5 - Basic Commands

This is class #05 of Interactive Beginners Guide to MATLAB.

MATLAB is an interactive program for numerical computation and data visualization. You can enter a command by typing it at the MATLAB prompt '>>' on the Command Window.

In this section, we will provide lists of commonly used general MATLAB commands.

Commands for Managing a Session

MATLAB provides various commands for managing a session. The following table provides all such commands −

Command	Purpose
clc	Clears command window.
clear	Removes variables from memory.
exist	Checks for existence of file or variable.
global	Declares variables to be global.
help	Searches for a help topic.
lookfor	Searches help entries for a keyword.
quit	Stops MATLAB.
who	Lists current variables.
whos	Lists current variables (long display).

Commands for Working with the System

MATLAB provides various useful commands for working with the system, like saving the current work in the workspace as a file and loading the file later.

It also provides various commands for other system-related activities like, displaying date, listing files in the directory, displaying current directory, etc.

The following table displays some commonly used system-related commands −

Command	Purpose
cd	Changes current directory.
date	Displays current date.
delete	Deletes a file.
diary	Switches on/off diary file recording.
dir	Lists all files in current directory.
load	Loads workspace variables from a file.
path	Displays search path.
pwd	Displays current directory.
save	Saves workspace variables in a file.
type	Displays contents of a file.
what	Lists all MATLAB files in the current directory.
wklread	Reads .wk1 spreadsheet file.

Input and Output Commands

MATLAB provides the following input and output related commands −

Command	Purpose
disp	Displays contents of an array or string.
fscanf	Read formatted data from a file.
format	Controls screen-display format.
fprintf	Performs formatted writes to screen or file.
input	Displays prompts and waits for input.
;	Suppresses screen printing.

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