I'm experiencing a puzzling error in Matlab R2012b. It seems that variable names that are also data types exhibit strange behavior. Please see this small example:
function [] = test1()
dataset = 1;
if dataset ~= 0
disp hello
end
end
A call to test1() produces output hello, as expected.
Now, rather than set the value of dataset in my function, I run a script instead.
function [] = test2()
myscript;
if dataset ~= 0
disp hello
end
end
where myscript.m has one line:
dataset=1;
Now, when I call test2() I get this error:
Undefined function 'ne' for input arguments of type 'dataset'.
Error in test2 (line 4)
if dataset ~= 0
(Forgive the variable named dataset - I know that it is also the name of a data type, and it came in the code I was running.) So it seems as if in test2, Matlab creates an empty dataset object rather than using the variable named dataset. Furthermore, this behavior only appears when I set the value in a script rather than in the function body. Even more weird, is that I can do:
>> dbstop in test2 at 4 % line of if statement
>> test2()
K>> dataset
dataset =
1.00
K>> dataset ~= 0
ans =
1
K>> if dataset ~= 0, disp hello; end
hello
K>> dbcont
and I get the same error! The error is not displayed in debugging mode but it is in normal execution.
Can anyone reproduce this? What is going on here?
The MATLAB online help has some pages dealing with this issue; Variables Names and Loading Variables within a Function seem to be the most relevant.
There is no explicit page that discusses how MATLAB resolves names at compilation time, but there is one little tidbit at the bottom of the Variables Names page: "In some cases, load or eval add variables that have the same names as functions. Unless these variables are in the function workspace before the call to load or eval, the MATLAB parser interprets the variable names as function names."
In other words, if the parser finds an explicit assignment to a variable whose name is the same as another existent object, the local definition takes precedence.
In your test2(), there is no explicit assignment to a variable dataset; therefore, when the file is compiled, the parser interprets dataset to be a class constructor (since the parser will not run or inline myscript into the function).
Then at run-time, even though a variable named dataset has been poofed1 into the function's workspace, the interpreted code that is running still has the dataset symbol in the if-statement associated with the class constructor.
If you need to, you can still use the dataset variable name and load from an external file, but it should be done with an explicit assignment via a function call. For example:
dataset = initialize();
Now the parser will notice that dataset is some arbitrary output of the function initialize and all will be well. In fact, you can have even have initialize return a dataset constructor to the dataset variable if you wanted.
1 When variables are defined without explicit assignment, MATLAB people (at least on some of their blogs I've read) called this 'poofing'. Using load without any output arguments, using eval, and simply running scripts (not functions) can all poof variables into the workspace. This can work fine as long as the variable names do not conflict with other in-use symbols at compile time.
Related
I am writing a script to access a function that has been written in another script.
When I run the second script the error is that the function is undefined.
I have been working backwards and am currently trying to get the function to work in the command window.
The function file has appeared in the current folder window. When it is highlighted all functions and parameters are displayed in the window below (displays the file name on top then the file contents).
I am still getting a function is undefined when I copy and paste the functions call from the script into the command window.
I tried rebuilding the functions individually in separate scripts, but I am still receiving an error message.
I have made sure the are in the same folder, and are spelled exactly the same, what am I doing wrong?
'''
%file name Lab_5_functions.m
function[vel] = velocity (g,m,co_d,t)
vel= ((g*m)/co_d)^(1/2)*tanh(((g*co_d)/m)^(1/2)*t);
end
function [dvel]= dvelocity (g,m,co_d,t)
dvel=(((.5*(g*m)/co_d)^(1/2)*tanh(((g*co_d)/m).^(1/2)*t_sec))-(((g*t)/(2*m))*(sech(((g*co_d)./m).^(1/2)*t))));
end
'''
v=velocity(1,2,3,4)
%error message below:
Undefined function or variable 'velocity'.
'''
Thanks
-MK
Matlab is searching for functions using filenames. So you define a single public function myfunc in a file myfunc.m.
You can define additional functions in that file, but they will not be accessible outside that .m file.
MATLAB looks for filenames to find the functions and expects the first line of that file to be a function definition.
For example: myfunc.m
function output = myfunc(input)
If you do want many functions in one file (like a module/library), I have used a work-around before: write all your functions in the file, then include an if-else block to call the correct function. Multiple arguments can be parsed with some simple checks (see nargin function). It is a less elegant solution; I only use it if I have many simple functions and it would be plain annoying to have heaps of .m files.
Here is a simple example:
Call the file: myfunc.m
function output = myfunc(fn, arg1, arg2, ...)
function out = func1(arg1, arg2, ...)
out = 0
if strcmp(fn, 'func1')
if nargin == 2
output = func1(arg1)
end
elseif strcmp(fn, 'func2')
...
end
If I write this:
clc
clear
close all
format long
fprintf( 1, 'Starting...\n' )
function results = do_thing()
results = 1;
end
results = do_thing()
And run it with Octave, it works correctly:
Starting...
results = 1
But if I try to run it with Matlab 2017b, it throws this error:
Error: File: testfile.m Line: 13 Column: 1
Function definitions in a script must appear at the end of the file.
Move all statements after the "do_thing" function definition to before the first local function
definition.
Then, if I fix the error as follows:
clc
clear
close all
format long
fprintf( 1, 'Starting...\n' )
results = do_thing()
function results = do_thing()
results = 1;
end
It works correctly on Matlab:
Starting...
results =
1
But now, it stopped working with Octave:
Starting...
error: 'do_thing' undefined near line 8 column 11
error: called from
testfile at line 8 column 9
This problem was explained on this question: Run octave script file containing a function definition
How to fix it without having to create a separate and exclusive file for the function do_thing()?
Is this issue fixed on some newer version of Matlab as 2019a?
The answer is in the comments, but for the sake of clarity:
% in file `do_thing.m`
function results = do_thing()
results = 1;
end
% in your script file
clc; clear; close all; format long;
fprintf( 1, 'Starting...\n' );
results = do_thing();
Accompanying explanatory rant:
The canonical and safest way to define functions is to define them in their own file, and make this file accessible in octave / matlab's path.
Octave has supported 'dynamic' function definitions (i.e. in the context of a script or the command-line) since practically forever. However, for the purposes of compatibility, since matlab did not support this, most people did not use it, and quite sensibly relied on the canonical way instead.
Matlab has recently finally introduced dynamic function definitions too, but has opted to implement them explicitly in a way that breaks compatibility with octave, as you describe above. (rant: this may be a coincidence and an earnest design decision, but I do note that it also happens to go against prior matlab conventions regarding nested functions, which were allowed to be defined anywhere within their enclosing scope).
In a sense, nothing has changed. Matlab was incompatible with advanced octave functionality, and now that it has introduced its own implementation of this functionality, it is still incompatible. This is a blessing in disguise. Why? Because, if you want intercompatible code, you should rely on the canonical form and good programming practices instead of littering your scripts with dynamic functions, which is what you should be doing anyway.
Octave's implementation of local functions in scripts is different from Matlab's. Octave requires that local functions in scripts be defined before their use. But Matlab requires that local functions in scripts all be defined at the end of the file.
So you can use local functions in scripts on both applications, but you can't write a script that will work on both. So just use functions if you want code that will work on both Matlab and Octave.
Examples:
Functions at end
disp('Hello world')
foo(42);
function foo(x)
disp(x);
end
In Matlab R2019a:
>> myscript
Hello world
42
In Octave 5.1.0:
octave:1> myscript
Hello world
error: 'foo' undefined near line 2 column 1
error: called from
myscript at line 2 column 1
Functions before use
disp('Hello world')
function foo(x)
disp(x);
end
foo(42);
In Matlab R2019a:
>> myscript
Error: File: myscript.m Line: 7 Column: 1
Function definitions in a script must appear at the end of the file.
Move all statements after the "foo" function definition to before the first local function definition.
In Octave 5.1.0:
octave:2> myscript
Hello world
42
How it works
Note that technically the functions here in Octave are not "local functions", but "command-line functions". Instead of defining a function that is local to the script, they define global functions that come into existence when the function statement is evaluated.
The following code works on both Matlab and Octave:
if exist('do_nothing') == 0
disp('function not yet defined, run script again')
else
do_nothing
end
%====
function results = do_nothing()
results = 1;
end
When run on octave, the first attempt exits with the message, but subsequent attempts succeed. On Matlab, it works the first time. While this works on both platforms, it is less than ideal, since it requires that much of the script code be placed inside an "if" statement block.
This is a simple Matlab code that I'm trying to execute.
function result = scale(img, value)
result = value .* img;
end
dolphin = imread('dolphin.png')
imshow(scale(dolphin, 1.5));
The error says:
Error: File: scale.m Line: 5 Column: 1
This statement is not inside any function.
(It follows the END that terminates the definition of the function "scale".)
What am I doing wrong here?
scale.m is a function M-file because it begins with the keyword function. The part up to end is the definition of the function. When you call scale at the MATLAB command line, it executes the code in the function. The stuff that comes after end is not part of the function, and hence cannot be executed.
If you intended to write a script with a private function scale that you want to use only within this script, then put the lines of code that read and display dolphin at the top of the file. The private functions should come after the script part. This syntax is supported since MATLAB R2016b.
Otherwise, move the dolphin code to a different M-file, which would be a simple script M-file without any function definitions. This script can then use scale, which would call the function in the file scale.m.
A third alternative, keeping all code in the same file, is to not use a script at all, and put the script code inside a function:
function f % just a random name
dolphin = imread('dolphin.png')
imshow(scale(dolphin, 1.5));
end
function result = scale(img, value)
result = value .* img;
end
(The function name doesn't need to match the file name, although the MATLAB editor will warn you if these names don't match.)
I'm trying to get started with Matlab / Octave and having a difficult time figuring how to organize a program into functions. Currently I'm trying to write a simple program that adds two numbers together and displays the result, with the adding being done by a function. I would have figured this would have worked:
% test.m
close all;
clear all;
num1 = 2;
num2 = 2;
result = myAdd(num1, num2);
disp(result); % this should display 4 ??
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
function retval = myAdd(var1, var2)
retval = var1 + var2;
end
Running the above with Octave 4.0.0, I get the following errors:
error: 'myAdd' undefined near line 7 column 10
error: called from
test at line 7 column 8
I have tried also putting the function first and the test part second, and also putting the function in a separate file and having a main.m file in the same directory call the myAdd function, all result in errors.
So here are my questions:
-Does Matlab / Octave have a main equivalent ??
-How does the interpreter know where to start? Does it automatically go to the first line in the program, or is there a certain function name you can use to make it start with that function as function main() is in C/C++ ??
-In a Python program of significant size, my usual practice is to organize things as follows:
# some_python_program.py
import abc
import xyz
###################################################################################################
def main():
# stuff to get program started here
# end main
###################################################################################################
def function1():
# specific function here
# end function
###################################################################################################
def function2():
# specific function here
# end function
###################################################################################################
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
Is there a way to do the equivalent in Matlab/Octave ??
If somebody could provide some direction as to a main equivalent and/or how to organize functions in Matlab/Octave please advise, thanks.
Matlab/Octave can be a bit confusing in this way if you're coming from a language like python. In order to define a function (without using anonymous functions), you need to create a separate file with the name of that function, which can then be called using the command line.
For example, you would like to create a function called myadd. You should create a file named myadd.m whose contents will be:
function out = myadd(a,b)
out = a+b;
end
Then, as long as your file is on your path (save it to your MATLAB folder or put it in your current working directory), you can call it from the Command Window as follows:
>> myadd(5,6)
ans =
11
Only one function will be made publicly available per file (the one whose name matches the file name). However, you can still define multiple functions per file if you plan to use only that function. For example, if you have a file named foo.m, you can do the following:
function out = foo(a,b)
out = fun(a,b);
end
function out = fun(a,b)
out = a * b;
end
This will allow you to call foo(5,6) from the Command Window, but fun(5,6) will result in an error: Undefined function or variable 'fun'.
Read more about local functions and nested functions.
Hope this is helpful!
I have a function
function [ obsTime, obsWDIR, obsWSPD, obsSWH, obsMWD ] = readObsC(obsFile, endTime)
that when I run it, it gives an output of a huge array ans, which is the same array as obsTime. But obsTime, obsWDIR, obsWSPD, etc. don't display. Not a single line of code is supposed to display ans.
When I'm in debugging mode, I run the code and stop it at the very last line, and it doesn't give an output ans. Only when I hit 'step' twice and the function ends, does the ans output appear.
Everything in the function has semicolons.
Why does ans appear? Where are my other outputs?
In your function definition, you name the formal input and output arguments. That determines the name which these arguments will use within the function.
The function has its own environment, and variable names inside the function are completely independent of variable names outside the function, unless you use global or evalin('caller').
You have to provide actual input and output arguments at the time of the call, which determines how the code outside the function refers to those same arguments. There is no automatic passing of arguments simply because the names match! The only automatic thing is that if you don't specify the actual output arguments, the first actual output argument will be ans and the rest are discarded.
You could have figured this out if you simply read the MATLAB documentation for ans:
The MATLAB® software creates the ans variable automatically when you specify no output argument.
The function declaration specifies the return values, but when you call it, you don't specify anywhere for the output to go. When you call something on the command line, the output is always defaulted to ans unless you assign a variable to the output of the function when you call it.
I defined a simple function called myfunc as:
function [one,two,three,four] = myfunc(value1,value2)
Ex, using workspace variables (denoted ws_) to capture function output:
>> [ws_one,ws_two,ws_three,ws_four] = myfunc(1,2)
prints:
ws_one =
1
ws_two =
2
ws_three =
1
ws_four =
2