Variables & Commands

Susovan Jana
Department of Information Technology
Institute of Engineering & Management, Kolkata, INDIA
Email (O): susovan.jana@iemcal.com
Email (P): jana.susovan2@gmail.com
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Creating a Variable
 A variable is simply a name that we assign to a specific value
 The newly created variable will be in the matlab workspace
memory until you clear it or quit the matlab application
 Syntax
─ <variable name>=<value>;
 Example 1:
─ x=7;
 Example 2:
─ name="Suvo“;
 Example 3: Matrix
─ A=[2 4 7; 3 5 1; 6 7 4];

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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Creating a Variable
 Semicolon in the end is not
mandatory. If you do not give
semicolon in the end it will print
the variable and value once in
the command window.
 Type of variable can be will be
determined by the type of value
assigned to it.
 To check the run command:
class(<variable name>)

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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View Variable Contents

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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View Variable Contents

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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View Variable Contents

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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Rules for Naming a Variable [1/4]
 A valid variable name starts with a
letter, followed by letters, digits, or
underscores.
 MATLAB is case sensitive, so A and a
are not the same variable.
 To get the maximum allowable length
of a variable name in the current
version of MATLAB
─ Run the namelengthmax command

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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Rules for Naming a Variable [2/4]
 MATLAB keywords can’t be used as
variable name, such as for or end.
 To get the complete list of keywords in
your version
─ run the iskeyword command

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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Rules for Naming a Variable [3/4]
 Examples of valid & invalid variable
name
Examples of valid Examples of invalid
names: names:
x6 6x

lastValue end

n_factorial n!

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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Rules for Naming a Variable [4/4]
 Conflicts with Function Names
─ Avoid creating variables with the same
name as a function.
─ In general, variable names take
precedence over function names.
─ If you create a variable that uses the name
of a function, you sometimes get
unexpected results.
 To check if any variable or function
exists with same name exist in MATLAB
─ exist <proposed name>

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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Predefined Variables [1/3]
 Predefined variables in MATLAB are not considered
as keywords
 We can change their values and use them for our
own purposes
 Be very careful when you are using them
 Example
─ true

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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Predefined Variables [2/3]
Expression Description
pi The number π up to 15 significant digits.
i, j The complex number √−1.
inf Represents the mathematical Infinity concept, for example, a result of division by
zero.
NaN Stands for Not-A-Number. Represents the result of a meaningless mathematical
function, like 0/0.
clock Contains the current date and time in the form of a 6-element row vector: year,
month, day, hour, minute, second.
date Contains a string representing today's date.
eps Stands for epsilon. It represents the smallest number that can be represented by your
MATLAB software.
ans A special variable that MATLAB uses to store the result of MATLAB's command line.

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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Predefined Variables [3/3]

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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Display Variables
 Syntax
─ disp(<variable name>);
 Examples
─ disp(x);
─ disp(name);
─ disp(A);

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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Editing Variable Contents

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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Basic MATLAB Commands
 clc
─ clears the command window
 clear <variable name>
─ used to remove particular variable from workspace
 clear all
─ used to remove all variable from workspace
 close all
─ closes all open MATLAB figure windows
 quit
─ stops MATLAB
 help
─ finding help on particular topic
 version
─ Used to know the version of the current matlab

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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Basic MATLAB Commands
 who
─ shows the list of variables in the current workspace
 whos
─ shows the details of the variables in the current workspace

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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Basic MATLAB Commands
 date
─ display the current date of the system
 delete
─ delete a file from system
 cd
─ gives the current directory/used to change the directory
 dir
─ gives the list of files in the current directory
 save
─ save workspace variables into a .mat file
 load
─ load the variables from a file into workspace

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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Input / Output commands
 disp
─ display the contents of a variable
 input
─ accepts inputs from command window

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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Input / Output commands
 fscanf
─ read formatted data from a file
 fprintf
─ performs formatted write on screen or file

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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Some format code & it’s uses
Format Code Purpose
%s Format as a string
%d Format as an integer
%f Format as a floating point value
%n Insert a new line in the output string
%t Insert a tab in the output string

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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Arithmetic operators in MATLAB
Symbol Role Alternative

+ Addition plus()

+ Unary plus uplus()

- Subtraction minus()

- Unary minus uminus()

.* Element-wise multiplication times()

* Matrix multiplication mtimes()

./ Element-wise right division rdivide()

/ Matrix right division mrdivide()

.\ Element-wise left division ldivide()

\ Matrix left divison (also known as backslash) mldivide()

.^ Element-wise power power()

^ Matrix power mpower()

.' Transpose transpose()

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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Relational Operators in MATLAB
Symbol Role Alternative
== Equal to eq()
~= Not equal to ne()
> Greater than gt()
>= Greater than or equal to ge()
< Less than lt()
<= Less than or equal to le()

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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Logical operators in MATLAB
Symbol Role Alternative
& Logical AND and()
| Logical OR or()
~ Logical NOT not()

Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA

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Susovan Jana, Department of Information Technology, IEM, Kolkata, INDIA