beginning of each session, MATLAB loads

and caches in memory the locations of files in matlabroot/toolbox. If you
make changes to files and folders in matlabroot/toolbox, running functions
can produce unexpected results or generate warnings, that are related to
the toolbox cache. See “Toolbox Path Caching in the MATLAB Program”
on page 1-23.

To see a list of all toolbox folder names supplied with MathWorks products,
run:

dir(fullfile(matlabroot, '/toolbox'))

Locations for Storing Your Files

For your convenience, MATLAB provides a folder called MATLAB to store
your files. At startup, MATLAB adds the folder to the search path, allowing
MATLAB to access the files stored there.

The location of the userpath MATLAB folder varies by platform and system
configuration. To determine the location, run the userpath function.

6-4
 Understanding File Locations in MATLAB®

On Microsoft Windows platforms, MATLAB sets the current folder to

userpath at startup. On other platforms, you instruct MATLAB differently
to set the current folder to userpath at startup. For more information, see
“Startup Folder for the MATLAB Program” on page 1-12.

If you create subfolders within the MATLAB folder, make the new subfolders
accessible to MATLAB.

If you store files in locations other than the MATLAB folder:

• Make the files accessible to MATLAB by adding their folders to the search
path.
• Do not store the files in the folders provided for MathWorks products.

Path Names in MATLAB

A path name specifies file locations, for example, C:\work\my_data (on
Microsoft Windows platforms) or /usr/work/my_data (on Linux or Apple
Mac platforms). Path name specifications differ, depending on the platform
on which you are running MATLAB. When you work with files and folders,
be aware of how MATLAB uses path names and the restrictions it places
on them.

Specifying Path Names on Apple Mac Platforms

When you specify path names on Mac platforms, do not use accent characters.
If path names include such characters, for instance umlauts or circumflexes,
the Current Folder browser and MATLAB cannot recognize the path. In
addition, attempts to save a file to such a path results in unpredictable
behavior.

Specifying File Separator Characters, / and \

The file separator character is the symbol that distinguishes one folder level
from another in a path name.

A forward slash (/) is a valid separator on any platform. A backward slash

(\) is valid only on MicrosoftWindows platforms.

In the full path to a folder, the final slash is optional.

6-5
 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

Type filesep in the Command Window to determine the correct file separator
character to use when working with files programmatically.

Specifying Absolute and Relative Path Names

MATLAB always accepts absolute path names (also called full path names),
such as I:/Documents/My_Files. An absolute path name can start with
any of the following:

• UNC path '\\' string

• Drive letter, on Microsoft Windows platforms, such as C:\.
• '/' character on Linux platforms

Some MATLAB functions also support relative path names. The reference
page for a function specifies the valid types of path name. Unless otherwise
noted, the path name is relative to the current folder. For example:

• /myfolder refers to the myfolder folder in the current folder and myfile.m
refers to the myfile.m file in the current folder.
• ../myfolder/myfile.m refers to the myfile.m file in the myfolder folder,
where myfolder is at same level as the current folder. Each repetition of
../ at the beginning moves up an additional folder level.

Tip If multiple documents are open and docked in the Editor, you can copy
the absolute path of any of these documents to the clipboard. This is useful if
you need to specify the absolute path in another MATLAB tool or an external
application. Right-click the document tab, and then select Copy Full Path
to Clipboard

Case Sensitivity of File Names

How MATLAB handles file names with respect to case depends on a number
of factors. If you are unsure of how MATLAB will handle your specific case, it
is best to specify path and case precisely when specifying a file name. The
sections that follow describe how case affects common MATLAB operations.

6-6
 Understanding File Locations in MATLAB®

Case Sensitivity of File Names When Calling a Function. You call

function files by specifying the file name without the file extension. MATLAB
assumes you want a case-insensitive match if it cannot find a case-sensitive
match on the MATLAB search path (regardless of the operating system on
which MATLAB is running).

Furthermore, if multiple files with the same name, but different extensions
exist in the same folder, then MATLAB searches among the files in the folder
in this precedence order:

• MEX-files
• MDL (Simulink model) files
• P-code files
• MATLAB code files (those with a .m extension)

For details on precedence, see .

For example, suppose myfile.m is on the search path, but MYFILE.M is not.
If you type MYFILE at the MATLAB command prompt, then MATLAB runs
myfile.m, but warns you that there is a case mismatch and advises you that
this warning will become an error in a future release.

If myfile (a MEX-file) and MYFILE.m are on the search path, and you type
MYFILE at the command prompt, MATLAB runs MYFILE.M, even if myfile is
higher on the search path.

To see which file MATLAB will use without running that file, use which with
the all option. For example, which myfile.m all.

Case Sensitivity of File Names When You Load a MAT-File. When you
call load and specify a file without an extension, MATLAB searches for a
MAT-file. Case-sensitivity depends on the operating system where MATLAB
is running, as follows:

• Linux
If you attempt to load MYFILE, and MYFILE.MAT is anywhere on the
MATLAB search path, then MATLAB loads MYFILE.MAT. This is true, even

6-7
 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

if myfile.mat, and myfile.m are higher than MYFILE.MAT on the MATLAB

search path.
If you attempt to load MYFILE, and MYFILE.MAT is not on the MATLAB
search path, then MATLAB returns the message, Unable to read
file MYFILE.MAT: No such file or directory. This is true even if
myfile.mat is on the MATLAB search path.
• Windows
If you attempt to load MYFILE and myfile.mat is higher on the search
path than MYFILE.MAT, then MATLAB loads myfile.mat without warning
you that there is a case mismatch.

Case Sensitivity of File Names When You Save a MAT-File. When you
call save and specify a MAT-file without an extension, MATLAB saves the
file to the current folder. Case-sensitivity depends on the operating system
where MATLAB is running, as follows:

• Linux
MATLAB saves the file using the case you specify. Two files with the same
name, but different cases can exist in the same folder.
• Windows
Because the Windows operating system considers two files with the same
name to be the same file (regardless of case), you cannot have two files with
the same name in the same folder. If you save MYFILE, and myfile.mat
already exists in the current folder, then MYFILE.MAT replaces myfile.mat
without warning. If you save myfile, and MYFILE.mat already exists in
the current folder, the contents of myfile.mat replace the contents of
MYFILE.mat, but the name remains MYFILE.mat.

Maximum Length of Path Names in MATLAB

The maximum length allowed for a path name depends on your platform.

For example, on Microsoft Windows platforms:

• The maximum length is known as MAX_PATH.

• You cannot use an absolute path name that exceeds 260 characters.

6-8
 Understanding File Locations in MATLAB®

• For a relative path name, you might need to use fewer than 260 characters.
When the Windows operating system processes a relative path name, it can
produce a longer absolute path name, possibly exceeding the maximum
length.

If you get unexpected results when working with long path names, use
absolute instead of relative path names. Alternatively, use shorter names
for folders and files.

Constructing Path Names on Different Platforms

Use fullfile to construct path names in statements that work on any
platform. This function is particularly useful when you provide code to
someone using it on a platform different from your own. The ismac, ispc, and
isunix functions identify the platform you are currently using.

Including Spaces in Path Names

When a function argument is a file or path name, and the name includes
spaces, use the function syntax. For example:

delete('temp file.m') % Function syntax works for a file name containing a space

The command syntax does not work. For example:

delete temp file.m % Command syntax does NOT work for a file name containing a space

Partial Path Names in MATLAB

A partial path name is the last portion of a full path name for a location on
the MATLAB search path.

Some functions accept partial path names. The reference page for a function
typically specifies the valid types of path names.

Examples of partial path names are: matfun/trace, private/cancel, and

demos/clown.mat.

Use a partial path name to:

• Specify a location more conveniently than by using the full path name.

6-9
 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

• Specify a location independent of where MATLAB is installed.

• Locate a function in a specific toolbox when multiple toolboxes contain
functions with that name. For example, to get help for the set function in
the Database Toolbox™ product, type:

help database/set

• Locate method files. For example, to get help for the time series object
plot method type:

help timeseries/plot

Specifying the at sign character (@) in method folder names is optional.

• Locate private and method files, which sometimes are hidden.

Be sure to specify enough of the path name to make the partial path name
unique.

See Also

• “Slash and Backslash — / \”

• ismac, ispc, and isunix functions, for MATLAB statements that require
different path names for different platforms
• “Private Functions”.

6-10
 Working with Files and Folders

Working with Files and Folders

In this section...
“Viewing Folder Contents” on page 6-11
“Using the Current Folder Browser” on page 6-16

Viewing Folder Contents

• “Opening the Current Folder Browser” on page 6-12
• “Preferences for the Current Folder Browser” on page 6-13
• “Refreshing the List of Files” on page 6-14
• “Viewing Hidden Files and Folders” on page 6-14
• “Controlling the Appearance of Files Inaccessible to MATLAB” on page 6-15

You can view information about folders from the MATLAB Desktop like you
can from operating system windows. The principal Desktop tool for working
with files and folders is the Current Folder browser. Like other Desktop
components, you can dock the Current Folder browser or open it as a separate
window. The Current Folder browser displays details about files in your
current folder and within the hierarchy of the folders it contains. You can
modify the kinds of information it displays to suit your needs, for example by
reordering or deleting specific columns of information.

The Current Folder browser:

• Always displays your current folder, as well as its subfolders.

• Lets you access operating system file management features from within
MATLAB.
• Is similar to file browsers provided with operating systems, but also
includes features unique to MATLAB. For example, you can add folders to
the search path from the Current Folder browser.

The following sections explain what you can do with the Current Folder
browser and how to use it.

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Opening the Current Folder Browser

To open the Current Folder browser, on the Home tab, in the Environment
section, click Layout. Then, under Show, select Current Folder.

The Current Folder browser shows the contents of the current folder.

Double-clicking a subfolder displays its contents, and makes that folder the
current folder.

If there are an exceptionally large number of entries to display, this message

might appear in the Current Folder browser:

There are too many entries to display.

Click the search button in the address bar to reduce the number of entries.

When you click the search button , the address bar becomes a search field.

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 Working with Files and Folders

Preferences for the Current Folder Browser

You can set preferences for aspects of the Current Folder browser. On the
Home tab, in the Environment section, click Preferences > Current
Folder. The preferences are:

• History — The number of recently used folders maintained in the Current

Folder browser drop-down list.
• Refresh — How frequently the Current Folder browser updates to reflect
changes to files made outside of MATLAB.
• Path indication— Controls the appearance of folders and files that are
inaccessible to MATLAB, and whether to display tooltips describing their
status.
• Toolbar — Provides a link to the Toolbars preferences. Those preferences
enable you to adjust the toolbar layout and controls for Desktop tools,
including the Current Folder browser.
• Hidden files — Controls whether the Current Folder browser displays
hidden files and folders.
This preference not on available Microsoft Windows platforms.

Tip For information on changing the date format in the Current Folder
browser, see “Customizing the Column Display” on page 6-17

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

Refreshing the List of Files

When files and folders are created, deleted, or changed outside of MATLAB,
the Current Folder browser automatically reflects the changes. When
you access files on a network, frequent refreshing of the Current Folder
browser can slow performance in MATLAB. If this seems to be a problem, try
improving the performance by changing how frequently refreshing occurs
using the Current Folder Refresh preference:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Current Folder.

By default, the Auto-refresh view from file system option is on, with
an update time of 3 seconds. Every 3 seconds, the Current Folder browser
checks for and reflects changes made from programs and tools other than
MATLAB.

2 Try to improve responsiveness by either:

• Increasing the Number of seconds between auto-refresh.

• Clearing the Auto-refresh view from file system check box to turn
off the feature.

3 Click OK.

To manually refresh the view at any time:

1 Right-click in the list area of the Current Folder browser.

2 Select Refresh from the context menu.

Viewing Hidden Files and Folders

The operating system, by default, hides certain files and folders from system
file browsers and file-listing commands. The Current Folder browser can
display hidden files and folders. You control this in different ways on different
operating systems.

On Microsoft Windows platforms, the Current Folder browser follows the

Windows preference for showing hidden files. To set or change the Windows
preference, access the Folder Options, and then select an option for viewing
Hidden files and folders.

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 Working with Files and Folders

On other platforms, specify the behavior using Current Folder preferences:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Current Folder.

2 Specify the setting for Hidden files and folders.

Controlling the Appearance of Files Inaccessible to MATLAB

MATLAB cannot access files if they are not on the search path or, in some
cases, if they are in a private folder. By default, the Current Folder browser
dims the display of files and folders inaccessible to MATLAB. Furthermore,
if you hover over a dimmed file, a tooltip provides information on why that
file is inaccessible. If you disable this feature, the Current Folder browser
displays all files and folders as undimmed and provides no tooltips regarding
their availability to MATLAB.

To customize this feature:

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > Current Folder.

2 Select the Indicate inaccessible files check box to enable this feature;
deselect it and skip to step 5 to disable this feature.

3 Move the Text and icon transparency slider to adjust the level of
dimming.

View the region below the slider to preview how your choice will affect the
appearance of files in the Current Folder browser.

4 Select Show tooltip explaining why files are inaccessible to enable

tooltips; deselect it to disable them.

5 Click OK.

For more information, see “Private Functions” and “What Is the Search
Path?” on page 6-71.

Using the Current Folder Browser

• “Customizing the Column Display” on page 6-17
• “Viewing File Descriptions” on page 6-18
• “Viewing File Details Without Opening Files” on page 6-18
• “Viewing Help for a MATLAB Program File” on page 6-21
• “Sorting and Grouping Files and Folders” on page 6-22

The Current Folder browser lists details about files and folders in columns,
beneath file and folder names, and in the details panel. Any file that is
modified in the Editor, but not yet saved has an asterisk (*) next to it in
the Current Folder browser. The browser displays columns for Size, Date
Modified, Type, and Description. You can modify the information it
displays. You also use this tool to perform operations on files and folders, such
as moving, compressing, renaming, creating, and deleting them.

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 Working with Files and Folders

Note Do not use accented characters, such as à, é, ñ, or ϋ, in folder names.

The Current Folder browser cannot locate folders containing such characters
or save files to them.

Customizing the Column Display

You can show and hide columns, change their order, and adjust the date
format in the Current Folder browser.

To Specify the Columns to Display.

1 Right-click on any column header, or in the Current Folder browser, click

, and then select Show.

2 Select the columns to show. Clear the columns to hide.

In addition, consider:

• Hiding the Type column if the icon column provides enough information
about the type.
• Sorting or grouping by a column without showing the column.
In the Current Folder browser, click , and then select Sort By or Group
By. Then, choose the method by which you want to sort or group columns.

To Modify Columns.

• To change the order, drag a column header to a new position.

• To change the width, drag the edge of the column header.

To Change the Date Format. MATLAB uses your operating system’s short
date format to display dates in the Current Folder browser and the Command
History window. To change the date format, for instance from MM/DD/YYYY
to DD/MM/YYYY, (where MM is the numerical value for the month, DD is the
numerical value for the day, and YYYY is the numerical value for the year):

1 Change the short date format for your operating system. For instructions,
see your operating system documentation.

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

2 Refresh the date display by either restarting MATLAB or doing the

following:
• In the Current Folder browser, right-click, and then choose Refresh
from the context menu.
Dates refresh and use the new format.
• In the Command History window, right click, and then choose Clear
Command History from the context menu.
The window clears. MATLAB specifies new dates in the window using
the new format.

Viewing File Descriptions

To show or hide descriptions in the Current Folder browser, click , and then
select Show > Description.

Descriptions appear in gray text beneath the name of the file or folder. When
the Current Folder browser window is wide enough, descriptions display on
the same line as file names. The Current Folder browser shows descriptions
only for files and folders that are relevant to products from MathWorks. How
the Current Folder browser gets the description depends on the type of item:

• MATLAB program files — The description is the first line of the help
comments, known as the H1 line.
• Simulink Models — The description is from the Description pane of the
Model Properties dialog box. Use the Current Folder browser to view model
descriptions without starting the Simulink software.
• Folders — The description is the first comment line of the Contents.m
file for the folder.

To provide descriptions for your own files and folders, see “Add Help for
Your Program”.

Viewing File Details Without Opening Files

Display file details without opening a file by selecting the file, and then
clicking the up arrow button on the lower right corner of the Current Folder
browser. The details panel expands.

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 Working with Files and Folders

Detail Up arrow
panel

File and Folder Details. When you select a file or folder, the details panel
displays more information about that file or folder, if possible. For example, if
you select a MATLAB code file, the details panel shows the main functions or
local functions that the file contains.

Image File Details. When you select a JPEG, JPG, BMP, WBMP, PNG, or GIF
image, the details panel displays a thumbnail of the image and lists its width
and height in pixels. To open the Import Wizard, double-click the thumbnail.

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

Viewing Unsaved File Changes. When you select a file that is currently
open in the Editor and that contains unsaved changes, an asterisk (*) appears
after that file name. The Current Folder browser columns reflect the content
of the unsaved file. For instance, if you open a file, change it from a script to a
function, and modify the H1 line, then the icon, type name, and description
update in the Current Folder browser.

The preview in the details panel also reflects the unsaved file content, not the
content on disk. For instance, in the following example, PropertyTwo exists
in the modified MyClass.m file, but not the MyClass.m file on disk.

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 Working with Files and Folders

Viewing and Going to Elements within a MATLAB Program File. The

details panel lists these elements when you selected a file with a .m extension:

• Local functions
• Cells
• Properties

• Methods

To open the file in the Editor, scroll to the start of the element in the details
panel and double-click the element.

Viewing and Loading MAT-File Variables. Use the details panel to view
the name, class, and value of all variables in the selected MAT-file. To load a
variable into the workspace, select it in the details panel and drag it to the
Workspace browser. The folder containing the MAT-file does not need to be
on the search path for you to load it in this way.

Viewing Help for a MATLAB Program File

From the Current Folder browser, you can view help for a file that has a.m
extension and is in the current folder or in a folder on the search path:

1 Right-click the file.

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2 Select View Help from the context menu.

The reference page, if it exists, opens in the Help browser. Otherwise,

help comments from the beginning of the file, if any exist, display in the
Help browser.

Sorting and Grouping Files and Folders

Organize, find, and manage the files and folders you use with MATLAB by
sorting and grouping items.

By default, sorting is by Name and grouping is off.

You can sort and then group, or group and then sort.

Regardless of the sorting and grouping options selected, the Current Folder
browser lists folders and files separately.

Tip To view only files of a certain type (for example, files having a .m
extension) use a simple search. See “Simple Search for File and Folder Names
in the Current Folder Browser” on page 6-24.

Sorting Items. To change the order of items listed, sort by column:

1 In the Current Folder browser, click , and then select Sort By.

2 Select the name of the column to sort by.

Alternatively, click the column header by which you want to sort. Click it
again to reverse the direction of sorting.

Grouping Items. To see related items listed together, group them:

1 In the Current Folder browser, click , and then select Group By.

2 Select Type, Size, or Date Modified.

Each group has a label. To hide the items in a group, click the collapse button
(–) next to the label.

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 Working with Files and Folders

To turn off grouping, click in the Current Folder browser, and then select
Group By > Stop Grouping.

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

Finding Files and Folders

In this section...
“Finding Files and Folders by Name in the Current Folder” on page 6-24
“Simple Search for File and Folder Names in the Current Folder Browser”
on page 6-24
“Advanced Search for Files — Find Files Tool” on page 6-25
“Locating a File or Folder in the Operating System Browser” on page 6-29
“Finding Files and Folders Using Functions” on page 6-30
“Additional Ways to Find Files” on page 6-30

Finding Files and Folders by Name in the Current

Folder
In the Current Folder browser, use the typeahead feature to find a file or
folder by name in the current folder:

1 Position the pointer in the list of files and folders in the current folder.

2 Type the first characters of the name you want to find.

As you type, the Current Folder browser searches downward from the top of
the window, looking through all expanded folders. It selects the first entry
in the current folder whose name begins with the characters you typed.

Typeahead and find as you type are other names for this feature.

Simple Search for File and Folder Names in the

Current Folder Browser
To search for names that contain a specified series of characters in the current
folder and subfolders:

1 In the current folder toolbar, change the current folder to be the one you
want to search.

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 Finding Files and Folders

2 Click the search button in the current folder toolbar.

3 Type the absolute path name or begin typing a file name. The asterisk
character (*) is a wildcard.

If you type a partial path name, such as matlab\toolbox, MATLAB regards

it as a file name.

4 Press Enter:

• If you typed a path name, that path becomes the current folder.
• If you typed a file name, MATLAB displays all files within the current
folder (including its subfolders) that match that file name.

5 Continue filtering the list by doing either of the following:

• Typing additional characters

• Removing characters you already typed

For example, to shows only file names that begin with coll and have a .m
extension, type coll*.m

6 Clear the results and show all items in the current folder by pressing the
Esc key.

Instant search and filtering are other names for this feature.

Advanced Search for Files — Find Files Tool

To look for a specified string in file names and within files located in multiple
folders, in the File section of the Home tab, click Find Files, which opens
the Find Files tool. The following sections provide details on using the tool.

• “Steps for Using the Find Files Tool” on page 6-26

• “Opening Files from the Results List” on page 6-27
• “Accessing Previous Results” on page 6-28
• “Skipping File Types” on page 6-28

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

Steps for Using the Find Files Tool

1 On the Home tab, in the File section, click Find Files.

2 Search for file names containing a specified string by typing the string in
the Find files named field.

Ignore irrelevant characters in the string by using an asterisk (*) as the

wildcard character. For example, type coll* to search for file names that
start with coll.

3 Search for a specified string in the content of files by typing the string in the
Find files containing text field.

For example, search for plot. Alternatively, select text in the Command
Window or Editor and that text appears in the field.

• For partial word searching in file contents, select Contains text under
the More options Search type.
• Find an exact full-string match by selecting Matches whole word.

4 Specify file types to search for by selecting one of the options listed in the table.

One file type For Include only file type(s), select the file type you are
looking for.
For example, select *.m to limit the search to MATLAB
program files.
All file types
a For Include only file type(s), select All files (*).

b Clear the Skip file type(s) check box, under More

options.
Other
variations a For Include only file type(s), select All files (*).

b Select the Skip file type(s) check box, under More

options.

c Select Edit to specify the file types.

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 Finding Files and Folders

See “Skipping File Types” on page 6-28.

5 Specify the folders to search, using one of the Look in options:

• Select an option listed.

• Enter the full path for one or more folders. Separate each path by a
semicolon (;).
• Include subfolders by selecting the Include subdirectories check box.

6 Further restrict the search using More options. For example, use the Skip
files over option. It ignores large files that could take a long time to look
through.

7 Perform the search by clicking Find.

The Find Files tool presents the search results in the right pane of the dialog
box, with a summary at the bottom. For text searches, results include the
line number and line of code.

8 Customize the display of results:

• To see file locations, select Show full pathnames.

• To sort results by a column, click the column heading. For example, click
Line to sort results by line number.

Opening Files from the Results List

1 Select the file to open. To select multiple files:

• Click to the left of an icon and drag up or down to select contiguous items
• Shift+click to select contiguous items
• Ctrl+click to select non-contiguous items

2 Right-click and select one of the Open options from the context menu.

For details about the Open options, see “Opening and Running Files” on
page 6-40.

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

Accessing Previous Results

View the results of a previous search by selecting its tab at the bottom of the
results pane. The Find Files tool shows up to 10 tabs for previous search
results while the tool is open. File Files does not maintain the results after
you close the tool.

Skipping File Types

Use the Find Files tool to look in all file types except file types you specify:

1 For Include only file type(s), select All files (*).

2 Specify the file types you want the search to ignore:

a Select the Skip file type(s) check box.

b Click Edit.

3 In the resulting Edit Skipped File Extension dialog box, specify which file
types to look in and which to ignore:

• Ignore a file type by selecting its State check box.

• Look for a file type by clearing its State check box.

4 Add any file types not listed that you want to skip or look for:

a Enter the file extension in the field at the top of the dialog box.

b Click Add.

The file type appears in the list.

c Verify that the State check box has the setting you want.

The example at the end of this procedure shows the scc file type added.

5 Reduce the size of the list by removing any file extensions irrelevant to your
search:
a Select the name of the extension.

b Click Remove.

6 Click OK to accept your changes.

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 Finding Files and Folders

The Edit Skipped File Extensions dialog box closes.

When you use the Find Files tool, search ignores the selected file types after
making the changes.

Locating a File or Folder in the Operating System

Browser
To go to a file or folder location in Windows Explorer or Apple Mac Finder, do
one of the following:

• In the Current Folder browser, right-click the file or folder, and then select
Show in Explorer or Show in Finder.
• In the Current Folder browser, right-click in white space, and then select
Open Current Folder in Explorer or Open Current Folder in Finder.

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

• In the Editor, right-click a document tab, and then select Show in

Explorer or Show in Finder.
Document tabs appear in the Editor only when multiple documents are
open and docked in the Editor.

The Windows Explorer or Mac Finder opens to the folder containing the
selected item.

Finding Files and Folders Using Functions

To... Use This Function
List files and folders in the current folder or in dir
subfolders on the search path
Determine if a variable, function, or folder exists. exist
Search for the specified string in the first line of lookfor
help in a MATLAB program file
See files and folders that are relevant to MATLAB what
See the full path to a file which

Additional Ways to Find Files

• “Find Functions Using the Function Browser” on page 3-4
• “Search Syntax and Tips” on page 4-5

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 Creating, Opening, Changing, and Deleting Files and Folders

Creating, Opening, Changing, and Deleting Files and

Folders
In this section...
“Creating New Files and Folders” on page 6-31
“Copying, Renaming, and Deleting Files and Folders” on page 6-36
“Opening and Running Files” on page 6-40
“Running External Commands, Scripts, and Programs” on page 6-43

Creating New Files and Folders

You can add files and subfolders to your current folder with the Current
Folder browser or by typing commands.

• “Creating Files and Folders with the Current Folder Browser” on page 6-31
• “Creating and Updating MAT-Files with the Current Folder Browser” on
page 6-32
• “Creating and Managing Zip File Archives” on page 6-33
• “Creating Files and Folders Using Functions” on page 6-36

Creating Files and Folders with the Current Folder Browser

1 In the Current Folder browser, navigate to the folder where you want to
create a file or folder.

For guidance on where to create files, see “Locations for Storing Your Files”
on page 6-4.

2 Right-click in white space, and then select one of the following from the
context menu:
• New Folder.
MATLAB creates and selects a folder named New Folder.
• New File > file-type,

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For file-type you can choose: Script, Function, Class,

Enumeration, Model (if Simulink is installed), or Zip File. Function,
class, and enumeration files that you create this way contain template
information representing the fundamental elements for the file (such as
function arguments).

MATLAB creates and selects a new file named untitled with the
appropriate extension.

3 Replace the selected name by typing a new name.

File names must start with a letter, and can contain letters, digits, or
underscores.

4 Press Enter.

Creating and Updating MAT-Files with the Current Folder

Browser
To create or update a MAT-file using variables in the workspace:

1 In the Current Folder browser, change the current folder to the folder where
you want to save the variables. See “Locations for Storing Your Files” on
page 6-4.

2 In the Workspace browser, select a variable to save. Hold down the Ctrl key
and click any other variable names you want to include in the MAT-file.

3 Drag the selected variables from the Workspace browser to the Current
Folder browser.

4 Drop the variables in the Current Folder browser:

• Create a MAT-file by dropping the variables onto any empty location in the
Current Folder browser. Then name the file.
• Update an existing MAT-file by dropping the variables onto the file name.
MATLAB warns you when the MAT-file contains variables of the same
name. To update the existing variables, click Continue. Otherwise, click
Cancel.

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You can suppress the warning. On the Home tab, in the Environment
section, click Preferences > General > Confirmation Dialogs. Then,
clear the preference, Confirm when overwriting variables in
MAT-files.

See also “Opening Files and Importing Data Using the Current Folder
Browser” on page 6-40.

Creating and Managing Zip File Archives

To back up files, conserve file storage space, or to forward collections of files
to other people, create archives using zip files. You can create, view, and
adjust the contents of a zip file from within the Current Folder browser, as
described in the sections that follow.

Viewing the Contents of Zip Files. To view the contents of a zip file
without extracting any files it contains, click the associated + (expand) button
in the Current Folder browser. This feature is helpful when you want to:

• Confirm the contents of a newly created zip file

• View the contents of a zip file before extracting files
• Selectively open certain items from a zip file

By default, files within a zip file appear dimmed to indicate that they are not
on the MATLAB path.

Note Archives created outside of MATLAB can be encrypted or

password-protected. You cannot add files to, or extract files from, protected
archives from within MATLAB.

Creating Zip Archives. You can either create an empty archive, or select
files, folders, or both to create an initial archive. In either case, you can add
more files later.

1 Do one of the following in the Current Folder browser:

• Create an empty zip file:

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Right-click white space, and then select New File > Zip File.
• Create a populated zip file from selected files, folders, or both:
Select the folders and files you want to archive, right-click, and then
select Create Zip File.

In either case, MATLAB creates an archive with a default name of

Untitledn.zip, where n is an integer.

2 Type over the default file name to specify a descriptive name, for example
listmaster_export.zip, as shown here.

See also “Adding Files to a Zip Archive” on page 6-35.

Extracting Files from Zip Files. To extract a single file from within a zip
file in the Current Folder browser, do one of the following:

• Copy a file name and paste it into a folder in the Current Folder browser.
• Drag the file into a folder in the Current Folder browser.

MATLAB extracts the file and saves it to the folder where you dragged or
pasted it.

To extract all the files from a zip file, do one of the following:

• Double-click the zip file in the Current Folder browser.

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 Creating, Opening, Changing, and Deleting Files and Folders

• Right-click the zip file, and then select Extract.

MATLAB extracts the entire contents of the zip file into a folder having the
same name as the zip file.

Because MATLAB creates a folder when extracting files, none of the extracted
files can overwrite files that have the same name. If you attempt to overwrite
a folder with the same name when extracting, MATLAB prompts you to
determine what you want to do.

Adding Files to a Zip Archive. To add files and folders to a zip file archive
in the Current Folder browser, do one of the following:

• Select, and then drag the file that you want to add onto the archive.
• Copy the file that you want to add to the archive. Then, select the archive
to which you want to add the file and paste the file into the archive.

If the archive contains a file or folder with the same name as the one you are
adding, a MATLAB dialog box opens. The dialog box asks if you want to
replace the existing file in the archive.

Comparing the Contents of a Zip Archive to Unzipped Files and

Folders. To determine differences between archived and unarchived files,
use the Comparison Tool from within the Current Folder browser as you
would for any other files and folders.

For instance:

• Right-click a zip archive, and then from the context menu select Compare
Against and specify the folder to which you want to compare the contents
of the zip archive.
• Expand a zip archive, right-click a file within it, and then from the context
menu select Compare Against. Specify the file to which you want to
compare the archived file.

For details, see “Comparing Files and Folders” on page 6-47.

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Creating Files and Folders Using Functions

As an alternative to using the Current Folder browser to create files and
folders, you can run functions in the Command Window or from a script.

To... Use This Function

Create a folder mkdir
Create a text file, such as a MATLAB edit
program file
Create a MAT-file save
Create archive of files zip, gzip, tar
Extract files from archive unzip, gunzip, untar

See also “Locations for Storing Your Files” on page 6-4.

Copying, Renaming, and Deleting Files and Folders

• “Renaming Files Using the Current Folder Browser” on page 6-36
• “Renaming Files and Folders Using Functions” on page 6-37
• “Deleting Files and Folders Using the Current Folder Browser” on page 6-37
• “Deleting Files and Folders Using Functions” on page 6-38
• “Copying and Moving Files and Folders” on page 6-39
• “Changing Properties of Files and Folders” on page 6-40

Renaming Files Using the Current Folder Browser

1 Select the item to rename.

2 Right-click and select Rename from the context menu.

3 Type over the existing name with the new name. Warnings appear when:

• The new name is invalid. Change the name to make it valid. File names
must start with a letter, and can contain letters, digits, or underscores.

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 Creating, Opening, Changing, and Deleting Files and Folders

• The folder is on the search path. See “Handling Errors and Unexpected
Behavior When Updating Folders” on page 6-82.

4 Press Enter.

Renaming Files and Folders Using Functions

Use the movefile function.

Deleting Files and Folders Using the Current Folder Browser

To remove items:

1 Select the item to delete. To select multiple items:

• Click to the left of an icon and drag up or down to select contiguous items
• Shift+click to select contiguous items
• Ctrl+click to select non-contiguous items

2 Right-click and select Delete from the context menu.

Note You cannot delete a folder while it is on the search path. See “Handling
Errors and Unexpected Behavior When Updating Folders” on page 6-82.

When you delete a file or folder using the Current Folder browser, MATLAB
permanently removes it or moves it to another location, based on your
platform.

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Platform Behavior Deleting Files and Folders Using

the Current Folder Browser
Microsoft Windows Follows the Windows system preference for
platforms sending files to the Recycle Bin. Some systems
only allow recycling of local files and not files
accessed on a network.
To delete a selection permanently when the
system preference is set to recycle, press
Shift+Delete.
Linux platforms Specify the behavior:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment

section, click Preferences > General.

2 Set the Deleting files option you want.

To move files to a temporary folder, determine

the location by running tempdir.
To delete a selection permanently when the
preference is set to recycle, press Shift+Delete.
Apple Macintosh Follows your Macintosh system preference for
platforms sending files to the Trash.

Deleting Files and Folders Using Functions

To... Use This Function

Delete a file delete
Delete a folder rmdir

You cannot recover folders deleted using rmdir.

By default, the delete function permanently deletes files. To move them to a

different location instead, use the Deleting files preference:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click

Preferences > General.

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 Creating, Opening, Changing, and Deleting Files and Folders

2 Set the Deleting files option you want.

Setting the preference to delete files permanently makes delete run faster.

To override the preference when using the delete function, use the recycle
function.

The location for deleted files varies by platform, as the following table
indicates.

Platform Location for Files Not Permanently Deleted Using the

delete Function
Microsoft Recycle Bin. Some systems only allow recycling of local files
Windows and not files accessed on a network.
platforms
Linux MATLAB_Files_<day>-<mo>-<yr>_<hr>_<min>_<sec> folder
platforms in the location returned by the tempdir function.
For example, when tempdir returns /tmp, files deleted
at 2:09:28 in the afternoon of November 9, 2009 move to
/tmp/MATLAB_Files_09-Nov-2009_14_09_28.
Apple Trash
Macintosh
platforms

Deleted files remain in these locations until you remove them. To remove
deleted files, use operating system features, such as Empty Recycle Bin on
Windows platforms.

Copying and Moving Files and Folders

Copy and move files and folders using the Current Folder browser using
standard GUI practices. For example, click and drag a file from one folder to
another or to another application, such as Windows Explorer.

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

Note You cannot move a folder that is on the search path using the Current
Folder browser. See “Handling Errors and Unexpected Behavior When
Updating Folders” on page 6-82

To copy and move files and folders using functions, use copyfile and
movefile.

Changing Properties of Files and Folders

To change some properties of files and folders, such as read/write permissions,
use the fileattrib function.

Opening and Running Files

• “Opening Files and Importing Data Using the Current Folder Browser”
on page 6-40
• “Opening Files and Importing Data Using Functions” on page 6-41
• “Opening Files and Functions in the Command Window” on page 6-41
• “Running MATLAB Program Files from the Current Folder Browser” on
page 6-42

Opening Files and Importing Data Using the Current Folder

Browser
1 In the Current Folder browser, right-click the file you want to open or load.

2 From the context menu, select an option for opening or importing the file:

• Open — Opens the file using the appropriate MATLAB tool for the file type.
For example, this option loads a MAT-file into the Workspace browser.
• Open in GUIDE — Opens a FIG-file in GUIDE instead of a figure window.
For more information, see “Opening GUIDE”.
• Open as Text — Opens the file in the Editor as a text file, even if the file
type is associated with another application or tool.

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 Creating, Opening, Changing, and Deleting Files and Folders

This is useful, for example, if you have imported a tab-delimited data file
(.dat) into the workspace and you find you want to add a data point. Open
the file as text in the Editor, make your addition, and then save the file.
• Open Outside MATLAB — Opens the file using the application or tool
that the operating system associates with the file type.
For example, .mat is the extension for MATLAB data files and Microsoft
Access files. Whereas Open loads the file into the MATLAB workspace,
Open Outside MATLAB opens the file into Microsoft Access. See
“Managing File Associations for MATLAB on Windows Systems” on page
1-5.

For information on how to view information about a file without opening it,
see “Viewing File Details Without Opening Files” on page 6-18.

Opening Files and Importing Data Using Functions

To... Use This Function

Open a file or open a variable in the open
Variable Editor
Add variables from a MAT-file to the load
workspace
Import data files importdata
Import data file using the Import uiimport
Wizard
Access the system clipboard clipboard

See Also.

• “Supported File Formats”

Opening Files and Functions in the Command Window

To open a function, file, variable, or Simulink model from the Command
Window — select the name in the Command Window, right-click, and then
select Open Selection.

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

MATLAB runs the open function on your behalf to open the selected item
in the appropriate tool. Specifically:

• Text files open in the Editor.

• Figure files (.fig) open in a figure window.
• Variables open in the Variable Editor.
• Models open in Simulink software.

See the open reference page for details about what action occurs if there are
name conflicts. If no action exists to work with the selected item, Open
selection calls edit.

Running MATLAB Program Files from the Current Folder

Browser
For convenience, you can run MATLAB scripts and functions from the Current
Folder browser. Script files do not accept input arguments or return values
and can be run directly. If the program is a function which requires input
arguments or returns output arguments, you can define a run configuration
for it that defines arguments. See “Using Run Configurations for Functions”
on page 6-43. Run any program file in the following way:

1 In the Current Folder browser, change the current folder to the folder
containing the file to run.

2 Right-click the file name to open the context menu.

3 (Optional) If you have defined a run configuration for the file you want to
use, select it from the Run Configurations on the context menu. Select
Edit Configurations to edit or create one.

4 From the context menu, select Run.

If you have customized the Current Folder Browser toolbar with a Run button
, you can select the file and then click the Run button. That button has a
dropdown list of function run configurations you have defined. For details, see
“Access Frequently Used Features” on page 2-10.

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 Creating, Opening, Changing, and Deleting Files and Folders

Using Run Configurations for Functions. If you run a function that

requires input arguments, executing it from the Run context menu or toolbar
button item might not work properly. Specify default input arguments for
functions that require them by defining run configurations for them. To
create a run configuration:

1 Right-click the name of a function in the Current Folder browser and select
Run Configurations > Edit Configurations.

2 Give your run configuration a name.

3 Type in the expressions for running the function in the MATLAB

expression panel.

4 Click Run if you want to test the configuration.

5 Click Close to save the configuration and exit the dialog box.

Executing a function with a run configuration sets up function arguments

as the configuration specifies. You can create multiple configurations for a
function. Your configurations are saved with your preferences. To use a run
configuration:

1 Right-click on the function name and select Run

Configurations > configuration name.

2 The function executes according to the configuration you select and that
configuration is the selected one the next time you use this context menu.

For more information about using run configurations, see “Run Functions in
the Editor”.

Running External Commands, Scripts, and Programs

The exclamation point character (!) sometimes called bang, is a shell escape
and indicates that the rest of the input line is a command to the operating
system. Use it to invoke utilities or call other executable programs without
quitting MATLAB. On UNIX platforms, for example, the following code
invokes the vi editor for a file named yearlystats.m:

!vi yearlystats.m

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

After the external program completes or you quit the program, the operating
system returns control to MATLAB. Add & to the end of the line, such as

!dir &

on Windows platforms to display the output in a separate window or to run

the application in background mode. For example

!excel.exe &

opens Microsoft Excel software and returns control to the Command Window
so you can continue running MATLAB language statements.

Restrictions maintained within the operating system determine the maximum

length of the argument list you can provide as input to the bang (!) command.
If you are running the Microsoft Windows XP operating system, for example,
the length of the argument list input to the bang command cannot exceed
8189 characters.

See the reference pages for the unix, dos, and system functions for details
about running external programs that return results and status.

Note To execute operating system commands with specific environment

variables, include all commands to the operating system within the system
call. Separate the commands using & (ampersand) for DOS, and ; (semicolon)
for UNIX platforms. This applies to the MATLAB ! (bang), dos, unix, and
system functions. Another approach is to set environment variables before
starting MATLAB.

On Macintosh platforms, you cannot run AppleScript (from Apple) directly

from MATLAB. However, you can run the Apple Mac OS X osascript
function from the MATLAB unix or ! (bang) function to run AppleScript
from MATLAB.

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 Creating, Opening, Changing, and Deleting Files and Folders

Running UNIX Programs That Are Off the System Path

You can run a UNIX program from MATLAB when the folder containing
that file is not on the UNIX system path that is visible to MATLAB. To
determine the system path that is visible to MATLAB, type the following in
the Command Window:

getenv('PATH')

You can make modifications to the system path that persist for the current
MATLAB session or across subsequent MATLAB sessions, as described in the
sections that follow.

Modify the System Path for the Current MATLAB Session. Do one of
the following:

• Change the current folder in MATLAB to the folder that contains the
program you want to run.
• Issue these commands using the Command Window:

path1 = getenv('PATH')
path1 = [path1 ':/usr/local/bin']
setenv('PATH', path1)
!echo $PATH

If you restart MATLAB, the folder is no longer on the system path visible
to MATLAB.

Modify the System Path Across MATLAB Sessions Within the Current
Shell Session. To add a folder to the system path from the shell:

1 Stop MATLAB.

2 Depending on the shell you are using, type one of the following at the system
command prompt, where myfolder is the folder that contains the program
you want to run:

• Type this if you are using bash or a related shell:

export PATH="$PATH:myfolder"

• Type this if you are using tcsh or a related shell:

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

setenv PATH "${PATH}:myfolder"

3 Start MATLAB.

4 In the MATLAB Command Window, type:

!echo $PATH

If you restart MATLAB within the current shell session, the folder remains
on the system path visible to MATLAB. However, if you restart the shell
session, and then restart MATLAB, the folder is no longer on the system
path visible to MATLAB.

Modify the System Path Across All MATLAB Sessions. To make

adjustments that persist across shell and MATLAB sessions, add the following
commands to the MATLAB startup file as described in “Specifying Startup
Options in the MATLAB Startup File” on page 1-19:

path1 = getenv('PATH')
path1 = [path1 ':/usr/local/bin']
setenv('PATH', path1)
!echo $PATH

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 Comparing Files and Folders

Comparing Files and Folders

In this section...
“Comparing Files and Folders” on page 6-47
“Comparing Folders and Zip Files” on page 6-49
“Comparing Text Files” on page 6-53
“Comparing Files with Autosave Version or Version on Disk” on page 6-58
“Comparing MAT-Files” on page 6-59
“Comparing Binary Files” on page 6-61
“Using Comparison Tool Features” on page 6-62
“Function Alternative for Comparing Files and Folders” on page 6-64

Comparing Files and Folders

You can use the Comparison Tool to determine and display the differences
between selected pairs of files or folders. The comparison process involves
three steps:

1 “Select the Files or Folders to Compare” on page 6-47

2 “Choose a Comparison Type” on page 6-48

3 “Explore the Comparison Tool Report” on page 6-49

Select the Files or Folders to Compare

You can compare files and folders using any of these methods:

• From the Current Folder browser:

- Select a file or folder, right-click and select Compare Against, and
browse to select a second item to compare.
- For two files or subfolders in the same folder, select the files or folders,
right-click and select Compare Selected Files/Folders.

• If you have a file open in the Editor, on the Editor tab, in the File section,

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

- Click Compare to browse to a second file for comparison.

- Alternatively, under Compare, select Compare with Version on Disk
or Compare with Autosave. See “Comparing Files with Autosave
Version or Version on Disk” on page 6-58.
• From the MATLAB desktop, on the Home tab, in the File section, click
Compare. Select the files or folders to compare.
• From the command line, use the visdiff function.

Choose a Comparison Type

If you specify two files or folders to compare using either the Current Folder
browser or the visdiff function, then the Comparison Tool automatically
performs the default comparison type.

If there are multiple comparison types available for your selections, you can
change what type of comparison to run. For example, text, binary, file list, or
XML comparison. To change the comparison type, create a new comparison
using the Comparison Tool. You can change comparison type in the Select
Files or Folders for Comparison dialog box.

For example, from the Current Folder browser, if you select two MAT-files to
compare, you get the default comparison type showing information about the
variables. To change the comparison type to binary, create a new comparison

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 Comparing Files and Folders

using the Comparison Tool. See “Selecting Files or Folders to Compare from
the Comparison Tool” on page 6-62.

Explore the Comparison Tool Report

Comparison Tool report features depend on your comparison type. You can
use the tool to:

• Compare lines in two text files (some other applications refer to this as a
file diff operation). See “Comparing Text Files” on page 6-53.
• Compare and merge variables in two MAT-files. See “Comparing
MAT-Files” on page 6-59.
• Determine whether the contents of two binary files match. See “Comparing
Binary Files” on page 6-61.
• Compare any combination of folders, zip files, or Simulink manifests to
determine:
- Which file and folder names are unique to each list
- If files and folders with the same name in each list have the same content
See “Comparing Folders and Zip Files” on page 6-49.
• Compare XML files:
- If you select XML files to compare and you have MATLAB Report
Generator™ software, the Comparison Tool runs a hierarchical matching
algorithm. You then see a report showing a hierarchical view of the
portions of the two XML files that differ.
- If you have Simulink Report Generator software, you can select a pair of
Simulink models (.mdl files) to compare XML files generated from them.

Comparing Folders and Zip Files

• “Folder Comparison Report” on page 6-50
• “Highlighting of Differences” on page 6-51
• “Next Steps Using the Report” on page 6-52

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

Folder Comparison Report

To select items to compare, see “Select the Files or Folders to Compare” on
page 6-47. You can perform file list comparisons for any combinations of
folders, zip files, and Simulink Manifests.

When you use the Comparison Tool to compare two folders (sometimes
referred to as directories) or any file list comparison (for example, folder
versus zip file), a window opens and presents the contents side by side. The
tool enables you to:

• Determine the files that the comparison lists have in common.

• Determine if files with identical names that are common to both comparison
lists also have identical content.
• Open a new comparison of two files or folders that are common to both
comparison lists, but have different content.
• Open a file for viewing in the Editor.
• Specify filters to ignore certain files or folders

For list comparisons, if you want to expand the list to see all files in subfolders
in one report, select the Include subfolders check box when selecting items
to compare. If you do not include subfolders, you can click compare links in
the report to open a new comparison of two folders with changed content.

To define filters to exclude unimportant differences, click the Filters toolbar

button, , or select Comparison > Edit File and Folder Filters.

The File and Folder Filters dialog box opens. Specify filters to ignore certain
files and folders, such as backup files or files created by a revision control
system. Filters can save time when reviewing differences, especially when
comparing many subfolders. Double-click to edit existing filters.

For example, to ignore all files and folders in a folder named CVS, open the
File and Folder Filter dialog box and enter:

CVS/

To ignore all files in a folder named CVS, but not ignore subfolders, enter:

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 Comparing Files and Folders

CVS/*

Highlighting of Differences
The Comparison Tool displays the contents of the lists side by side and
highlights files and subfolders that do not match. The following table
describes how the tool highlights each type of change. The status message
(such as identical or contents changed) appears in the Change Summary
column.

Change Highlighting Highlighting Notes

Summary for Folders for Files
Contents Dark pink Pink The contents
changed of the files
or folders
differ. Click the
compare link to
investigate.
Added Dark green Green File or folder only
exists in the right
list.
Removed Dark purple Purple File or folder only
exists in the left
list.
Identical None None

The following image shows an example of the Comparison Tool when two
folders are compared. The results are sorted by Type.

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

Next Steps Using the Report

To explore the report you can use the following tools:

• You can sort the results by name, type, size, or last modified timestamp by
clicking the column headers. For example, click the Type column header to
sort by folder and file type, as shown in the preceding figure.
• To open a new comparison of two files or folders with changed contents,
click the compare link next to file or folder names highlighted in pink.
• To open a file in the Editor, click the open link next to a file name.
If the file is present in both folders, you can click links to open the left
or right file.

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 Comparing Files and Folders

• If subfolders are very large and contain many files, analysis continues in
the background. The tool displays the number of items still to be compared
at the top of the report, as shown in the next figure. You can click the links
to Skip Current item or Cancel All to stop further analysis.

• For details on other comparison tool features, see “Using Comparison Tool
Features” on page 6-62.

Comparing Text Files

• “Selecting Text Files to Compare” on page 6-53
• “Highlighting of Differences” on page 6-53
• “Stepping Through Differences” on page 6-56
• “Viewing a Summary of Differences” on page 6-56
• “Ignoring Whitespace Differences in Text Comparisons” on page 6-57
• “Showing Differences Only” on page 6-57
• “Changing the Display Width of a Text Comparison” on page 6-57
• “Saving HTML Report” on page 6-57

Selecting Text Files to Compare

To select files to compare, see “Select the Files or Folders to Compare” on
page 6-47.

Highlighting of Differences
When you use the Comparison Tool to compare two text files, a window opens
and presents the two files side by side. Symbols indicate how you can adjust
the files to make them match. This feature can be useful when you want to
compare the latest version of a text file to an autosave version.

The Comparison Tool report displays the files side by side and highlights
lines that do not match, as follows:

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

• Dark pink highlighting indicates changed characters within lines.

• Pink highlighting and an x between the two files indicate that the content
of the lines differs between the two files.
• Green highlighting and a right (>) or left (< ) angle bracket between the
two files indicate a line that exists on one side only.

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 Comparing Files and Folders

The Comparison Tool attempts to match lines and detects local text that is
added, deleted, or changed. It does not do a simple line-by-line comparison. In
the previous image, for example, the tool determines that lengthofline.m
has a line of code that does not exist in lengthofline2.m and highlights it
(line 23) in green. Also, notice that the tool takes the additional line into

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

account and determines that the line containing the end statement in each
file matches, even though the end statement does not occur on the same line
number.

If the files you are comparing are extremely long, the tool could run out of
memory while attempting to perform the file comparison. In which case,
the message,

Maximum file length exceeded.

Defaulting to line-by-line comparison.

appears. In a line-by-line comparison, the tool highlights the lines containing

the end statement because in performing this operation, it finds that the last
line in one file does not match the last line in the other file.

Stepping Through Differences

Because text files can be lengthy, the Comparison Tool provides toolbar
buttons to help you step through the results from one difference to the next.

To navigate through comparison results:

• Click the down arrow toolbar button to go to the next set of lines that differ.
If no additional sets of lines differ, the down arrow takes you to the end of
the file.
• Click the up arrow toolbar button to go to a previous set of lines that differ.
If no previous set of lines differ, the up arrow takes you to the beginning of
the file.

Alternatively, use the menu items Comparison > Next or Previous.

Viewing a Summary of Differences

To see a summary of differences between two text files, scroll to the bottom of
the Comparison Tool and view the list, which contains information such as:

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 Comparing Files and Folders

• Number of matching lines: 52

• Number of unmatched lines in left-hand file: 12
• Number of unmatched lines in right-hand file: 15

Ignoring Whitespace Differences in Text Comparisons

You may want to hide whitespace differences to help you distinguish between
functional changes and changes to indentation.

Use the toolbar button, , to toggle the display of differences only involving
whitespace characters, or select Comparison > Ignore Whitespace.

Showing Differences Only

You can specify whether to show only differences or entire files. It can be
useful to hide unmodified lines in large text comparison reports. When you
are showing differences only and sections are hidden, the report displays
messages like the following: 10 unmodified lines hidden.

Use the toolbar button, , to toggle the display of sections of the report that
do not contain any differences, or select Comparison > Show Differences
Only.

Changing the Display Width of a Text Comparison

To increase or decrease the line lengths of the text files in the comparison
display, edit the number in the Columns visible field. Resize the window,
if necessary.

For details on other comparison tool features, see “Using Comparison Tool
Features” on page 6-62.

Saving HTML Report

Click Save As on the toolbar to save a copy of the comparison report as an
HTML file. The tool creates a corresponding folder containing the style sheet
and JavaScript files that control the report highlighting. To preserve the
highlighting, keep the folder with the HTML file.

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

Note Report links for opening files in MATLAB only work in the MATLAB
Web browser.

Comparing Files with Autosave Version or Version

on Disk
From the Editor you can compare one open text file with another, or you can
choose to compare the latest version of a file in the Editor to an autosave
version or a saved version. For an example, follow these steps:

1 Open one of the text files you want to compare in the Editor.

To open the example file provided, lengthofline.m, run the following

command in the Command Window:

open(fullfile(matlabroot,'help','techdoc','matlab_env',...
'examples','lengthofline.m'))

2 On the Editor tab, in the File section, click Compare. If your file is
modified, the Editor saves the file before comparing. Alternatively, under
Compare, select Save and Compare with.

Navigate to the file you want to compare against, select the file, and click
Open. To open the example file provided, select lengthofline2.m from
the folder where you found lengthofline.m.

Other options available are:

• To compare the open file to the Editor’s automatic copy (filename.asv),
under Compare, select Save and Compare with Autosave. If your
file is modified, the Editor saves the file before comparing. For more
information, see “Autosaving Files”.
• To compare an open file that has been changed, but not saved, to the
saved version, under Compare, select Compare with Version on
Disk.

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 Comparing Files and Folders

Comparing MAT-Files

Note To select files to compare, see “Select the Files or Folders to Compare”
on page 6-47.

You can use the Comparison Tool to compare two MAT-files. The tool presents
the variables in the two files side by side, which enables you to:

• View and sort by the name, size, class, and change summary of all variables.
• View details of differences between variables, to see which fields of a
structure are different, and view differences in individual elements of an
array.
• Merge changes between files by copying modified variables from one file to
the other (Caution: No undo).
• See which variables are common to each file and which are unique.
• Load the contents of the variables into the Variable Editor by clicking the
name of that variable.
• Load the MAT-files into the workspace by clicking a Load link.
• Save a copy of the report as an HTML file. Click Save As on the toolbar.

The Comparison Tool report highlights changes in variables as follows.

Change Highlighting Notes

Summary
Modified Pink Values of the variable differ between the
two files.
Click the View differences button to
investigate. A new variable comparison
report opens to display differences in
individual array elements or differing
fields of a structure. Double-click pink
rows or cells to investigate further layers
of differences.
Added Green Variable only exists in right file.

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

Change Highlighting Notes

Summary
Removed Purple Variable only exists in right file.
Identical None Variable identical in both files.
Class changed Pink (only Variable data class changed. Click the
in Class View differences button to investigate.
columns)

Click the Merge button in the Merge column to copy modified variables
from one file to the other.

The following image shows the results when you compare two files, data1.mat
and data2.mat.

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 Comparing Files and Folders

Comparing Binary Files

Note To select files to compare, see “Select the Files or Folders to Compare”
on page 6-47.

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

You can use the Comparison Tool to compare two binary files such as DLL
files or MEX-files. Also, you can select the Binary comparison type for any
pair of files with a choice of comparison types.

• If the files are the same, the tool displays the message: The files are
identical.
• If the files differ, the tool displays the message: The files are different.

If the files differ, you can click the Show Details link to view the binary files
and the byte offset of the first difference.

Using Comparison Tool Features

You can use the Comparison Tool for the following tasks:

• “Selecting Files or Folders to Compare from the Comparison Tool” on page

6-62
• “Exchanging the Left and Right Sides of the Report” on page 6-63
• “Refreshing the Report to Show Updated Files” on page 6-63
• “Finding Text” on page 6-63
• “Viewing New Comparisons” on page 6-63
• “Viewing Previous Comparisons” on page 6-64

Selecting Files or Folders to Compare from the Comparison Tool

To compare two files or folders from the Comparison Tool, follow these steps:

1 From the MATLAB desktop, on the Home tab, in the File section, click
Compare. Select the files or folders to compare.

If the Comparison Tool is already open, compare files or folders by clicking

the New comparison button or by selecting File > New Comparison.

The dialog box Select Files or Folders for Comparison appears.

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 Comparing Files and Folders

2 In the dialog box, select two files or folders to compare. Use the drop-down
lists to select recent comparison items, or the Browse buttons to locate
and select the items that you want to compare.

You also can drag and drop a file or folder from Windows Explorer to the
left and right file and folder fields.

3 Optionally, choose the comparison type you want to use. Either use the
default Comparison type value, or if multiple comparison types are
available, select a different one from the list. For example, for text files you
could select text or binary comparison types.

4 Click Compare.

Exchanging the Left and Right Sides of the Report

To move the file or folder on the left side to the right side and vice versa, select
File > Swap Sides, or click the Swap sides button .

Refreshing the Report to Show Updated Files

After making changes to and saving the files in the Editor, update the results
in the Comparison Tool by selecting File > Refresh or clicking the Refresh
button .

Finding Text
To find a phrase in the current display, select Edit > Find, or click the Find
text button . The resulting Find dialog box is the same as the one you use
in the Command Window. For more information, see “Find Text in Command
Window or History” on page 3-13.

Viewing New Comparisons

You can perform another file comparison by selecting File > New
Comparison, or by clicking the toolbar button .

New comparisons open additional tabs in the Comparison Tool.

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

Viewing Previous Comparisons

You can see the results of previous comparisons in the current session by
selecting that comparison’s tab entry on the document bar at the bottom of
the window. If you close the Comparison Tool, the current and previous
comparisons are lost.

Function Alternative for Comparing Files and Folders

Use the visdiff function to open the Comparison Tool from the Command
Window.

visdiff(fileorfoldername1, fileorfoldername2)

For example, type:

visdiff('lengthofline.m', 'lengthofline2.m')

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 Making Files and Folders Accessible to MATLAB®

Making Files and Folders Accessible to MATLAB

In this section...
“Files and Folders That MATLAB Can Access” on page 6-65
“How to Make Files Accessible” on page 6-65
“Determining if MATLAB Can Access a File” on page 6-67
“Ensuring MATLAB Uses the File You Want” on page 6-68

Files and Folders That MATLAB Can Access

For performance reasons, MATLAB limits where it looks for files. To run or
get help for a MATLAB program, or to load a MAT-file, the file must be in
one of these locations:

• The current folder in MATLAB

• A folder that is on the search path. See “What Is on the Search Path?”
on page 6-71

Make the following accessible to MATLAB:

• Folders containing files that you and others create.

• Folders containing files that are called by files you run.
• Subfolders containing files that you run. Making a folder accessible does
not make its subfolders accessible.

For files in @ (class) and + (package) folders, make the parent folder accessible.
For details, see “Organizing Classes in Folders”.

How to Make Files Accessible

For files that you and others create, see “Basic Options for Making Files
Accessible” on page 6-66.

To understand the differences in the basic options, and for other approaches,
see “All Options for Making Files Accessible” on page 6-66.

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

Basic Options for Making Files Accessible

• Store the files that you and others create in the MATLAB folder, which is on
the search path. See “Locations for Storing Your Files” on page 6-4.
• Change the current folder to the folder that contains the files.
• Add the folders that contain the files to the search path.

All Options for Making Files Accessible

Usage Recommendation
You seldom run the file. Change the current folder to the folder that
contains the file. See “Viewing and Changing the
Current Folder” on page 6-2.
The file is a script Use the run function.
(takes no input or
output arguments).
The files are in one Put the files in the userpath folder. See
folder. “Locations for Storing Your Files” on page 6-4.
The files are in multiple Add the folders to the search path. See “Adding
folders. Folders to the Search Path” on page 6-75.
If you regularly use the files, save the changes.
See “Saving Changes to the Search Path” on page
6-78.
The files call other files
that are in multiple 1 Determine the location of all the called files.
folders. See “Dependencies Within a Folder”.

2 Add the folders to the search path. See “Adding

Folders to the Search Path” on page 6-75.

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 Making Files and Folders Accessible to MATLAB®

Usage Recommendation
Some files in multiple See “Detecting and Addressing Name Conflicts”
folders have the same on page 6-69.
name.
You use files in Modify the search path in a startup.m file. See
different versions “Using the Search Path with Different MATLAB
of MATLAB or on Installations” on page 6-79.
different platforms.

Determining if MATLAB Can Access a File

The following table lists ways to determine if MATLAB has access to a file.

Option When MATLAB Can Access the File When MATLAB Cannot
Access the File

Use the file. Works successfully. Produces an error. Typical

error notifications include:

• Dialog box
• Message: Undefined
function or method
'fileName'
• Message: Cannot find
function 'fileName'
View the file in Either or both of the following are true: Either or both of the
the Current Folder following are true:
browser. • File is in the current folder.
• File is in a subfolder of
• File does not appear dimmed in Current
the current folder, and
Folder browser, assuming the Indicate
the subfolder is not on
inaccessible files option is selected
the search path.
in “Preferences for the Current Folder
Browser” on page 6-13. • File appears dimmed
in the Current Folder
browser, assuming the
Indicate inaccessible

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

Option When MATLAB Can Access the File When MATLAB Cannot
Access the File

files option is selected

in “Preferences for the
Current Folder Browser”
on page 6-13.
On the Home tab, in Set Path dialog box list includes the file The list in the Set Path
the Environment location. dialog box does not include
section, click Set the file location.
Path.
Run dir with no The result includes the file, indicating the The result does not include
arguments. file is in current folder. the file.
Run path. The result includes the file location, The result does not include
indicating the file is in a folder on search the file location.
path.
Run which The result is the full path to the file. The result is an error or a
filename. file with the same name in
another location.

Ensuring MATLAB Uses the File You Want

About Name Conflicts and Shadowed Files

When MATLAB has access to multiple files with the same name, these
precedence rules determine the file MATLAB uses:

• MATLAB uses the file in the current folder instead of a file in a folder
on the search path.
• MATLAB uses the file whose folder is closest to the top of the search path
instead of a file further down.

The file that MATLAB does not use is called a shadowed file. In some cases,
MATLAB warns you that a shadowed file exists.

Other name conflicts include the following:

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 Making Files and Folders Accessible to MATLAB®

• A file has the same name as a variable in the base workspace.

• A file has the same name as a built-in function for a MathWorks product.

When there are name conflicts, MATLAB follows these precedence rules:

• “Function Precedence Order”

• “Class Precedence and MATLAB Path”

Detecting and Addressing Name Conflicts

MATLAB might not be accessing the file that you want it to when:

• You use a file and get a warning about a potential name conflict.
• You get unexpected results.

To identify a name conflict, try using the which function.

To address a name conflict, try one of the following:

• Change the current folder.

• Move or remove folders on the search path.
• Rename or move files.
• Specify the full path or partial path to the file that you want.
• Maintain a single version of a file instead of multiple versions.

Name conflicts can arise from using files that you create. Conflicts also can
arise from using:

• Files that others create, such as from File Exchange

• A different system that has additional MathWorks products installed
• A different version of MATLAB, which could include new functions that
have the same names as your existing files

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

See Also

• rehash
• “Toolbox Path Caching in the MATLAB Program” on page 1-23

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 Using the MATLAB® Search Path

Using the MATLAB Search Path

In this section...
“What Is the Search Path?” on page 6-71
“Viewing Files and Folders on the Search Path” on page 6-73
“Changing the Search Path” on page 6-74
“Using the Search Path with Different MATLAB Installations” on page 6-79
“Recovering from Problems with the Search Path” on page 6-80
“Handling Errors and Unexpected Behavior When Updating Folders” on
page 6-82

What Is the Search Path?

The search path, or path is a subset of all the folders in the file system.
MATLAB software uses the search path to locate files used with MathWorks
products efficiently. MATLAB can access all files in the folders on the search
path.

What Is on the Search Path?

• By default, folders provided with MATLAB and other MathWorks products.

These folders are under matlabroot/toolbox, where matlabroot is the
folder displayed when you type matlabroot in the Command Window.
• By default, the MATLAB userpath. See “Locations for Storing Your Files”
on page 6-4.
• Folders you explicitly add to the search path for the files you and others
create.
Adding folders to the search path is like performing an include or import
operation in other applications.

Class, package, and private folders are not on the search path. See “Files
and Folders That MATLAB Can Access” on page 6-65.

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

Order of Folders on the Search Path

The order of folders on the search path is important when two files with the
same name are in folders on the search path. MATLAB uses the file nearest
to the top of the search path. To customize the order of files on the search
path, see “Ensuring MATLAB Uses the File You Want” on page 6-68.

Relationship Between the Search Path and the System Path

The search path is not the same as the system path. Furthermore, there is no
explicit relationship between the MATLAB search path and the system path.
However, both paths help in locating files, as follows:

• MATLAB uses the search path to locate MATLAB files efficiently.

• The operating system uses a system path to locate operating system files
efficiently.

Therefore, you can issue MATLAB commands that result in the use of both
the MATLAB search path and the system path. For example, if you type
dos('tasklist &') in the MATLAB Command Window, then:

1 MATLAB uses the search path to locate and run dos.m.

2 The dos function passes 'tasklist &' to the Microsoft Windows operating
system.

3 Microsoft Windows uses the system path to locate and run tasklist.exe.

Similar behavior results when you use the MATLAB unix and system
functions or the shell escape (!). For details on using the shell escape with
MATLAB, see “Running External Commands, Scripts, and Programs” on
page 6-43.

How MATLAB Stores the Search Path

MATLAB saves the search path information in the pathdef.m file. The
pathdef.m file is a series of full path names, one for each folder on the search
path, separated by a semicolon (;).

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 Using the MATLAB® Search Path

By default, pathdef.m is in matlabroot/toolbox/local.

When you change the search path, MATLAB uses it in the current session. To
use it in future sessions, save the changes as described in “Saving Changes to
the Search Path” on page 6-78.

Viewing Files and Folders on the Search Path

MATLAB provides various ways for you to view the search path, as described
in these topics:

• “Using the Current Folder Browser” on page 6-73

• “Using the Set Path Dialog Box” on page 6-73
• Using MATLAB path and pathtool functions

Using the Current Folder Browser

To determine if files or folders in the Current Folder browser are on the
search path:

1 In the Current Folder browser, right-click any file or folder, and ensure
there is a check mark next to Indicate Files Not on Path .

If there is no check mark, select Indicate Files Not on Path. A check

mark appears.

2 Hover the pointer over any dimmed file or folder in the Current Folder
browser to find out why it is dimmed.

A tooltip opens with an explanation. Frequently, the tooltip indicates that

the file or folder is not on the MATLAB path.

Using the Set Path Dialog Box

You can view the entire MATLAB search path. On the Home tab, in the
Environment section, click Set Path.

The Set Path dialog box opens, listing all folders on the search path.

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

Changing the Search Path

MATLAB provides various ways for you to change the search path, as
described in the following sections:

• “Adding Folders to the Search Path” on page 6-75

• “Removing Folders from the Search Path” on page 6-76
• “Changing the Order of Folders on the Search Path” on page 6-77
• “Saving Changes to the Search Path” on page 6-78
• “Specifying Startup Options in the MATLAB Startup File” on page 1-19
• Using MATLAB path and pathtool functions

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 Using the MATLAB® Search Path

Adding Folders to the Search Path

You can add folders to the search path for just the current session, or for
both the current and future sessions.

Current Session Only. To add folders to the top of the search path for the
duration of the current session use the following method:

1 From the Current Folder browser, select, and then right-click the folder
or folders to add.

2 From the context menu, select Add to Path, and then select an option:

• Selected Folders
• Selected Folders and Subfolders

To add the folder that contains an Editor document to the top of the search
path:

1 In the Editor, right-click the document tab.

2 Select Add folder-name to Search Path.

To change the ordering in the search path, follow the instructions in

“Changing the Order of Folders on the Search Path” on page 6-77.

Current and Future Sessions. To add folders to the search path for the
current session and future sessions, use the addpath function, or follow
these steps:

1 On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click Set Path.

The Set Path dialog box appear.

2 Click one of these buttons:

• Add Folder
• Add with Subfolders

3 In the Add Folder to Path dialog box, select the folder to add to the search
path, and then click Select Folder.

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

MATLAB adds the specified folder to the top of the search path.

If you do not want the folder at the top of the search path, see “Changing the
Order of Folders on the Search Path” on page 6-77.

4 Keep or cancel the search path changes:

• To use the newly modified search path only in the current session, click
Close.
• To reuse the newly modified search path in the current session and future
sessions, click Save, and then click Close.
For details on where to save the file, see “Saving Changes to the Search
Path” on page 6-78.
• To undo your changes, click Revert, and then click Close.
• To restore the default search path, click Default, and then click Close. See
“Restoring the Default Search Path” on page 6-79.

Removing Folders from the Search Path

You can remove folders from the search path for just the current session, or
for both the current and future sessions.

For the Current Session Only. To remove one or more folders from the
search path:

1 Select and right-click the folder or folders to remove.

2 From the context menu, select Remove from Path, and then select an
option:
• Selected Folders
• Selected Folders and Subfolders

To remove the folder that contains an Editor document from the search path:

1 In the Editor, right-click the document tab.

Document tabs appear in the Editor only when multiple documents are
open and docked in the Editor.

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 Using the MATLAB® Search Path

2 Select Remove folder-name from Search Path.

For Current and Future Sessions. To remove folders from the search
path for the current and future sessions, use the rmpath function, or follow
these steps:

1 Open the Set Path dialog box. On the Home tab, in the Environment
section, click Set Path.

2 Select the folders to remove from the search path.

3 Click Remove.

4 Apply the changes:

• To use the newly modified search path only in the current session, click
Close.
• To reuse the newly modified search path in the current session and future
sessions, click Save.
For details on where to save the file, see “Saving Changes to the Search
Path” on page 6-78.
• To restore the default search path, click Default. See “Restoring the
Default Search Path” on page 6-79.

5 Click Close.

Changing the Order of Folders on the Search Path

Change the order of folders in the search path when files with the same name
appear in multiple folders on the search path. When you specify such a file,
MATLAB uses the one found in the folder nearest to the top of the search path.

Moving Folders to Various Positions on the Search Path. To change the

order of folders on the search path:

1 Open the Set Path dialog box. On the Home tab, in the Environment
section, click Set Path.

2 Select the folders to move on the search path.

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

3 Click one of the Move buttons, such as Move to Top. The order of the folders
changes.

4 To use the modified search path in future sessions, click Save.

If you do not save the changes, the newly modified search path remains in
effect until you end the current MATLAB session.

5 Click Close.

Note The MATLAB (userpath) folder automatically moves to the top of the
search path the next time you start MATLAB. See “Locations for Storing
Your Files” on page 6-4.

Moving a Folder to the Top or Bottom of the Search Path. To move a

folder to the top or bottom of the search path, use the path function.

Saving Changes to the Search Path

Changes you make to the search path always remain in effect during the
current MATLAB session. For MATLAB to use the changed search path in
future sessions, save the search path, which updates the pathdef.m file.

Note The MATLAB (userpath) folder automatically moves to the top of the
search path the next time you start MATLAB. See “Locations for Storing
Your Files” on page 6-4.

Ways to Save Changes. To save changes to the search path, do one of

the following:

• Click Save in the Set Path dialog box. See “Using the Set Path Dialog
Box” on page 6-73.
• Use the savepath function.

Where to Save the Search Path File. Save the search path to the default
location, matlabroot/toolbox/local, so MATLAB can locate it.

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 Using the MATLAB® Search Path

If you do not have write access to the default location, MATLAB prompts you
for a different location. Choose the MATLAB startup folder.

Restoring the Default Search Path. The default search path contains
only folders provided by MathWorks.

To restore the default search path, do one of the following:

• Click Default in the Set Path dialog box. See “Using the Set Path Dialog
Box” on page 6-73. This method also adds the userpath folder. See
“Locations for Storing Your Files” on page 6-4.
• Use the restoredefaultpath function.

See also “Recovering from Problems with the Search Path” on page 6-80.

Using the Search Path with Different MATLAB

Installations

Using the Search Path with Different Versions

The default search path changes for each MATLAB version because the
default folders that come with the products change. Different MATLAB
versions cannot use the same pathdef.m file.

To use your files with a new MATLAB version or with multiple versions, do
one of the following:

• For each version, add the folders containing your files to the search path.
Save the search path where that version of MATLAB can access it.
• Instead of changing the pathdef.m file, include addpath statements in the
startup.m file. Use the same startup.m file with the multiple versions
of MATLAB.

Using the Search Path with Different Platforms

To use your files with MATLAB on different platforms, include addpath
statements in the startup.m file. For more information, see “Specifying
Startup Options in the MATLAB Startup File” on page 1-19.

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

Recovering from Problems with the Search Path

When there is a problem with the search path, you cannot use MATLAB
successfully.

You could experience search path problems when:

• You save the search path on a Windows platform, and then try to use the
same pathdef.m file on a Linux platform.
• The pathdef.m file becomes corrupt, invalid, renamed, or deleted.
• MATLAB cannot locate the pathdef.m file.

For example, when you start MATLAB, if a message like the following
appears, it indicates a problem with the search path:

Warning: MATLAB did not appear to successfully set the search

path...

To recover from problems with the search path, try the following steps.
Proceed from one step to the next only as necessary.

1 Ensure MATLAB is using the pathdef.m file you expect:

a Run

which pathdef

b If you want MATLAB to use the pathdef.m file at another location, make
corrections. For example, delete the incorrect pathdef.m file and ensure
the correct pathdef.m file is in a location that MATLAB can access. See
“Where to Save the Search Path File” on page 6-78.

2 Look for and correct problems with the pathdef.m and startup.m files:

a Open pathdef.m and startup.m in a text editor. Depending on the

problem, you might not be able to open the pathdef.m file.
b Look for obvious problems, such as invalid characters or path names.

c Make corrections and save the files.

d Restart MATLAB to ensure that the problem does not recur.

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 Using the MATLAB® Search Path

3 Try to correct the problem using the Set Path dialog box:

a Restore the default search path and save it. See “Using the Set Path Dialog
Box” on page 6-73. Depending on the problem, you might not be able to
open the dialog box.
b Restart MATLAB to ensure that the problem does not recur.

4 Restore the default search path using functions:

a Run restoredefaultpath, which sets the search path to the default and
stores it in matlabroot/toolbox/local.
b If restoredefaultpath seems to correct the problem, run savepath.

c Restart MATLAB to ensure that the problem does not recur.

Depending on the problem, a message such as the following could appear:

The path may be bad. Please save your work (if desired), and quit.

5 Correct the search path problems encountered during startup:

a Run

restoredefaultpath; matlabrc

Wait a few minutes until it completes.

b If there is a pathdef.m file in the startup folder, it caused the problem.
Either remove the bad pathdef.m file or replace it with a good pathdef.m
file. For example, run:

savepath('path_to_your_startup_folder/pathdef.m')

See “Startup Folder for the MATLAB Program” on page 1-12.

c Restart MATLAB to ensure that the problem does not recur.

After correcting problems with the search path, make any changes to run your
files. For example, add the userpath folder or other folders to the search path.

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 6 Managing Files in MATLAB®

Handling Errors and Unexpected Behavior When

Updating Folders
You can encounter errors or unexpected behavior when you try to delete,
rename, or move folders that:

• Are on the search path

• Contain subfolders that are on the search path

The behavior varies by platform because it depends on the behavior of similar

features in the operating system.

If your task fails and the error message indicates it is because the folder
is on the search path, then:

1 Remove the folder from the search path.

2 Delete, rename, or move the folder.

3 Add the folder to the search path.

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 7

Editor Preferences

• “Editor/Debugger Preferences” on page 7-2

• “Code Analyzer Preferences” on page 7-11
 7 Editor Preferences

Editor/Debugger Preferences
In this section...
“General Preferences for the Editor/Debugger” on page 7-2
“Editor/Debugger Display Preferences” on page 7-3
“Editor/Debugger Tab Preferences” on page 7-4
“Editor/Debugger Language Preferences” on page 7-5
“Editor/Debugger Code Folding Preferences” on page 7-8
“Editor/Debugger Autosave Preferences” on page 7-9

General Preferences for the Editor/Debugger

You can specify which editor MATLAB uses, as well as how the MATLAB
Editor behaves under various circumstances.

On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click Preferences.

Select Editor/Debugger, and then adjust preference options as described in
the table below.

Preference Usage
Editor Select which editor you want the MATLAB
desktop to use when you edit a file:

• MATLAB Editor
• Text editor

If you select Text editor, specify the full

path for the editor application you want
to use, such as Emacs or vi. For example,
c:/Applications/Emacs.exe.
Most recently used file list In the Number of entries field, type the
number of files that you want to appear in the
list of recently used files at the bottom of the
File menu.

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 Editor/Debugger Preferences

Preference Usage
Opening files in editor Select On restart open files from previous
MATLAB sessions if you want the Editor and
the files it contained during your last MATLAB
session to reopen when you restart MATLAB.
Automatic file changes Select Reload unedited files that have
been externally modified if you want the
Editor to automatically reload the version of
a file that you opened and edited outside of
MATLAB when the file currently open in the
Editor has no unsaved changes.
Select Add line termination at end of
file to have MATLAB add a new empty line
(sometimes referred to as a <CR>) to the end of
a file automatically if the last line in the file
is not empty.

Editor/Debugger Display Preferences

You can change the appearance of the Editor.

On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click Preferences.

Select Editor/Debugger > Display, and then adjust preference options as
described in the table below.

Preference Usage
General display option Select Highlight Current Line and select a
color to highlight the row with the cursor (also
called the caret).
Select Show line numbers to display line
numbers along the left edge of the Editor
window.
Select Enable data tips in edit mode to
display data tips when you are editing a
MATLAB code file. (Data tips are always
enabled in debug mode.)

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 7 Editor Preferences

Preference Usage

For details, see “View Values as Data Tips in

the Editor”.
Right-hand text limit Select Show line to display a vertical line with
the specified Width and Color at the specified
column (Placement) in the Editor.
For details, see “Right-Side Text Limit
Indicator”.

Editor/Debugger Tab Preferences

You can specify the size of tabs and indents and details about how tabs
behave in the Editor.

On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click Preferences. Select

Editor/Debugger > Tab, and then adjust preference options as described in
the table below.

Option Usage
Tab size Specify the amount of space inserted when you
press the Tab key.
When you change the Tab size, it changes the
tab size for existing lines in that file, unless
you also select Tab key inserts spaces.
Indent size Specify the indent size for smart indenting.
Smart indenting is one of the “Editor/Debugger
Language Preferences” on page 7-5.

7-4
 Editor/Debugger Preferences

Option Usage
Tab key inserts spaces Select to insert a series of spaces when you
press the Tab key. Otherwise, a tab acts as one
space whose length is equal to the Tab size.
Emacs-style Tab key smart indenting Specifies an indenting style similar to the style
that the Emacs editor uses.
Lines indent according to smart indenting
preferences when you position the cursor in a
line or select a group of lines, and then press
the Tab key.
Smart indenting is one of the “Editor/Debugger
Language Preferences” on page 7-5.
If you select this preference, you cannot insert
tabs within a line.

Editor/Debugger Language Preferences

You can specify how various languages appear in the Editor. MATLAB applies
language preferences based on the file extension of the file open in the Editor.

On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click Preferences.

Select Editor/Debugger > Language, and then adjust preference options as
described in the table below.

Note Not all preferences are available for all languages.

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 7 Editor Preferences

Preference Usage
Language Select the language for which you want to set
preferences.
Syntax highlighting Select Enable syntax highlighting to have the
Editor use different colors for different language
constructs. Then, adjust the colors you want to use
for each language element.
Access color options for the MATLAB language by
clicking Set syntax colors.
For all other languages, color options appear under
Enable syntax highlighting.
For details, see “Syntax Highlighting” on page 3-23.
Variable and function renaming Select Enable automatic variable and function
renaming to have MATLAB prompt you to rename
MATLAB Language only
all instances of a function or variable in a file when
you rename a function or variable.

For details on when MATLAB prompts you, see

Automatically Renaming All Functions or Variables
in a File.
Comment formatting In the Maximum column width field, enter the
maximum number of characters you want to allow in
MATLAB Language only
a line of comments, and then select where you want
counting to begin.
Consider selecting:

• Start from beginning of line when the absolute

width of the comments is important. For example,
set 75 columns from the start of the line to match
the width that fits on a printed page when you use
the default font for the Editor.

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 Editor/Debugger Preferences

Preference Usage

• Start from beginning of comment when

comments are indented, and you want each block
of comments to have a consistent indent and
width.
Select Wrap comments automatically while
typing to automatically wrap comments at the
Maximum column width value when you type
comments in an Editor document.
If you clear this option, you can still wrap comments
manually, as described in “Add Comments to
Programs”.
Indenting Select Apply smart indenting while typing to
automatically:

• Indent the body of loops within the start and end

of the loop statement.
• Align subsequent lines with lines you indent using
tabs or spaces.
• Indent functions as specified with the Function
indenting format option.

This is called smart indenting. You also can manually

apply smart indenting after you type the code.
For more information, see “Indenting Code”.
Select an option from Function Indenting Format
(MATLAB Language only) to specify how functions
indent in the Editor, as follows:

• Classic — The Editor aligns the function code

with the function declaration.
• Indent nested functions — The Editor indents
the function code within a nested function.

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 7 Editor Preferences

Preference Usage

• Indent all functions — The Editor indents the

function code for both main and nested functions.

For more information and examples of each indenting

format, see “Indenting Code”.

File extensions Add one or more file extensions to associate with

the Language. The preferences you set for that
language apply to all files with the listed extensions.

Editor/Debugger Code Folding Preferences

Code folding enables you to expand and collapse blocks of MATLAB code that
you want to hide when you are not currently working on them.

On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click Preferences. Select

Editor/Debugger > Code Folding, and then adjust preference options as
described in the table below.

For examples and detailed information about code folding, see “Code Folding
— Expand and Collapse Code Constructs”.

Option Usage
Enable Code Folding Specifies whether you want code folding
enabled for the programming constructs that
have their corresponding Enable check box
selected.
Enable Specifies whether you want code folding
enabled for the corresponding Programming
Construct.

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 Editor/Debugger Preferences

Option Usage

If you select this option for any construct, but

clear the Enable Code Folding option, the
construct will not have code folding enabled.
Fold Initially Specifies whether the corresponding
Programming Construct displays collapsed
(folded) the first time that you open a MATLAB
file.

Editor/Debugger Autosave Preferences

You can specify if, when, and how you want MATLAB to automatically save
files that are open in the Editor.

On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click Preferences.

Select Editor/Debugger > Autosave, and then adjust preference options as
described in the table below.

Preference Usage
Enable autosave in the MATLAB Editor Select to have MATLAB automatically save a
copy of the files you are currently editing.
Save options Save every n minutes specifies how often you
want MATLAB to save a copy of the file you
are editing.
Save untitled files saves a copy of new,
untitled, files to Untitled.asv.
When there is more than one untitled file,
each additional file is saved to Untitledn.asv
(where n is an integer value).
For details, see “Autosaving Files”.
Close options Automatically delete autosave files directs
MATLAB to delete the autosave file when you
close the source file in the Editor.

7-9
 7 Editor Preferences

Preference Usage
File name Select the naming convention you want
MATLAB to use for autosave files. For
example:

• If you specify Replace with extension:

asv, the autosave file for filename.m is
filename.asv
• If you specify Append file name with
~, the autosave file for filename.m is
filename.m~
Location Source file directories specifies that you
want autosave files stored in the same folder
as the files being edited.
Single directory specifies that you want
autosave files stored in a single folder. Specify
the full path to that folder and be sure you
have write permissions for it.

7-10
 Code Analyzer Preferences

Code Analyzer Preferences

In this section...
“Code Analyzer Preferences” on page 7-11
“Searching Messages in the Code Analyzer Preferences Dialog Box” on
page 7-12

Code Analyzer Preferences

You can change how Code Analyzer messages appear in the Editor. With
a few exceptions, these preferences apply to messages in the Editor, the
MATLAB Function Block Editor (if your products use that tool), and the Code
Analyzer Report.

On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click Preferences.

Select Code Analyzer, and then adjust preference options as described in
the table below.

Option Usage
Enabled Integrated Warning and Error Specify whether you want to display Code
Messages Analyzer message indicators, such as the
underlining of code and the message indicator
bar, for documents open in the Editor.
For more information, see “Automatically
Check Code in the Editor — Code Analyzer”.
Underlining Specify the type of coding issues that you want
to have underlined.
Regardless of the underlining menu option you
choose, the Editor marks errors and warnings
in the message indicator bar.
Autofix Provides a link to a preference panel that
enables you to adjust the color highlighting
errors and warnings that MATLAB can autofix.
You trigger autofix by clicking the Fix button
in a Code Analyzer message.

7-11
 7 Editor Preferences

Option Usage
Active Settings Select the set of message settings to use.
Click the down arrow to select or browse to a
previously saved settings file.
Actions button Click to open a menu that enables you to select:

• Save as — Saves the current Code Analyzer

message settings to a file.
The default location for settings is the
MATLAB preferences folder (the folder
returned when you run prefdir).
• Restore Defaults — Restores default Code
Analyzer message settings.

Search field Searches the list of Code Analyzer messages

that display below the search field. For details,
see “Searching Messages in the Code Analyzer
Preferences Dialog Box” on page 7-12.
Code Analyzer message settings Select or clear messages to enable or suppress
their appearance in your Editor documents.
To suppress a message on a line-by-line or
file-by-file basis, see “Adjust Code Analyzer
Message Indicators and Messages”.

Searching Messages in the Code Analyzer

Preferences Dialog Box
You can search the list of Code Analyzer messages in the Preferences dialog
box to display only those messages that are currently of interest to you. Use
any combination of the methods that the following table presents.

Note If you do not have the MATLAB Compiler™ installed, the Code
Analyzer preferences pane does not display the MATLAB Compiler
(deployment) messages category.

7-12
 Code Analyzer Preferences

To See a List of Perform this action... Example Scenario

Messages ...
Containing a given Type the string in the search You recall seeing a message
string in the: field. containing a certain string that
you want to review, but you
• Short message cannot remember the exact
message text.
• Extended message
For example, type com in the
• Message category
search field to display those
• Message ID messages that contain that string
in the short message, extended
message, or message ID.
Corresponding to a given Type msgid: followed by the You are reviewing the code that
message ID message ID in the search field. someone else wrote and you
want to see the message that
corresponds to a suppressed one
using the %#ok<AGROW> directive.
Type msgid:agrow in the search
field. Messages IDs containing
AGROW display as links. Click each
link for more information about
the message.
Not all Code Analyzer messages
have additional information.
These messages do not appear as
links.
That you can set Click the down arrow to the right You want to see the complete
using Code Analyzer of the search field, and then click list of messages after you have
preferences Show All. searched the messages for a given
string or search menu option.

7-13
 7 Editor Preferences

To See a List of Perform this action... Example Scenario

Messages ...
Different from the Click the down arrow to the right A coworker gave you a settings
default setting (of of the search field, and then click file and you want to review
enabled or disabled) Show Messages Modified from each message that the coworker
Default. changed from its default setting.
A gray dot precedes a message
with a setting different from the
default. For example:

In a given category Click the down arrow to the right You want to review messages
of the search field, click Show that describe coding practices
Messages in Category, and that make it difficult for others to
then click the category you want. use your code.
Click the down arrow to the
right of the search field, select
Show Messages in Category,
and then select Aesthetics and
Readability.
Click the messages that appear
as links for more information.
Not all messages appear as links.
That are warnings Click the down arrow to the right You recall previous warnings
of the search field, and then that your code generated, but you
select Show All Warnings. An cannot remember enough details
exclamation point in a yellow to use the search field to find it.
triangle indicates a warning You want to skim all the warning
message. messages to find a particular one
of interest.

7-14
 Code Analyzer Preferences

To See a List of Perform this action... Example Scenario

Messages ...
Are errors Click the down arrow to the right You want to find a message
of the search field, and then select elicited by a script you worked
Show All Errors. By default, an on previously. All you can recall
X in a red dot indicates an error is that it was an error and it
message, . involved parfor.
Click the down arrow to the right
of the search field, and then select
Show All Errors. Then, type a
space and parfor in the search
field.
The Code Analyzer preference
pane displays only error messages
that contain the word parfor.
Are disabled Click the down arrow to the right You want to see the messages
of the search field, and then select that are disabled by default or
Show Disabled Messages. you have previously disabled.

Example of Searching Messages

To display Code Analyzer error messages that contain the string variable
and are disabled:

1 Click the down arrow in the search field, and then select Show All Errors.

The search field contains the string severity:error.

2 At the end of the string severity:error, press the Space key, and then
type variable.

3 Click the down arrow in the search field and select Show Disabled
Messages.

The search field now contains the string, severity:error variable

enabled:false. Only the messages that fulfill those requirements appear in
the Preferences pane.

7-15
 7 Editor Preferences

To restore the list of all messages, click the clear search button .

7-16
 8

Internationalization

• “How the MATLAB Process Uses Locale Settings” on page 8-2

• “Setting the Locale” on page 8-4
• “Troubleshooting I18n Messages and Settings” on page 8-9
 8 Internationalization

How the MATLAB Process Uses Locale Settings

A locale is part of the user environment definition. It defines language,
territory, and codeset, which is a coded character set. The MATLAB process
uses the user-specified locale name on all platforms. MATLAB also reads the
user-specified UI language name, and uses it to select localized resources
in the specified language. By using this feature, you can select localized
resources in US-English. The user-specified UI language setting also controls
language and country settings of the Sun™ Java Virtual Machine (JVM)
software.

To see what your current settings are, use the instructions in “Setting Locale
on Windows Platforms” on page 8-4, “Setting Locale on Linux Platforms” on
page 8-7, or “Setting Locale on Macintosh Platforms” on page 8-8. For more
information, “Troubleshooting I18n Messages and Settings” on page 8-9.

Consider the following when choosing your locale settings.

• Default Locale Setting — If the user-specified locale is not supported,

MATLAB uses the default locale en_US.US-ASCII.
• UI Language Setting — The UI language setting should be set to
either the same language as the user-specified locale or to US-English.
Otherwise, non-7-bit ASCII characters might not display properly.
• Supported Character Set — MATLAB supports the character set
specified by the user locale setting. However, MATLAB might not properly
handle character codes greater than 2 bytes.
• Script Compatibility — Non-7-bit ASCII characters in MATLAB scripts
created with one locale setting might not be compatible with a different
locale setting.
For example, if you create a script with the ja_JP.UTF-8 locale setting,
the script might not be compatible when executed on a platform with the
ja_JP.eucJP locale setting.
• Numeric Format Uses C Locale — MATLAB reads the user locale for
all categories except for the LC_NUMERIC category. This category controls
numeric data formatting and parsing. MATLAB always sets LC_NUMERIC
to the C locale. For more information, see “Numbers Display Period for
Decimal Point” on page 8-10.

8-2
 How the MATLAB® Process Uses Locale Settings

• Platform-Specific Localized Formats — MATLAB usually uses

platform-neutral localized formats and rules. You can, however, use
the operating system short date format to display files, as described in
“Customizing the Column Display” on page 6-17.

Windows Platform-Specific Behavior

The user locale and system locale must be the same value on the Microsoft
Windows platform. If these values are not the same, you might see garbled
text or incorrect characters. For information on controlling these settings, see
“Setting Locale on Windows Platforms” on page 8-4.

Macintosh Platform-Specific Behavior

On the Apple Macintosh OS X platform, MATLAB reads the user locale
setting and the user UI language setting. For information on controlling these
settings, see “Setting Locale on Macintosh Platforms” on page 8-8. MATLAB
ignores the LANG environment variable and the Terminal application locale
setting.

MATLAB automatically chooses a codeset for each combination of language

and territory on the Mac OS X platform. If you customize the locale setting on
OS X, MATLAB ignores the customized portion.

8-3
 8 Internationalization

Setting the Locale

In this section...
“Setting Locale on Windows Platforms” on page 8-4
“Setting Locale on Linux Platforms” on page 8-7
“Setting Locale on Macintosh Platforms” on page 8-8

Setting Locale on Windows Platforms

MATLAB software uses the system locale and user locale on Windows
platforms:

• “Setting User Locale on Windows 7 Platforms” on page 8-4

• “Setting System Locale on Windows 7 Platforms” on page 8-5
• “Setting User Locale on Windows Vista Platforms” on page 8-5
• “Setting System Locale on Windows Vista Platforms” on page 8-5
• “Setting User Locale on Windows XP Platforms” on page 8-6
• “Setting System Locale on Windows XP Platforms” on page 8-6

Setting User Locale on Windows 7 Platforms

1 Select Start -> Control Panel -> Clock, Language, and Region ->
Regional and Language.

2 Open Formats tab.

3 Select a target locale from the Format: drop-down list.

Note The user locale and system locale must be the same value on the
Microsoft Windows platform.

8-4
 Setting the Locale

Setting System Locale on Windows 7 Platforms

1 Select Start -> Control Panel -> Clock, Language, and Region ->
Regional and Language.

2 Open Administrative tab.

3 Look in the Language for non-Unicode programs section.

4 Click Change system locale... button.

5 Select a target locale from the Current system locale: drop-down list.

6 Reboot the system.

Note When you change the system locale, you must reboot your system;
otherwise, you might see unexpected locale-setting behaviors.

Setting User Locale on Windows Vista Platforms

1 Select Start -> Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options.

2 Open Formats tab.

3 Select an item from the drop-down list.

Note The user locale and system locale must be the same value on the
Microsoft Windows platform.

Setting System Locale on Windows Vista Platforms

1 Select Start -> Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options.

2 Open Administrative tab.

3 Click Change system locale... button.

8-5
 8 Internationalization

4 Select an item from the drop-down list.

5 Reboot the system.

Note When you change the system locale, you must reboot your system;
otherwise, you might see unexpected locale-setting behaviors.

Setting User Locale on Windows XP Platforms

1 Select Start -> Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options.

2 Open Regional Options tab.

3 Select an item from the drop-down list.

Note The user locale and system locale must be the same value on the
Microsoft Windows platform.

Setting System Locale on Windows XP Platforms

1 Select Start -> Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options.

2 Open Advanced tab.

3 Select an item from the drop-down list.

4 Reboot the system.

Note When you change the system locale, you must reboot your system;
otherwise, you might see unexpected locale-setting behaviors.

8-6
 Setting the Locale

Setting Locale on Linux Platforms

Linux platforms manage locale settings with six locale categories. These are
the same categories used by C standard library functions.

The following locale categories are available:

• LC_CTYPE controls character data manipulations.

• LC_COLLATE controls character collation/sorting operations.
• LC_TIME controls date/time data formatting or parsing.
• LC_NUMERIC controls numeric data formatting or parsing.
• LC_MONETARY controls monetary data formatting or parsing.
• LC_MESSAGES controls the user UI language.

Setting User Locale and User UI Language

Use the LANG environment variable to specify a single locale for all locale
categories. The locale specified with this variable might be partially or
entirely over-written by other environment variables.

Use the environment variables LC_CTYPE, LC_COLLATE, LC_TIME, LC_NUMERIC,

and LC_MONETARY to specify a locale for a particular category.

Use the LC_ALL environment variable to over-write all locales specified with
other environment variables. If a single locale has to be set to all locale
categories, use LANG instead of LC_ALL.

Configuring Fonts to Display Asian Characters

On some Linux systems, to properly display Asian characters in the MATLAB
Desktop, you must configure the font with the Java Runtime Environment
(JRE™). If you previously configured fonts for your system, you must also
make the configuration changes for the JRE distributed with MATLAB.

To configure, make a symbolic link between your font and the MATLAB font
fallback directory. For example, to use the Kochi font, at the Linux system
prompt type:

ln -s /usr/share/fonts/truetype/kochi

8-7
 8 Internationalization

matlabroot/sys/java/jre/glnxa64/jre/lib/fonts/fallback

where matlabroot is the folder where you installed MATLAB.

Alternatively, edit the fontconfig.properties file. See your Java

documentation for information about this file.

Setting Locale on Macintosh Platforms

The Macintosh OS X platform manages the user locale setting and the user
UI language setting.

Setting User Locale

1 Select System Preferences ->Language & Text

2 Open Formats tab

3 Select an item from the Region pop-up menu

Setting UI Language

1 Select System Preferences ->Language & Text

2 Open Language tab

3 Drag an item to the top of the Languages list

8-8
 Troubleshooting I18n Messages and Settings

Troubleshooting I18n Messages and Settings

The term I18n is an abbreviation for internationalization, where 18
stands for the number of letters between the i and the n.

In this section...
“Asian Characters Incorrectly Displayed on Linux Systems” on page 8-9
“Characters Incorrectly Displayed on Windows Systems” on page 8-10
“datenum Might Not Return Correct Value” on page 8-10
“Numbers Display Period for Decimal Point” on page 8-10
“MATLAB Displays Messages in English” on page 8-11
“File or Folder Names Incorrectly Displayed” on page 8-11

Asian Characters Incorrectly Displayed on Linux

Systems
On some Linux systems, to properly display Asian characters in the MATLAB
Desktop, you must configure the font with the Java Runtime Environment
(JRE). If you previously configured fonts for your system, you must also make
the configuration changes for the JRE distributed with MATLAB.

To configure, make a symbolic link between your font and the MATLAB font
fallback directory. For example, to use the Kochi font, at the Linux system
prompt type:

ln -s /usr/share/fonts/truetype/kochi
matlabroot/sys/java/jre/glnxa64/jre/lib/fonts/fallback

where matlabroot is the folder where you installed MATLAB.

Alternatively, edit the fontconfig.properties file. See your Java

documentation for information about this file.

8-9
 8 Internationalization

Characters Incorrectly Displayed on Windows

Systems
The user locale and system locale must be the same value on the Microsoft
Windows platform. If these values are not the same, you might see garbled
text or incorrect characters. For information on controlling these settings, see
“Setting Locale on Windows Platforms” on page 8-4.

datenum Might Not Return Correct Value

To ensure the correct calculation of functions using date values associated
with files and folders, replace datenum function calls with the use of the dir
function datenum field.

For example, look at the modification date of your MATLAB license.txt file:

cd(matlabroot)
f=dir('license.txt')

MATLAB displays information similar to:

f =
name: 'license.txt'
date: '10-May-2007 17:48:22'
bytes: 5124
isdir: 0
datenum: 7.3317e+005

If your code uses the date field of the dir command, similar to:

n=datenum(f.date);

replace it with the datenum field:

n=f.datenum;

Numbers Display Period for Decimal Point

MATLAB uses a period for a decimal point, regardless of the format specified
by the user locale. For example, the value of pi can be displayed as 3,1416 or
3.1416, depending on the format used by a locale. MATLAB always displays
3.1416.

8-10
 Troubleshooting I18n Messages and Settings

The MATLAB language reserves the use of commas to the cases described in
the “Comma — ,” topic of the Programming Fundamentals Symbol Reference.

MATLAB Displays Messages in English

MATLAB displays messages in English, regardless of the UI language setting,
except when running in a Japanese Microsoft Windows environment.

File or Folder Names Incorrectly Displayed

On Windows and Linux platforms, characters used in file or folder names
must be in the supported character set. See Supported Character Set in
“How the MATLAB Process Uses Locale Settings” on page 8-2.

On Macintosh platforms, for files and folders used by MATLAB, characters in

the file or folder name must be in the 7-bit ASCII character set.

8-11
 8 Internationalization

8-12
 Index

Symbols and Numerics

Index C
, after functions 3-10 caching
; after functions 3-10 search path 6-4
! function 6-43 case sensitivity
argument length restrictions 6-44 of file names 6-6
of path names 6-6
cell arrays
A
editing 5-3
absolute path name 6-6 changing
copying 6-6 search path 6-74
accelerators character set
Command Window 2-15 preference for MAT-files 2-56
accelerators, keyboard 2-15 closing
activate license 2-47 MATLAB 1-7
antialiasing Code Analyzer preferences 7-11
desktop fonts 2-63 setting 7-11
AppleScript code folding preferences in files 7-8
running from MATLAB 6-44 collapsing
archive files code in files 7-8
adding files to 6-35 colors
creating 6-33 general preferences 2-8
extracting files from 6-34 indicators for syntax 3-23
automatic completion of statement columns
Command Window 3-25 customizing in Current Folder browser 6-17
command flags 1-18
B Command History
about 3-29
bang (!) function 6-43
changing date format in 6-17
base workspace 5-2
file 3-29
batch mode for starting MATLAB 1-21
find entry by letter 3-15
beep
preferences 3-31
preferences 3-21
running functions from window 3-30
binary files
command name completion
comparing 6-61
Command Window 3-25
bookmarks
command switches 1-18
in Help browser 4-7
Command Window
Boolean searching in Help browser 4-5
getting started message bar 3-19
browser
paging of output in 3-11
for Web 2-42
preferences 3-19
bugs, reporting to MathWorks 4-9
scroll buffer 3-19

Index-1
 Index

width 3-19 changing in Command History window 6-17

commands changing in Current Folder browser 6-17
to operating system 6-43 deactivate license 2-47
comments defaults
color indicators 2-8 preferences for MATLAB 2-52
comparing setting in startup file for MATLAB 1-19
directories 6-47 deleting
files 6-47 files and folders
Comparison Tool using Current Folder browser 6-37
features of 6-62 using functions 6-38
completing statements automatically delimiter
Command Window 3-25 matching in Editor 3-21
compression preferences for matching 3-21
MAT-files and Fig-Files 2-56 description for file
configuration, desktop 2-11 viewing in Current Folder browser 6-18
confirmation dialog boxes desktop
preferences 2-57 configuration 2-11
copying description 2-2
files and folders 6-39 font preferences for 2-62
crash 1-9 development environment for MATLAB 2-2
creating diagnostics
files and folders startup
using functions 6-36 Macintosh 1-7
current folder difference reporting for files 6-47
at startup for MATLAB 1-12 directories
changing 6-2 comparing 6-47 6-49
viewing 6-2 displaying
Current Folder browser 6-11 output 3-10
asterisks and 6-16 do not show again
changing date format in 6-17 preferences 2-57
columns 6-16
details panel 6-18
E
preferences 6-13
refresh display 6-14 encoding
running scripts from 6-42 preference when saving 2-56
viewing image thumbnails in 6-18 ending MATLAB 1-7
environment settings at startup 1-19
environment variables 6-44
D error logs 1-9
date format errors

Index-2
 Index

color indicators 2-8 searching contents of 6-25

evaluating Find Files dialog box 6-25
selection in Command History window 3-30 finding
selection in Command Window 6-41 files and folders
exact phrase by name 6-24
Help browser search 4-5 files by name and content 6-25
exe 6-43 text in Command History window 3-16
executables text in Command Window 3-13
running from MATLAB 6-43 finish.m file running when exiting 1-9
execution firewall
stopping 3-12 settings to work through 2-44 2-67
exiting flags
saving workspace 1-9 for startup 1-18
exiting MATLAB 1-7 folders
confirmation 1-8 comparing 6-49
expanding creating 6-31
code in files 7-8 font
antialiasing in desktop 2-63
preferences in MATLAB 2-62
F
smoothing in desktop 2-63
fatal error 1-9 format
favorites in Help browser 4-7 preferences 3-19
FIG files full path name 6-6
opening in GUIDE 6-40 copying 6-6
Fig-files function name
compatibility 2-56 automatic completion
save options 2-56 Command Window 3-25
file name function workspace 5-2
case sensitivity 6-6 functions
files color indicators 2-8
comparing 6-47 naming
creating avoiding conflicts 6-68
from Command History window 3-30
finding by name 6-25
log 1-20 H
naming HDF
avoiding conflicts 6-68 preference when saving 2-56
opening as text files 6-40 Help browser
opening outside MATLAB 6-40 viewing page location 4-8
search path 6-65 hidden files

Index-3
 Index

viewing 6-14 L
history license information 4-16
automatic log file 1-20 license management 2-47
history file 3-29 line wrapping 3-19
history of statements 3-29 log
history.m file 3-29 automatic 1-20
hot keys 2-15 file 1-20
desktop 2-15 statements 3-29
Variable Editor 5-8 logfile startup option 1-20
HTML viewer in MATLAB 2-42 login
remote on Macintosh 1-7
I
image files M
previewing in Current Folder Browser 6-18 Macintosh
import startup
files for use with MATLAB 6-71 remote login 1-7
include MAT-files
files with MATLAB 6-71 comparing 6-59
indenting compatibility 2-56
in Command Window 3-23 compression options 2-56
initiation (init) file for MATLAB 1-19 creating 5-9
Internet defined 5-9
proxy server settings 2-44 2-67 preferences 2-56
updating using Current Folder Browser 6-32
J viewing variables without loading 6-18
matched delimiters
Java Heap
preferences 3-21
preferences 2-59
matching parentheses
Java VM
in Editor 3-21
starting without 1-21
MATLAB
exiting 1-7
K confirmation 1-8
keyboard shortcuts search path 6-71
Command Window 2-15 MATLAB code files
Variable Editor 5-8 file association (Windows) 1-3
keywords running
color indicators 2-8 at startup 1-21
matching in Editor 3-21 matlab folder 1-13
MATLAB installations

Index-4
 Index

search path with 6-79 spacing of 3-19

matlabrc.m, startup file 1-19 suppressing 3-10
minimize
Windows startup option 1-20
P
model files
description in Current Folder browser 6-18 paging in the Command Window 3-11
more 3-11 parentheses
moving matching 3-21
files and folders 6-39 parentheses matching
multidimensional arrays preferences 3-21
editing 5-3 partial
multithreading path name 6-9
turning off 1-21 partial word
Help browser search 4-5
path. See search path
N PATH environment variable 6-45
name clashes 6-68 path name 6-6
naming absolute 6-6
functions and variables case sensitivity 6-6
avoiding conflicts 6-68 length 6-8
nojvm startup option 1-21 partial 6-9
numeric format relative 6-6
preferences 3-19 See also absolute path name; full path name;
relative path name
path names
O
relative 6-6
objects pathdef.m
editing 5-3 location 6-72
operating system commands 6-43 PDF
operators reader, preference for Help browser 4-13
searching for 4-5 Perl variables
options passing
shutdown 1-9 at startup 1-21
startup 1-18 preferences
output Current Folder browser 6-13
display problems, reporting to MathWorks 4-9
hidden 3-10 product filter in Help browser
hiding 3-10 preference 4-13
paging 3-11 program control blocks
spaces per tab 3-20 code folding and 7-8

Index-5
 Index

program elements script for startup 1-19

going to 6-21 scroll buffer for Command Window 3-19
program files scrolling in Command Window 3-11
help search path
viewing in Current Folder browser 6-18 adding folders to 6-75
naming behavior when changing folders 6-82
avoiding conflicts 6-68 changing 6-74
viewing help for 6-18 default 6-65
programs description 6-65
running from MATLAB 6-43 problems and recovering 6-80
stopping execution of 3-12 saving 6-78
proxy server settings 2-44 2-67 using 6-71
using with different MATLAB
installations 6-79
Q
viewing 6-73
quitting MATLAB 1-7 searching
for files by name and content 6-25
R Help browser
Boolean 4-5
recovering deleted files 6-37
exact phrase (" ") 4-5
recycle 6-37
wildcard (*) or partial word 4-5
refresh
in Current Folder browser
Current Folder browser 6-14
by name 6-24
relative path 6-6
typeahead 6-24
release
special characters 4-5
latest 2-48
text
remote login
Command History window 3-16
Macintosh 1-7
Command Window 3-13
renaming
segmentation violation 1-9
files and folders
segv 1-9
using Current Folder browser 6-36
semicolon (;)
using functions 6-37
after functions 3-10
requirements
session
MATLAB 1-1
automatic log file 1-20
session log
S Command History 3-29
saving shadowed functions 6-68
MAT-files shell escape 6-43
preferences 2-56 shortcut
workspace upon exiting 1-9 for MATLAB in Windows 1-2

Index-6
 Index

keys in MATLAB 2-15 structures

shortcut keys editing 5-3
Variable Editor 5-8 style preferences for text 2-62
shortcuts support
creating technical 4-9
from Command History window 3-30 suppressing output 3-10
toolbar 3-17 switches
shutdown for startup 1-18
MATLAB 1-7 symbols
options 1-9 searching for 4-5
Simulink models syntax
viewing complete descriptions of 6-18 color indicators 2-8
singleCompThread startup option 1-21 coloring and indenting 3-23
spacing system browser
output in Command Window 3-19 UNIX 2-45
tabs in Command Window 3-20 system environment variables 6-44
special characters system path for UNIX 6-45
searching for 4-5 system requirements
splash screen MATLAB 1-1
startup option 1-21 system Web browser 2-42
stack
viewing 5-2
T
starting MATLAB
DOS 1-2 tab
Linux 1-6 spacing in Command Window 3-20
Windows 1-2 tab completion
startup Command Window 3-25
diagnostics Technical Support
Macintosh 1-7 contacting 4-9
files for MATLAB 1-19 temporary folder
folder for MATLAB 1-12 for deleted files 6-37
Macintosh, remote login 1-7 text
options for MATLAB 1-18 preferences in MATLAB 2-62
script 1-19 text files
startup.m comparing 6-53
location 1-20 threads
startup file 1-19 turning off multithreading 1-21
strings tmp/MATLAB_Files folder 6-38
color indicators 2-8 token matching
saving as Unicode 2-56 preferences 3-21

Index-7
 Index

toolbars latest available 2-48

customizing 2-10
shortcuts 3-17
W
toolbox path cache
preferences 1-24 Web
tools in desktop preferences 2-67
description 2-2 proxy server settings 2-44 2-67
Web Browser
in MATLAB 2-42
U wildcard (*)
Unicode Help browser search 4-5
preference when saving 2-56 windows in desktop
UNIX about 2-2
system path 6-45 arrangement 2-11
updates workspace
to newer versions 2-48 base 5-2
utilities functions 5-2
running from MATLAB 6-43 saving 5-9
tool 5-2
viewing 5-3
V
Workspace browser
Variable Editor description 5-2
decimal separator 5-15 wrapping
keyboard shortcuts 5-8 lines in Command Window 3-19
preferences 5-15
size limitations 5-4
variables Z
naming zip files
avoiding conflicts 6-68 adding files to 6-35
saving 5-9 creating 6-33
viewing 6-18 extracting files from 6-34
version 2-48 viewing contents of 6-33
information for MathWorks products 4-16

Index-8