Lecture 1: Introduction and Script M File

Assoc. Prof. Pakorn Kaewtrakulpong, Ph.D.

INC, KMUTT

MATLAB

Introduction

Strengths

Weaknesses

Variety

Working Environment

Basic Features

Managing the MATLAB workspace

Script M Files

Introduction

MATrix LABoratory

numerical computing environment

a scientific calculator
a software package for computation in engineering, science,
and applied mathematics.
a powerful programming language, excellent graphics, and a
wide range of expert knowledge.

Simulink

graphical simulation environment

by Mathworks, Inc. (http://www.mathworks.com/)
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Strengths

easy to learn

great for testing ideas

state of the art algorithms

large community

easy visualization

symbolic maths

Weaknesses

not very good at hardware interfacing

interpreted language

not so good for programming with GUI (Graphic User

Interface)

Variety

OS

MS Windows

Unix or Linux

MacOS

platform

x86 (or 32 bit)

Toolboxes/Blocksets

Toolboxes
MATLAB

Blocksets
Simulink

hardware interfacing
faster

x64

large memory model
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Working Environment
current directory

workspace
command window

command history

Help

help <topic>

e.g. help,
help plot

doc <topic>

e.g. doc, doc
plot

Help menu or

toolbutton

Variable Editor

Profiler

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File and Directory Comparisons

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Basic Features

Scientific calculator

In command window, >> is the prompt.

operators and functions

variables

symbols

Script

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Simple Math

Precedence
1. parenthesis
2. operations
I.
II.
III.

3.

^ (power)
*, / or \ (invert division)
+, -

left right

e.g.
4*25+6*22+2*99
3^2-5-6/3+2
3^2-5-6/(3+2)
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Variables

In MATLAB, variables are not necessarily declared but are

created on a need-to-use basis by its memory manager.

Naming convention

case sensitive

legitimate characters

letters
underscore
numbers

begin with letters

up to 63 characters

e.g.
a=1;b=2;c=3;d=a+b+c
1_AB=1 % error
A=1,a=2
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Special Variables

ans

eps

pi

Inf, inf

NaN, nan

i,j

(i2 = -1)

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Basic Data Types

double (defaults), single

uint8, uint16, uint32, uint64, int8, int16, int32, int64

char

logical

structure, cell

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Ranges

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Elementary Functions

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Elementary Functions (contd.)

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Examples: Elementary Functions

e.g.
x=sqrt(2)/2
y=asin(x)
y_deg=y*180/pi
y=rem(23,4)
x=-2.6,y1=fix(x),y2=floor(x),y3=ceil(x),y4=round(x)

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Complex Numbers

a+bi (cartesian form) where a and b are real numbers,

and i is the imaginary unit.

e.g.
c1=1-2i,c2=1-2j
c3=6+sin(.5)i % error
c3=6+sin(.5)*i
c4=(c1+c2)/c3
mag_c1=abs(c1),angle_c1=angle(c1),deg_c1=angle_c1*180

/pi
real_c1=real(c1),imag_c1=imag(c1)
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Other MATLAB symbols

. . . contiuation

,

;

%

<Ctl+C>

comma statement separator

semicolon statement separator
line comment
aborting execution

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Command Window

Recalling previous commands

arrow keys

a combination of the leading letter and an up arrow key.

Rudimentary cursor control

clc
clear the command window

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Display Formats

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Display Format Settings

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The MATLAB Search Path

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Managing the MATLAB Workspace

clear

clear all variables in the workspace

Load and save data

.MAT file

save

saves all variables in MATLAB.MAT (MATLAB binary format).

save <MAT-file>

must not be the same name as any variable in the workspace; otherwise
that variable will be saved in MATLAB.MAT. <MAT-file> le extension
need not be put explicitly.

save <MAT-file> <variable 1> <variable 2> ... <variable n>

saves only selected variables.

Alternatively, use the menu File/Import data.. or Save workspace as..

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Example: Managing the MATLAB

Workspace

e.g.
clear
a=1;b=2;c=3
save
save myvars a b
clear
load myvars
clear
load
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Script M Files

Commands Usually Used in Script Files or M-Files
tells MATLAB to display or echo commands to the
command window as they are read and evaluated
echo off
not to display
echo
toggles the echo state
displays results without identifying variable names
disp(<var>)
(display the values only)
input
prompts user for input
echo on

return

returns control to the executing script m-file or base

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Script M Files (contd.)

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Homework #1
1.

write a line of commands to find the result of

2. write a script that asks for inputs x and n, and calculate the
result. Find the result for each of input combinations.

3. find each range of

double (defaults), single
uint8, uint16, uint32, uint64, int8, int16, int32, int64

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