I have a large project coded in MATLAB, with 15-18 scripts. It is becoming very challenging to understand the whole code. I was thinking that if I can put some scripts in another folder, it will become very straightforward to understand and maintain the code. Is it possible to do that?
Consider the below directory structure:
How can I call a function from main.m that is placed in func.m in Folder 1?
Manual solution
Perform the following:
Right click on the folder which is on top of the hierarchy.
click on Add to path
Click on selected folders and subfolders
At this stage, your scripts will be able to identify any function or script which resides in one of the inner subfolders which you chose.
In addition you can call any script and function you would like by simply typing it's name in the command line.
Code solution
Instead of doing it manualy, it is also possible to add folders and subfolders into path by using the following code:
addpath(genpath(<path to your directory>))
Example
The tree structure of the current Matlab path
You can add the functions and scripts from Folder 1 into path by either writing the following code:
addpath(genpath('Folder 1'))
Or by using 'Adding folders and subfolders' option from the menu:
After doing so, it is possible to call func straight from main
Related
In the Matlab function precedence page, it states that function precedence goes:
Functions in the current folder.
Functions elsewhere on the path, in order of appearance.
My question is, when they say "Functions in the current folder" does this exclude functions in subfolders of the current folder? If so, is there a way for me to have subfolders be called preferentially without changing the order of my folders in the path?
I need to do this because I have 2 folders (each with subfolders) of code that run functions with the same name. It seems the subfolders aren't given automatic precedence. I really don't want to have to change my path order every time I run one folder, and I really don't want to have to rename 100s of functions and function calls that my team has written.
The only solution I can think of would be to remove the whole subfolder system and just have a jumbled mess of files in one folder. Are there any other things I can do?
Thanks in advance for the help!
I have a bunch of codes that are currently stored on my local machine. There are two folders, one called "Resources" and another called "src". There is one main script that needs to be run called "main.m" in "src" which calls files from "Resources".
If I copy this whole thing onto a new computer, the paths will change and MATLAB may not be able to find "Resources" anymore. I know that relative to "main.m", I need to go up one level and then into "Resources".
What is the best way of getting MATLAB to point to "Resources"?
I am currently trying along the lines of
P = mfilename('fullpath')
which gives the path for main.m. Now, I want to navigate from here, one folder up and then into "Resources". Or if there is a better way, please let me know.
Eventually, I want to extend it to work for multiple folders "Resources1", "Resources2" etc. so MATLAB needs to be able to navigate to the right folder.
You can get it like:
fullfile(fileparts(mfilename('fullpath')), '..', 'Resources');
Explanation:
mfilename('fullpath') will return the full path and name of the
M-file in which the call occurs, without the extension
fileparts will return the path of the passed file (only the containing directory)
fullfile will build the full directory specification from the folder names passed (Note: '..' always means the parent directory)
Based on this it is quite simple to write a function that gets the sibling directory of the directory containing the file:
getSiblingOfParentDirectory.m
function siblingDirPath = getSiblingOfParentDirectory(filepath, siblingDirName)
siblingDirPath = fullfile(fileparts(filepath), '..', siblingDirName);
end
then to use it in an M-file:
for i = 1:3
disp(getSiblingOfParentDirectory(mfilename('fullpath'), ['Resources', num2str(i)]));
end
Sample output:
D:\pathtest\Resources1
D:\pathtest\Resources2
D:\pathtest\Resources3
You can try the following:
ResourcesFolder = strrep(mfilename('fullpath'), 'src\main', 'Resources');
addpath(ResourcesFolder);
%%Your code here where you need those files
rmpath(ResourcesFolder);
Which is fully dependant on the names of your folders & files of course. Basically "addpath" enables you to access the files in the mentioned directory by adding it to the search path, and "rmpath" does the exact opposite.
Also, if you literally want to navigate to a folder present on one level up, you can execute the following:
cd ..\Resources
Which goes one level up, searches for the folder 'Resources', then changes the current directory to that folder .
I have created a few general function in MATLAB that I intend to use for a few separate projects. However I do not want to copy the function into each separate project function.
I have created a folder called Misc_Function when I have placed these general functions. I know I can reference this functions explicitly by using the path and function name when trying to call the functions.
I believe you can add a path (in my case 'H:\MyTeam\Matlab\Misc_Function') when MATLAB loads up is that correct and if so how do you do this?
Assuming the above can be done I'm interested to know how MATLAB finds the correct function. In my understanding (guess work) MATLAB has a list of paths that it check trying to find a function with the name specified - is that correct? If so what happens when there are functions with the same name?
MATLAB indeed has its own search path which is a collection of folders that MATLAB will search when you reference a function or class (and a few other things). To see the search path, type path at the MATLAB prompt. From the documentation:
The order of folders on the search path is important. When files with the same name appear in multiple folders on the search path, MATLAB uses the one found in the folder nearest to the top of the search path.
If you have a set of utility functions that you want to make available to your projects, add the folder to the top of the search path with the addpath function, like so
addpath('H:\MyTeam\Matlab\Misc_Function');
You have to do this everytime you start MATLAB. Alternatively, and more conveniently, save the current search path with the savepath command or add the above commands to your startup.m file.
You can check the actual paths where Matlab searches for functions using
path
You will notice, that the most top path (on start up) is a path in your home folder. For Linux this is e.g. /home/$USER/Documents/MATLAB. For Windows it is somewhere in the the c:\Users\%USER%\Documents\Matlab (I think). Placing a file startup.m in this folder allows to add additional paths using
addpath('H:\MyTeam\Matlab\Misc_Function');
or
addpath(genpath('H:\MyTeam\Matlab\Misc_Function'));
on start up of Matlab. The latter (genpath) allows to also add all subdirectories. Simply write a file startup.m and add one of above lines there.
I believe 'addpath' will add the folder to MATLAB path only for the current MATLAB session. To save the updated path for other sessions, you need to execute 'savepath' command.
As mentioned in the previous comments, adding the folder in startup.m is a good idea since it will be added to the path on MATLAB startup.
To answer your question about how MATLAB finds the correct function, MATLAB maintains a list of directories in its path in a file called pathdef.m. Any changes to the path will be written to this file (when you execute 'savepath'). The path variable is initialized with the contents of this file.
I have several MATLAB scripts to share with my colleagues. I have put these scripts under a specified directory, e.g., /home/sharefiles
Under the MATLAB command prompt, the users can use these scripts by typing
addpath /home/sharefiles
Is there a way to automatically add this path in my matlab script, and save users the efforts of invoking addpath /home/sharefiles each time.
Sure, just add the addpath to your script.
addpath('/home/sharefiles')
If you want to recursively add subdirectories, use the genpath function:
addpath(genpath('/home/sharefiles')
Adding files to the path or one of the slower operations in Matlab, so you probably don't want to put the addpath call in the inner loop of an operation. You can also test to see if you need to add the path first.
if ~exist('some_file_from_your_tools.m','file')
addpath('/home/sharefiles')
end
Or, more directly
if isempty(strfind(path,'/home/sharefiles;'))
addpath('/home/sharefiles')
end
You could add the code posted by Pursuit to your startup.m file so that MATLAB adds it to the path automaticlly upon startup. Or, take a look at the savepath function. Lastly,
So when you Use the GUI to set path, the paths get added in the default start directory of Matlab in the pathdef.m file present there. Hence if you are running your code from any other directory either you would have to copy over this file or create a script in the startup folder. Hope this helps!!
Tried Googling, but couldn't find anything.
I have a few files and folders in my current MATLAB folder.
One of those folders is called 'Map' and it has a 'map1.m' file which I want to call from my code in the current MATLAB folder.
In my code, I can't call it like this:
/Map/map1;
but I can do so like this:
cd Map;
map1;
cd ..;
Somehow the above method seems incorrect. Is there a more elegant way to do it?
You can run the file without adding the folder to your path manually, using the run command, which is specifically for such cases. From the documentation:
run is a convenience function that runs scripts that are not currently on the path.
You call your function/script as
run /Map/map1
If you want to run the function/script by merely entering its name and not with the full (or relative) path, then you should add the folder to your path.
As noted by #mutzmatron, you cannot use run to call functions with input/output arguments. So, unless if it's a script/function without input/output arguments, using run will not work and you'll have to add the folder to your path.
EDIT
Just as a matter of good coding practice, and to work in cases where your function has inputs/outputs, adding/removing the folder from your path is the correct way to go. So for your case,
addpath /Map
...
map1;
...
rmpath /Map
The important thing is that your function call is sandwiched between the addpath and rmpath commands. If you have functions of the same name in both folders, then you should sandwich it tighter i.e., a line before and a line after, so as to avoid conflicts.
Just add all those directories to the Matlab path with addpath like gnovice suggests. Then you'll be able to call the functions normally, and they'll be visible to which(), help(), depfun(), and the other Matlab meta-programming commands. You can put the addpath() calls in your startup.m file to have them automatically appear each time you start Matlab.
Changing the path with addpath/map1()/rmpath each time has some drawbacks.
It's a performance hit because you're adding path manipulation to each call.
Functions in different directories won't be able to see each other.
It'll be harder to write and debug functions because the path context in which they execute will change dynamically, and won't be the same as what you see when you're in the editor and the base workspace.
You need additional error handling code to make sure the path is properly restored if the called function errors out.
This won't work with the Matlab Compiler, if you want to deploy this code at some point.
And using run() or cd() yourself is ugly, because relative paths are going to have problems.
If you really want to separate the functions in the subdirectories so they can't "see" each other, you can make those directories namespaces by putting a "+" in front of their names, and then qualify the function calls with the namespace, like Map.map1().
Just to contribute to the path-altering debate...
One way to make it a bit "safer" is to write
% start of my code: create function handles
% to the functions I need:
try
cd Map
map1_func = #map1;
catch mexception
end
cd ..
This tries to preserve the current directory, and you get a handle to the function in a different directory.
Only thing is, this method won't work if map1 relies upon other functions in the Map directory.