We all know MATLAB provides tab-completion for filenames used as arguments in MATLAB function like importdata,imread. How do we do that for the functions we create?
EDIT:
Displays the files and folders in the current directory.
Caution: unsupported hack here.
Take a look at the file toolbox\local\TC.xml in your Matlab installation. This appears to contain the argument type mappings for tab completion. (I found this by just grepping the Matlab installation for "imread" in R2009b.)
Adding this line inside the <TC> element will get you tab-completion of file names for each of its arguments.
<binding name="importdata" ctype="FILE"/>
This requires modifying the Matlab installation in place. For some of the other files in toolbox/local, like classpath.txt, you can override them by placing modified copies in the directory you start Matlab from, but this didn't work for TC.xml for me.
There is no supported way to add your functions to the argument Tab completion, but one trick I use is to put a "!" in front of the command so it is treated like a system command. Tab will then complete file paths. Once my MATLAB command is done, I home to the beginning of the line, delete the "!" and press enter.
For Matlab 2016a and above :
The file Tc.xml is not present in Matlab 2016a onwards. It uses a .json (Java Script Object Notation) file to achieve the same. A simple example of this can be as follows.
Suppose you have a Matlab function file called myFunction.m. Furthermore, suppose that this function needs files with extension .ext as input and you want the tab-completion to show all possible input options for this function. Then, write the following content in a file and name it functionSignatures.json.
{
"myFunction":
{
"inputs":
[
{"name":"filename", "kind":"required", "type":"filepath=*.ext" }
]
}
}
Place this file in the same directory as myFunction.m file. Now, restart Matlab.
What this file does : While typing in the function input, upon pressing tab, you will see a list of files with the extension .ext popping up. If you want all the files to be shown in tab completion popup irrespective of their extension, then replace "type":"filepath=*.ext" with "type":"filepath" in the file functionSignatures.json.
Source : https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/306157-how-to-configure-tab-completion-for-my-function-in-matlab-2016#answer_237857
Related
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've been working for some time on a MATLAB function to retrieve file names. The function is called getFileName. My problem is that when I try to display help for this function by pressing the F1 key while cursor is on the function name, I instead, get the help for the built in function matlab.io.hdf4.sd.getFilename. I get the same if I write doc getFileName in my command window. Only if I type helpwin getFileName do I get the correct documentation displayed!
This doesn't make sense to me since MATLAB is case sensitive and thereby getFileName is different from getFilename. Furthermore, when I type which getFileName (or for some strange reason, if I type which getFilename), I get the path to my function and not to the built-in function matlab.io.hdf4.sd.getFilename.
So my question is: is it possible to make sure that the function you get documentation for (by pressing the F1 key) is the same function that you run if you type the name of that function?
Matlab isn't actually case sensitive for the help files. In the terminal you can type
doc PLOT
and it will still pop up the documentation for the proper plot function.
I don't know where these files are stored on PC, as I use a Mac, but in the Matlab directory if you search for an uncommon file name (like plotyy) you will see the source file, but you'll also find an html file that doc uses. If you write an html file for the new file it should bring up the right info for the documentation center.
Matlab used to just copy the commented text at the beginning of the file into the documentation center in older versions of matlab, but now it uses html files stored on your drive. I don't know if this will definitely fix your problem as I haven't written an html file for an "almost overloaded" function.
Also, about the weird 'which' thing, I'm pretty sure Matlab first searches the first entry on your path list for a close match, and the current directory is on the top of the list. If you type 'path' into the console it will output all the search paths, and the top ones are searched first.
I apologize for masquerading as if this is an 'Answer' but I don't have enough reputation points to add this as a comment.
I'm using MATLAB under Windows, and trying to display (dump) the contents of a text file in the command shell. It seems like overkill to open a small file in the editor, or to load the file to use disp.
Use type and specify the explicit file name (including the extension), for instance:
type('myfile.txt')
As well as type, there's also dbtype which lets you pick a start and end range to print, and shows line numbers - handy for listing source files.
After creating a MATLAB (version 2010a) file in the editor, I am getting the below mentioned error:
"MATLAB cannot run this file because \toolbox\matlab\lang\try.m shadows it in MATLAB path"
Also with this I get an option to "change folder", "add the path". Even after clicking and working around with this option I keep getting the same message.
I looked up in the matlab manual and tried to change the path. Also I checked my path variable, the place where I am storing my matlab files is already there in the path variable. Please help correcting the error. The name of my file is try.m
The code inside 'try.m' is just:
clear all;
TRY is a reserved word in MATLAB, so you shouldn't use it for your filename. Rename "try.m" to something else and you should be fine. You can do this using the "Save As" from the Editor menu and typing a different name.
Is your file in the file editor also named lang.m? Because Matlab sometimes cannot resolve scope differences between m-files in the current directory and m-files that represent built-in functions. It does not appear to be telling you that your file is not in the path; rather it seems to be saying it cannot distinguish your file from \toolbox\matlab\lang.
Can you provide more details about what your file is, such as posting the code and including the working directory name?
I'm a total newbie to MATLAB but I have to write some code in it. I've had problems with making MATLAB see functions I've defined in external .m files. This is what I've done: I've created a file named, say, foo.m in my home dir with the following contents:
function [y] = foo(x)
% description
y = x + 1
When I run matlab (my home dir is matlab's workdir) it does not see foo function - it replies with standard ??? Undefined function or variable 'foo' message. BUT help foo or which foo return correct data printing help text and pointing on foo.m file respectively.
I must be missing something but I have no idea what it is. This is getting very annoying.
Oh, after several trial and error attempts I've managed to call that function. Unfortunately I can't remember the sequence of steps I've performed. Moreover after restarting matlab it returns to its usual 'Undefined function or variable' response.
I have 7.11.0.584 matlab running on linux.
MATLAB needs to be told which directories to search over to access those m-files. Clearly it cannot be left to search over your entire disk drives. The MATLAB search path is a list of directories that will be searched in specific order to find your functions.
help addpath
help pathtool
You should never put those files anywhere in the official MATLAB toolbox directories. Choose an entirely separate directory.
Finally, be careful not to name your own functions to match the names of existing MATLAB functions. Otherwise, your very next question here will be why your code does not work properly. This is a common cause of strange and confusing bugs.
It seems you're having some trouble with addpath. Try opening the file in the matlab editor and adding a break point in the file. If the file is not on Matlab's path, matlab should ask if you want to change directory or add the file to the path, choose add to the path.
If this doesn't work, try changing the current working directory (displayed in the main window) to the same location as the m file and calling the function. If this doesn't work you're either getting the name wrong ar there's possibly something wrong with your installation.
Occasionally matlab has problems if it does not have write permission to the directory the file's in, so check that too, i.e. make sure admin rights aren't required for the directory or m file.
Oh, and try:
clear functions
to reload all functions into memory.
The function needs to be in MATLAB's path. Use pathtool to tell MATLAB where to find your function. Note that if you name a function the same name as an existing function, MATLAB will use whichever function it finds first according to the order that the paths are listed as you see them in pathtool.
Although coming late but I hope it will help someone.
If in the folder where the function you are calling is residing, there is any other function with the same name as one of the functions from MATLAB toolboxes, then Matlab will not recognize its license and therefore will disable the whole folder from execution, no matter it is properly added to the path. The help will display though.
In order to check it, type:
which name_of_func.m
and you will get the path with "%Has no license available" message.
If it is your own function, you should not get this message but only the path.
Therefore, find the function in this folder which has the same name as a MATLAB toolbox functions, and rename it. I will solve the problem :).
Best Regards
Wajahat