Matlab Info

• Information as to how to access the on-line MATLAB help shows up on the command window as soon as you start MATLAB. The MATLAB manuals, tutorial and help are very useful.
  
  The three basic commands in MATLAB that you should always remeber are:
  
  
  • lookfor. If you want to do something in MATLAB, but have no idea of how to do it, nor what command to employ, the thing to do is to use lookfor, as in (for example):
    >> lookfor plot
    (here >> is the MATLAB prompt). This will list all the MATLAB commands where the word plot shows up somewhere in their docs. Most of them will be useless to you at any given time, but the ones you need (if any) will be listed. Once you have the names of a few commands that look as if they may do what you need, you can switch to help (see next).
    
  • help. If you have a command name, but are not sure of how to use it,
    ">> help command_name" will tell you how to.
    
  • helpdesk. This brings up the html help window, where an enourmous amount of easy to access help is available.
    
  
  
• For help with Matlab used in the context of numerical analysis see Cleve Moler: Numerical Computing with Matlab, SIAM Philadelphia, 2004.
  In addition, run and study the example files posted on the lectures page.
• You will find many Matlab inroductions on the web. For example A Practical Introduction to MATLAB by Mark S. Gockenbach. Many of these introductions are written for older versions of MATLAB, but they are still a good starting point. If some examples do not work under the current Matlab version, use help and helpdesk to find out what the necessary changes are.
  
  

This web page is located at http://www.caam.rice.edu/~caam353/matlab_help.html and maintained by Matthias Heinkenschloss.