How to use a function output in another function?

I have written a function in the script, say

 function A = matrixy()
 A = zeros(3);
 end

When calling it in the command window, I'll have

 >>matrixy
 ans = 
 0 0 0
 0 0 0
 0 0 0

But when I key in A in the command window, it shows "Undefined function or variable 'A'". Is there a way to let A pick up this value in the command window?

Also, I want to create another function and use this matrix A produced in the previous function. How should I do it?

Many thx!

[Stephen23]

How to assign output arguments to variables is also covered in the introductory tutorials:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/getting-started-with-matlab.html

Doing the introductory tutorials teaches lots of these basic concepts, which saves time in the long run.

Answer 1

[Amit]

A = matrixy;

A function has an output and the name. Unless you define the output, it goes to ans variable.

[Fernadez]

I don't think Amit answer is correct, I am having the same question. if A = matrix, you are running the whole function all over again. if you run the function, how do you save the result "A", and how to you call "A" an input to the second function?

[Walter Roberson]

A = matrixy();

calls matrixy once (per time that you execute the statement), and assigns the output of running matrixy() the variable "A" in your current workspace.

You can then pass A to another routine, such as

   sqrt(A)

If you do not need the output for second purposes, you can just directly call

sqrt(matrixy())