Clear previously printed message with fprintf - matlab

While executing a script, I have used
msg='Please wait...';
a=fprintf('%6s\n',msg);
fprintf('\n');
before the results get displayed. However after the results disclosure on the screen "Please wait..." is still appearing although I used
clear a
Thus, is there a way of turning off in the code
fprintf()

Clear a: the clear function delete the selected variable from the memory. To clear the console you have to use clc.
But you can also comment or delete the line where fprintf is called.

As already stated you have to use clc to clear the command window.
You can also erase just the last characters by inserting multiple backspaces. For instance:
fprintf(repmat(char(8), [1 numel(msg)]));

Related

Keep Matlab from stepping into built in functions during dbstop if error

I use dbstop error a lot when working in Matlab. A good portion of the time, a mistake causes errors to be thrown inside of built-in [m-file] functions, which then causes Matlab to stop execution and open the file. However, it's almost never helpful to debug inside of the built-in file, so this ends up disrupting my workflow. Might there be a way to set things up so that Matlab backs out of the built-in file in the debugger (never opening it), leaving me at the function call?
Although I've never found a way to tackle this problem properly, it's fairly easy to hack together a workaround:
Create a script containing something along these lines:
S = dbstack();
file_paths = cellfun(#which, {S.file}, 'UniformOutput', false);
builtins = ~cellfun('isempty', strfind(file_paths, matlabroot()));
stack_depth = find(~builtins, 1, 'first');
for ii = 1:stack_depth-1
dbup(); end
Save it somewhere that makes sense to you, and place a shortcut to it in the MATLAB toolbar.
Then, whenever this problem occurs, you just click on your little shortcut, which will automatically take you to the first non-builtin function in the debug stack.
Based on Rody's answer and feedback from Mathworks, this is the closest you can get at this point (R2016b):
S = dbstack('-completenames');
builtins = ~cellfun('isempty', strfind({S(:).file}, matlabroot()));
stack_depth = find(~builtins, 1, 'first');
hDocument = matlab.desktop.editor.findOpenDocument(S(1).file);
matlab.desktop.editor.openAndGoToLine(S(stack_depth).file,S(stack_depth).line);
hDocument.close();
if stack_depth == 2
dbup();
end
This shortcut will:
Open up the closest user function to the correct line.
Close the builtin function that opened when the error was thrown.
If the error happened only one level away from a user function, switch to that workspace.
The problem is that dbup() only works once - after the call, execution in the script stops. There's no function to switch to an arbitrary place in the stack.

How to use pause with openvar in a for loop

Using the following code:
tmpTable = table([1;2;3]);
for i = 1:5
openvar tmpTable
pause
end
When I run the for loop, all I get is a blank screen in the Variable Editor, except the dimensions of the table are displayed correctly. If I break from the for loop the table displays correctly.
My question is, how do I make this table display programmatically in the for loop, with a pause like command that allows me to inspect the table before moving onto the next one?
What's happening is that pause is pausing the main MATLAB thread which is why you aren't seeing anything in the Variable Editor. You have to make MATLAB enter debug mode if you want the main MATLAB thread to be free.... or of course break the loop as you have discovered.
A "hackish" way to get things going is to insert a keyboard statement instead of pause to force MATLAB to go into debug mode. Once you're there, you'd have to use dbcont to continue onto the next iteration of the loop. This will make MATLAB enter debug mode again as the keyboard statement will be encountered again thus freeing the main thread. This repeats until the last iteration.
Therefore:
tmpTable = table([1;2;3]);
for i = 1:5
openvar tmpTable
keyboard; %// Change
end
You will then see K>> once you execute the first iteration of the loop when you look at the Command Prompt. This signifies that you are in debug mode. To proceed to the next iteration, type in dbcont in the Command Prompt and push ENTER. You can reuse the last command by pushing the Up arrow on your keyboard then push ENTER again and keep doing this until the last iteration of your loop. You will unfortunately have to click back in the Command Prompt as the focus will be placed on the Variable Editor before you enter in the command again. If at any time you want to quit debug mode, use dbquit. This will terminate any code execution and bring you back to the Command Prompt.
This is the only way really to free up the main MATLAB thread at each iteration that I know of.

Alternatives to `clear(function_name)` to remove function from RAM?

As stated in MATLAB's FAQ,
1.3.3.1. Why, when I edit a function file in MATLAB, is the change not seen by MATLAB until everything is cleared or MATLAB is restarted?
When you write an M-file in MATLAB, you can either write a script or a
function. The difference is that a script is read from the disk and
parsed line by line each time it is called. A function is loaded into
RAM for execution. Because it is loaded into RAM, when you edit a
function, that change is not loaded into RAM until a call to the new
function is made.
To get MATLAB to recognize your edited function, type
clear functions to clear all functions, or
clear <function name> to clear just your function out of RAM.
This is a major pain when I'm developing a function & editing it repeatedly (I use an external editor most of the time). I was thinking of putting in a final line, at least during debug, like
clear(myfunc)
but I'm concerned about unwanted side effects. Does anyone know if there are any?
Further, I'd rather have a way to configure MATLAB so it doesn't automatically store called functions in RAM once the top-level function (i.e. the one called from the console) terminates. Is that even possible?
EDIT: I should mention that MATLAB's behavior is inconsistent. Sometimes my edits take effect once I save the m-file, other times they don't even if I'm editing with the MATLAB IDE editor window.
In all honesty MATLAB has a very powerful editor so you really should
be using it. It will make you life easier. (just an opinion)
Unless you are running the code by stepping through it no change to code will be run until the code is re-run (preferably with a cleared workspace).
clear(myfunc) will clear the variables created by that function in upto that point. You can add at the end of any function or script clear variableA variableB for all variables you want cleared at the end. This will give you control to only clear what you want. Once variables are cleared the only effect will be that if those variables are called again later in the code an error will occur since they no longer exist.
If your simply testing that particular function and want to save time by not calling inputs each time and want to clear the workspace and command window at the same time. You can add the following code just beneath the function definition.
If you leave the following code and call the function from another function or script, the code will be ignored as long as the inputs are available to it externally. Anything you add to the if statement will only occur when you call the function with no inputs doc nargin. You could add it to the top level function and you would simply press the run button or f5 without having to type in the command window to run the code.
function [ output1, output2 ] = blah( input1, input2 )
if nargin == 0
clc
clear all
%above two lines will clear the workspace and command window when you run
%the function
%define function inputs
%(optionally add the following to behave as if you inserted a breakpoint
%in the location just before the error occurred (great for debugging)
db stop if error
end
*you can also add a short-cut to snippets of code up in the top right of the MATLAB interface to clear the workspace etc when they are clicked.
Hackish* idea for this:
I'd rather have a way to configure MATLAB so it doesn't automatically store called functions in RAM once the top-level function (i.e. the one called from the console) terminates. Is that even possible?
* This is the sort of thing I might use, while advising others on why it is a bad idea, also probably uses undocumented (thus unreliable) things.
Specifically if your using an external editor I guess your going to have to click on the command window to run the function...
commandWindowHandle = ...
handle(com.mathworks.mde.desk.MLDesktop.getInstance.getClient('Command Window'...
.getComponent(0).getComponent(0).getComponent(0),'CallbackProperties');
commandWindowHandle.MouseClickedCallback = 'clear functions'
It doesn't clear the function definitions on exiting a function rather on clicking on the command window
note: the callback will not fire if a function is currently running
For a potentially more reliable but more wasteful version:
commandWindowHandle.KeyPressedCallback= 'clear functions'
will help* ensure definitions are clear, but is wasteful as every keystroke will run 'clear functions'... although after one keystroke this will be quicker as there will be no functions in memory!
* No guarantee I know there are ways in which this could fail... having at least 1 keystroke in the command window after the previous function call has finished would be advisable!
To disable these set the callback to empty string ''
commandWindowHandle.MouseClickedCallback = ''
commandWindowHandle.KeyPressedCallback= ''

Matlab clc command

I was checking the original 'clc.m' file in MATLAB. Apparently the function is written as a p-code and you just see the description which is placed in:
..\MATLAB\R2013a\toolbox\matlab\iofun\clc.m
How can I take a look at the original code?; however this is not the main question, it is just for fun.
The main point is I am looking for a way to reverse the clc process, after you clean the screen. Is there any way to reverse the clc process. The same question goes for clear all as well.
Try using home instead of clc. Whereas clc removes all text from the Command Window and moves the cursor to the top left giving you a blank window, home just moves the cursor to the top left and gives a you a blank window - but the text is still there, and you can scroll up to see it. I use home all the time rather than clc.
In either case, the text remains in the Command History window, and can be retrieved in the Command Window using the Up/Down arrows.
The reason you can't see the code behind clc is not that it's p-coded, it's that it's a built-in function (i.e. not implemented in the MATLAB language). The same is true for clear, and also many math functions such as svd, eig etc. There's no way to modify them to change what they do (such as reversing the process).
Edit: You might also like to look into the diary function, which keeps a log of all the input and output at the command window in a specified file. I have the following lines in my startup.m file (type doc startup if you don't know how to use MATLAB startup files):
diaryFolder = 'C:\diaries';
diaryFileName = ['diary', datestr(now, 'yyyymmdd'), '.txt'];
diary(fullfile(diaryFolder, diaryFileName))
So whenever I start MATLAB, it's automatically capturing all command window input and output to a diary file that's named by the date - If I start MATLAB multiple times a day, it just appends to the same file. I can clc or home whenever convenient, and there's always a record kept of everything that I can search through if necessary.
I don't believe there would be anyway to undo the clc process. That said, it is possible to still view the command history, so that might get you somewhere.
Once you clear the data, I believe it's gone forever. I highly doubt that data is stored in memory somewhere. I know that after a certain number of lines, the history is deleted. So your best bet is to start figuring out how large that buffer is and proceed from there to see if you can find anything interesting.

undefined variable in MATLAB

I am newbie to MATLAB .I have written a code to upsample a data.when executed always shrows the particular error(below)
??? Input argument "n" is undefined.
Error in ==> upsamp at 7
mm=min(n)
but when i just write the foll. output [n1,y]=upsamp([1,2,3,4,5,6],-1:4,3) command window ,its shows me the correct upsampled data with its figure.
then why the error is popping up? Or i just click on run button,and error is shown in command window.
Please help me out to debug that error:
My code is
function[n1,y]=upsamp(n,x,I)
mm=min(n)
mx=max(n)
n1=mm*I:(mx*I+I-1)
x1=x'
x1=[x1,zeros(length(x),I-1)]
x1=x1'
y=(x1(:))'
subplot(2,1,1)
stem(n,x)
title('original sequence ')
xlabel('Range')
ylabel('sequence')
subplot(2,1,2)
stem(n1,y)
title(' unsampling')
xlabel('Range')
ylabel('sequence')
end
As others have noted, if you want to run a function that takes input arguments, you have to call it manually from the command prompt with any required arguments.
Otherwise, if you like to use the Run button (F5) from the editor, consider creating a run configuration (they can be used in smart ways)
The "run" button is only for scripts (i.e. just a plain list of statements without "function" at the top). This is a function, so it should only get called from the matlab command line like you described.
The run button calls your function with no arguments.
Since arguments to your function are non-optional, you get an error.
Either call your function from the interactive Command Window, or write a short script that provides appropriate arguments, and use the Run button with that script. You can still single-step into your function.