String evaluation adds power and flexibility to the MATLAB language, letting you perform operations

like executing user-supplied strings and constructing executable strings through concatenation of
strings stored in variables.
eval

The eval function evaluates a string that contains a MATLAB expression, statement, or function call. In
its simplest form, the eval syntax is

eval('string')

For example, this code uses eval on an expression to generate a Hilbert matrix of order n.

t = '1/(m + n - 1)';
for m = 1:k
for n = 1:k
a(m,n) = eval(t);
end
end

Here is an example that uses eval on a statement.

eval('t = clock');

Constructing Strings for Evaluation. You can concatenate strings to create a complete expression for
input to eval. This code shows how eval can create 10 variables named P1, P2, ..., P10, and set each of
them to a different value.

for n = 1:10
eval(['P', int2str(n), '= n .^ 2'])
end

Back to Top of Page Back to Top

Shell Escape Functions

It is sometimes useful to access your own C or Fortran programs using shell escape functions. Shell
escape functions use the shell escape command ! to make external stand-alone programs act like new
MATLAB functions. A shell escape function

1.

Saves the appropriate variables on disk.

2.

Runs an external program (which reads the data file, processes the data, and writes the results back
out to disk).
3.

Loads the processed file back into the workspace.

For example, look at the code for garfield.m, below. This function uses an external function, gareqn, to
find the solution to Garfield's equation.

function y = garfield(a,b,q,r)
save gardata a b q r
!gareqn
load gardata

This file

1.

Saves the input arguments a, b, q, and r to a MAT-file in the workspace using the save command.
2.

Uses the shell escape operator to access a C or Fortran program called gareqn that uses the
workspace variables to perform its computation. gareqn writes its results to the gardata MAT-file.
3.

Loads the gardata MAT-file described in Using MAT-Files to obtain the results.

Back to Top of Page Back to Top

adi abram angga

arya deddy
Was this topic helpful?

MATLAB Commands MATLAB Commands Variables Variables

Recommended Products

* MATLAB
* Signal Processing Toolbox
* Optimization Toolbox
* Statistics Toolbox
* Control System Toolbox

Get MATLAB trial software

Includes the most popular MATLAB recorded presentations with Q&A sessions led by MATLAB
experts.

Get the Inte

adi abram angga
arya deddy
adi abram angga
arya deddy