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It's frustrating when a long function or script runs and prints unexpected outputs to the command window. The line producing those outputs can be difficult to find.
Starting in R2024b, use dbstop to find the line with unsuppressed outputs!
Run this line of code before running the script or function. Execution will pause when the line is hit and the file will open to that line. Outputs that are intentionaly displayed by functions such as disp() or fprintf() will be ignored.
dbstop if unsuppressed output
To turn this off,
dbclear if unsuppressed output
How to leave feedback on a doc page
Leaving feedback is a two-step process. At the bottom of most pages in the MATLAB documentation is a star rating.
Start by selecting a star that best answers the question. After selecting a star rating, an edit box appears where you can offer specific feedback.
When you press "Submit" you'll see the confirmation dialog below. You cannot go back and edit your content, although you can refresh the page to go through that process again.
Tips on leaving feedback
  • Be productive. The reader should clearly understand what action you'd like to see, what was unclear, what you think needs work, or what areas were really helpful.
  • Positive feedback is also helpful. By nature, feedback often focuses on suggestions for changes but it also helps to know what was clear and what worked well.
  • Point to specific areas of the page. This helps the reader to narrow the focus of the page to the area described by your feedback.
What happens to that feedback?
Before working at MathWorks I often left feedback on documentation pages but I never knew what happens after that. One day in 2021 I shared my speculation on the process:
> That feedback is received by MathWorks Gnomes which are never seen nor heard but visit the MathWorks documentation team at night while they are sleeping and whisper selected suggestions into their ears to manipulate their dreams. Occassionally this causes them to wake up with a Eureka moment that leads to changes in the documentation.
I'd like to let you in on the secret which is much less fanciful. Feedback left in the star rating and edit box are collected and periodically reviewed by the doc writers who look for trends on highly trafficked pages and finer grain feedback on less visited pages. Your feedback is important and often results in improvements.
Temporary print statements are often helpful during debugging but it's easy to forget to remove the statements or sometimes you may not have writing privileges for the file. This tip uses conditional breakpoints to add print statements without ever editing the file!
What are conditional breakpoints?
Conditional breakpoints allow you to write a conditional statement that is executed when the selected line is hit and if the condition returns true, MATLAB pauses at that line. Otherwise, it continues.
The Hack: use ~fprintf() as the condition
fprintf prints information to the command window and returns the size of the message in bytes. The message size will always be greater than 0 which will always evaluate as true when converted to logical. Therefore, by negating an fprintf statement within a conditional breakpoint, the fprintf command will execute, print to the command window, and evalute as false which means the execution will continue uninterupted!
How to set a conditional break point
1. Right click the line number where you want the condition to be evaluated and select "Set Conditional Breakpoint"
2. Enter a valid MATLAB expression that returns a logical scalar value in the editor dialog.
Handy one-liners
Check if a line is reached: Don't forget the negation (~) and the line break (\n)!
~fprintf('Entered callback function\n')
Display the call stack from the break point line: one of my favorites!
~fprintf('%s\n',formattedDisplayText(struct2table(dbstack)))
Inspect variable values: For scalar values,
~fprintf('v = %.5f\n', v)
Use formattedDisplayText to convert more complex data to a string
~fprintf('%s\n', formattedDisplayText(v)).
Make sense of frequent hits: In some situations such as responses to listeners or interactive callbacks, a line can be executed 100s of times per second. Incorporate a timestamp to differentiate messages during rapid execution.
~fprintf('WindowButtonDownFcn - %s\n', datetime('now'))
Closing
This tip not only keeps your code clean but also offers a dynamic way to monitor code execution and variable states without permanent modifications. Interested in digging deeper? @Steve Eddins takes this tip to the next level with his Code Trace for MATLAB tool available on the File Exchange (read more).
Summary animation
To reproduce the events in this animation:
% buttonDownFcnDemo.m
fig = figure();
tcl = tiledlayout(4,4,'TileSpacing','compact');
for i = 1:16
ax = nexttile(tcl);
title(ax,"#"+string(i))
ax.ButtonDownFcn = @axesButtonDownFcn;
xlim(ax,[-1 1])
ylim(ax,[-1,1])
hold(ax,'on')
end
function axesButtonDownFcn(obj,event)
colors = lines(16);
plot(obj,event.IntersectionPoint(1),event.IntersectionPoint(2),...
'ko','MarkerFaceColor',colors(obj.Layout.Tile,:))
end
Adam Danz
Adam Danz
Last activity il 20 Feb 2024

Create hyperlinks in the command window

The MATLAB command window isn't just for commands and outputs—it can also host interactive hyperlinks. These can serve as powerful shortcuts, enhancing the feedback you provide during code execution. Here are some hyperlinks I frequently use in fprintf statements, warnings, or error messages.
1. Open a website.
msg = "Could not download data from website.";
url = "https://blogs.mathworks.com/graphics-and-apps/";
hypertext = "Go to website"
fprintf(1,'%s <a href="matlab: web(''%s'') ">%s</a>\n',msg,url,hypertext);
Could not download data from website. Go to website
2. Open a folder in file explorer (Windows)
msg = "File saved to current directory.";
directory = cd();
hypertext = "[Open directory]";
fprintf(1,'%s <a href="matlab: winopen(''%s'') ">%s</a>\n',msg,directory,hypertext)
File saved to current directory. [Open directory]
3. Open a document (Windows)
msg = "Created database.csv.";
filepath = fullfile(cd,'database.csv');
hypertext = "[Open file]";
fprintf(1,'%s <a href="matlab: winopen(''%s'') ">%s</a>\n',msg,filepath,hypertext)
Created database.csv. [Open file]
4. Open an m-file and go to a specific line
msg = 'Go to';
file = 'streamline.m';
line = 51;
fprintf(1,'%s <a href="matlab: matlab.desktop.editor.openAndGoToLine(which(''%s''), %d); ">%s line %d</a>', msg, file, line, file, line);
Go to streamline.m line 51
5. Display more text
msg = 'Incomplete data detected.';
extendedInfo = '\tFilename: m32c4r28\n\tDate: 12/20/2014\n\tElectrode: (3,7)\n\tDepth: ???\n';
hypertext = '[Click for more info]';
warning('%s <a href="matlab: fprintf(''%s'') ">%s</a>', msg,extendedInfo,hypertext);
Warning: Incomplete data detected. [Click for more info]
<click>
  • Filename: m32c4r28
  • Date: 12/20/2014
  • Electrode: (3,7)
  • Depth: ???
6. Run a function
See Create Hyperlinks that Run Functions
Similarly, you can also add hyperlinks in figures and apps