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MATLAB Commands

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MATLAB is an interactive multi-programming language and numeric computing environment developed by MathWorks. MATLAB provides the Commands that will be used when the user wants to interact with any application using the command line interface. 

Following are the lists of commands used in MATLAB.

Commands for Managing a Session

Command 

Use

clc Clears command window
clear Removes the variables from memory
global Declares variables globally
exist Checks for the existence of a particular file or memory
help Searches for a help topic
quit Stops MATLAB
who Lists current variables in use
lookfor Searches help entries for a keyboard

Example 1

Matlab




% MATLAB Code to illustrate
% global
     function setGlobalx(val)
    global x


Output:

x = val;

Example 2

Matlab




% MATLAB Code to illustrate who
    x = 2
    who


Output:

Variables in the current scope: x

 Example 3

Matlab




% MATLAB Code to illustrate
% clear
    clear
    type x


Output:

error: type 'x' is undefined

Commands for Working with the System

Command  Use
cd Changes current directory
date  Displays current date
delete Deletes a file
dir Lists all the files in a directory
path Displays search path
pwd Displays current directory
type Displays content of a file
wklread Reads.wk1 spreadsheet file
save Saves workplace variables in a file

Example 1 

Matlab




% MATLAB Code to illustrate
% pwd
    pwd


Output:

ans = /home/oo

Example 2

Matlab




% MATLAB Code to illustrate
% date
c = date


Output:

c= '18-jun-2021'

Input and Output Commands

Command  Use
disp Displays content of an array or a string
fscanf Reads formatted data from a file
format Controls screen-display format
fprintf Performs formatted writes to file or screen 
input Displays the prompt and waits for input
; Suppresses screen printing

Example 1 

Matlab




% MATLAB Code to illustrate
% disp
  
    A = [15 150];
    S = 'Hello World.';
    disp(A)
    disp(S)


Output:

15 150
    
Hello World.

Example 2

Matlab




% MATLAB Code to illustrate
%input
 age = input('how old are you: '); 
     % At this point, the variable: age, will contain 
     % whatever value the user types


Output:

20
        

Vector, Matrix, and Array Commands

Command  Use
cat  Concatenates the array
find Finds the indices of nonzero elements
max  Returns the largest element
min Returns the smallest element
prod Product of each column
sort Sorts each column
rank Computes rank of a matrix
eye Creates an identity matrix
inv  Computes the inverse of a matrix

Example 1

Matlab




% MATLAB Code to illustrate 
%cat
    array1 = [1,2,3]
    array2 = [4,5,6]
    cat(1,array1,array2)


Output:

    ans = 
    
    1    2    3
    4    5    6

Example 2

Matlab




% MATLAB Code to illustrate 
%max
max(array1)


Output:

ans = 3

Example 3

Matlab




%MATLAB Code to illustrate
%min
min(array2)


Output:

ans = 4

Matlab




%MATLAB Code to illustrate
%eye
eye(2,2)


Output:

    ans = 
    Diagonal Matrix
    1    0
    0    1

Plotting Commands: 

Commands  Use
axis Sets axis limit
grid Displays grid lines
plot Generates xy plot
title  Puts title at top of the plot
close  Closes current plot
bar Creates bar chart
print  Prints the plot / saves the plot
figure Opens a new figure window
Close all Closes all plots

Example1:

Matlab




% MATLAB Code to illustrate
%plot
    x = linspace(0,20)
    y = cos(x)
    plot(x,y)


Output:

Example 2:

Matlab




%MATLAB Code to illustrate
%grid
    x = linspace(0,20)
    y = cos(x)
    plot(x,y)
    grid on


Output:



Last Updated : 04 Jul, 2021
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