Methods For Calling Functions: Engineering Year 4 Computer Applications ELE-COA-411

University of Malawi – The Polytechnic
Engineering Year 4
Computer Applications
ELE-COA-411
MATLAB Programming Part 2
Lesson 4-2019
RS Bakolo, PhD
Textbook: Introduction to MATLAB for Engineers by W. Palm III
22-May-19 RS Bakolo : UNIMA – The Polytechnic : 2019 1
Methods for Calling Functions

2
There are four ways to invoke, or “call,” a function into

action. These are:
1. As a character string identifying the appropriate

function M-file,
2. As a function handle,
3. As an “inline” function object, or
4. As a string expression.
Examples of these ways follow the fzero function used

with the user-defined function fun1, which computes y
= x2 - 4.
RS Bakolo : UNIMA – The Polytechnic : 2019 22-May-19
1
Methods for Calling Functions -Contd
3
1. As a character string identifying the appropriate

function M-file, which is
function y = fun1(x)
y = x.^2-4;
The function may be called as follows, to compute

the zero over the range 0  x  3:
>>[x, value] = fzero(’fun1’,[0, 3])

4
2. As a function handle to an existing function M-file:
>>[x, value] = fzero(@fun1,[0, 3])
3. As an “inline” function object:
>>fun1 = ’x.^2-4’;
>>fun_inline = inline(fun1);
>>[x, value] = fzero(fun_inline,[0, 3])
2
5
4. As a string expression:
>>fun1 = ’x.^2-4’;
>>[x, value] = fzero(fun1,[0, 3])
or as
>>[x, value] = fzero(’x.^2-4’,[0, 3])

6
The function handle method (method 2) is the fastest

method, followed by method 1.
In addition to speed improvement, another

advantage of using a function handle is that it
provides access to subfunctions, which are normally
not visible outside of their defining M-file.
3
Reading Assignment
7
Types of User defined functions:

1. Primary
2. Anonymous
3. Subfunctions
4. Nested
5. Overloaded
6. Private
Algorithms and Control Structures

8
Algorithm: an ordered sequence of precisely defined instructions

that performs some task in a finite amount of time. Ordered means
that the instructions can be numbered, but an algorithm must have
the ability to alter the order of its instructions using a control
structure. There are three categories of algorithmic operations:
Sequential operations: Instructions executed in order.
Conditional operations: Control structures that first ask a question to

be answered with a true/false answer and then select the next
instruction based on the answer.
Iterative operations (loops): Control structures that repeat the

execution of a block of instructions.
4
Structured Programming
9
A technique for designing programs in which a

hierarchy of modules is used, each having a single
entry and a single exit point, and in which control is
passed downward through the structure without
unconditional branches to higher levels of the
structure.
In MATLAB these modules can be built-in or user-

defined functions.
Advantages of structured programming

10
1. Structured programs are easier to write because the programmer

can study the overall problem first and then deal with the details
later.
2. Modules (functions) written for one application can be used for

other applications (this is called reusable code).
3. Structured programs are easier to debug because each module is

designed to perform just one task and thus it can be tested
separately from the other modules.
4. Structured programming is effective in a teamwork environment

because several people can work on a common program, each
person developing one or more modules.
5. Structured programs are easier to understand and modify,

especially if meaningful names are chosen for the modules and if
the documentation clearly identifies the module’s task.
10
5
Steps for developing a computer solution
11
11
Documentation
12
1. Proper selection of variable names to reflect the

quantities they represent.
2. Use of comments within the program.
3. Use of structure charts.
4. Use of flowcharts.
5. A verbal description of the program, often in
pseudocode.
12
6
Documenting with Charts
13
Two types of charts aid in developing structured programs and in

documenting them.
These are structure charts and flowcharts.
A structure chart is a graphical description showing how the

different parts of the program are connected together.
13
Documenting with Charts Contd

14
Flowcharts are useful for

developing and
documenting programs that
contain conditional
statements, because they
can display the various
paths (called “branches”)
that a program can take,
depending on how the
conditional statements are
executed.
14
7
Documenting with Pseudocode
15
We can document with pseudocode, in which natural

language and mathematical expressions are used to construct
statements that look like computer statements but without
detailed syntax.
Each pseudocode instruction may be numbered, but should be

unambiguous and computable.
15
Finding Bugs
16
Debugging a program is the process of finding and removing the

“bugs,” or errors, in a program. Such errors usually fall into one of
the following categories.
1. Syntax errors such as omitting a parenthesis or comma, or

spelling a command name incorrectly. MATLAB usually detects
the more obvious errors and displays a message describing the
error and its location.
2. Errors due to an incorrect mathematical procedure. These are

called runtime errors. They do not necessarily occur every
time the program is executed; their occurrence often
depends on the particular input data. A common example is
division by zero.
16
8
Finding Bugs
17
To locate a runtime error, try the following:
1. Always test your program with a simple version of the

problem, whose answers can be checked by hand
calculations.
2. Display any intermediate calculations by removing

semicolons at the end of statements.
To test user-defined functions, try commenting out the function

line and running the file as a script.
Use the debugging features of the Editor/Debugger, which is

discussed in Section 4.8.
17
Relational Operators
18
For example, suppose that x =

[6,3,9] and y = [14,2,9]. The
following MATLAB session shows
some examples.
>>z = (x < y)
z =
1 0 0
>>z = (x ~= y)
z =
1 1 0
>>z = (x > 8)
z =
0 0 1
18
9
Relational Operators Contd
19
The relational operators can be used for array

addressing.
For example, with x = [6,3,9] and y = [14,2,9],

typing
z = x(x<y)
finds all the elements in x that are less than the

corresponding elements in y. The result is z = 6.
19
Relational Operators Contd

20
The arithmetic operators +, -, *, /, and \ have precedence over

the relational operators. Thus the statement
z = 5 > 2 + 7
is equivalent to
z = 5 >(2+7)
and returns the result z = 0.
We can use parentheses to change the order of precedence;

for example, z = (5 > 2) + 7 evaluates to z = 8.
20
10
Logical Class
21
When the relational operators are used, such as
x = (5 > 2)
they create a logical variable, in this case, x.
Prior to MATLAB 6.5 logical was an attribute of any numeric

data type. Now logical is a first-class data type and a MATLAB
class, and so logical is now equivalent to other first-class types
such as character and cell arrays.
Logical variables may have only the values 1 (true) and 0

(false).
21
22
Just because an array contains only 0s and 1s, does not

necessarily mean a logical array. For example, in the following
session k and w appear the same, but k is a logical array and w
is a numeric array, and thus an error message is issued.
>>x = -2:2; k = (abs(x)>1)

k =
1 0 0 0 1
>>z = x(k)
z =
-2 2
>>w = [1,0,0,0,1]; v = x(w)
??? Subscript indices must either be real
positive... integers or logicals.
22
11
Accessing Arrays Using Logical Arrays
23
When a logical array is used to address another array, it extracts

from that array the elements in the locations where the logical
array has 1s.
So typing A(B), where B is a logical array of the same size as A,

returns the values of A at the indices where B is 1.
Specifying array subscripts with logical arrays extracts the

elements that correspond to the true (1) elements in the logical
array.
Given A =[5,6,7;8,9,10;11,12,13] and B =
logical(eye(3)), we can extract the diagonal elements of A by
typing C = A(B) to obtain C = [5;9;13].
23
Logical Operators
24
24
12
Logical Functions
25
25
The find Function

26
find(A)  Computes an array

containing the indices of the
nonzero elements of the
array A.
[u,v,w] = find(A)  Computes the arrays u and

v containing the row and
column indices of the
nonzero elements of the
array A and computes the
array w containing the
values of the nonzero
elements. The array w may
be omitted.
26
13
Logical Operators and the find Function
27
Consider the session
>>x = [5, -3, 0, 0, 8];y = [2, 4, 0, 5, 7];

>>z = find(x&y)
z =
1 2 5
Note that the find function returns the indices, and not the
values.
27
28
In the following session, note the difference between the

result obtained by y(x&y) and the result obtained by
find(x&y) in the previous slide.
>>x = [5, -3, 0, 0, 8];y = [2, 4, 0, 5, 7];

>>values = y(x&y)
values =
2 4 7
>>how_many = length(values)
how_many =
3
28
14
29 Program Control
29
Loops, Branches and Control-flow

30
MATLAB has its own syntax for control-flow

statements which are:
for-loops
while- loops
if-elseif-else branching
In addition, it provides other commands:

break, switch-case-otherwise, error
and return to control the execution of
scripts and functions.
30
15
for - Loops
31
Used to repeat a statement or a group of

statements for a fixed number of times
example 1:
total = 0;
for k = 1:15
total = 5*k^2 - 2*k + total;
end
disp(‘The sum for 15 terms is : ’)
disp(total)
example 2:
for n = 100:-2:0, k = 1/(exp(n)), end
31
while - Loops
32
Used to execute a statement or a group of statements

for an indefinite number of times until the condition
specified by while is no longer satisfied
example 1
total = 0;k=0;
while total<1e+4
k=k+1;
total = 5*k^2-2*k+total;
end
disp(‘The number of terms is : ‘)
disp(k)
disp(‘The sum is : ’)
disp(total)
32
16
If-elseif-else
33
Provides logical branching for computations

example 1
if x>=0
y=sqrt(x)
end
example 2
x = input('x')
y = input('y')
if x > 5
k = x
elseif(x>1)& (y==20)
k=5*x+y
else
k=1
end
33
break statement
34
The command break inside a for or while loop terminates the

execution of the loop even if the condition for execution of the
loop is true
Here is a simple example
for k = 1:10
x = 50 – k^2;
if x < 0
break
end
y = sqrt(x)
end
%The execution of the program jumps to here when break is executed
34
17
switch – case - otherwise
35
Provides logical branching for computations. A flag is used as a

switch and the values of the flag make up the different cases of
execution:
example
color = input('color = ','s');
switch color %switch flag
case 'red’ %case value1
c = [1 0 0] %block 1 computation
case 'green’ %case value2
c = [0 1 0] %block 2 computation
case 'blue’
c = [0 0 1]
otherwise %otherwise
error('Invalid Choice of color')
end %last block computation
35
Exercise
36
1. Write an m-file function that would be used to convert

temperatures quoted in degrees Celsius into degrees
Fahrenheit. Conversion should be done for positive degree
Celsius only. 9
F C  32
5
2. .
36
18

Methods For Calling Functions: Engineering Year 4 Computer Applications ELE-COA-411

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Methods For Calling Functions: Engineering Year 4 Computer Applications ELE-COA-411

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

University of Malawi – The Polytechnic

Textbook: Introduction to MATLAB for Engineers by W. Palm III

22-May-19 RS Bakolo : UNIMA – The Polytechnic : 2019 1

Methods for Calling Functions

There are four ways to invoke, or “call,” a function into

1. As a character string identifying the appropriate

Examples of these ways follow the fzero function used

RS Bakolo : UNIMA – The Polytechnic : 2019 22-May-19

1. As a character string identifying the appropriate

The function may be called as follows, to compute

>>[x, value] = fzero(’fun1’,[0, 3])

RS Bakolo : UNIMA – The Polytechnic : 2019 22-May-19

Methods for Calling Functions -Contd

2. As a function handle to an existing function M-file:

>>[x, value] = fzero(@fun1,[0, 3])

3. As an “inline” function object:

RS Bakolo : UNIMA – The Polytechnic : 2019 22-May-19

>>[x, value] = fzero(’x.^2-4’,[0, 3])

RS Bakolo : UNIMA – The Polytechnic : 2019 22-May-19

Methods for Calling Functions -Contd

The function handle method (method 2) is the fastest

In addition to speed improvement, another

RS Bakolo : UNIMA – The Polytechnic : 2019 22-May-19

Types of User defined functions:

RS Bakolo : UNIMA – The Polytechnic : 2019 22-May-19

Algorithms and Control Structures

Algorithm: an ordered sequence of precisely defined instructions

Sequential operations: Instructions executed in order.

Conditional operations: Control structures that first ask a question to

Iterative operations (loops): Control structures that repeat the

RS Bakolo : UNIMA – The Polytechnic : 2019 22-May-19

A technique for designing programs in which a

In MATLAB these modules can be built-in or user-

RS Bakolo : UNIMA – The Polytechnic : 2019 22-May-19

Advantages of structured programming

1. Structured programs are easier to write because the programmer

2. Modules (functions) written for one application can be used for

3. Structured programs are easier to debug because each module is

4. Structured programming is effective in a teamwork environment

5. Structured programs are easier to understand and modify,

RS Bakolo : UNIMA – The Polytechnic : 2019 22-May-19

1. Proper selection of variable names to reflect the

RS Bakolo : UNIMA – The Polytechnic : 2019 22-May-19

Two types of charts aid in developing structured programs and in

These are structure charts and flowcharts.

A structure chart is a graphical description showing how the

RS Bakolo : UNIMA – The Polytechnic : 2019 22-May-19

Documenting with Charts Contd

Flowcharts are useful for

RS Bakolo : UNIMA – The Polytechnic : 2019 22-May-19

We can document with pseudocode, in which natural

Each pseudocode instruction may be numbered, but should be

RS Bakolo : UNIMA – The Polytechnic : 2019 22-May-19

Debugging a program is the process of finding and removing the

1. Syntax errors such as omitting a parenthesis or comma, or

2. Errors due to an incorrect mathematical procedure. These are

To locate a runtime error, try the following:

1. Always test your program with a simple version of the

2. Display any intermediate calculations by removing

To test user-defined functions, try commenting out the function

Use the debugging features of the Editor/Debugger, which is

For example, suppose that x =