Getting Started

The format Command

The format command controls the numeric format of the values displayed by MATLAB. The command affects only how numbers are displayed, not how MATLAB computes or saves them. Here are the different formats, together with the resulting output produced from a vector x with components of different magnitudes.

Note    To ensure proper spacing, use a fixed-width font, such as Fixedsys or Courier.

x = [4/3 1.2345e-6]

format short

   1.3333    0.0000

format short e

   1.3333e+000  1.2345e-006

format short g

   1.3333  1.2345e-006

format long

   1.33333333333333   0.00000123450000

format long e

   1.333333333333333e+000    1.234500000000000e-006

format long g

   1.33333333333333               1.2345e-006

format bank

   1.33          0.00

format rat

   4/3          1/810045

format hex
 
   3ff5555555555555   3eb4b6231abfd271

If the largest element of a matrix is larger than 10³ or smaller than 10^-3,
MATLAB applies a common scale factor for the short and long formats.

In addition to the format commands shown above

format compact

suppresses many of the blank lines that appear in the output. This lets you view more information on a screen or window. If you want more control over the output format, use the sprintf and fprintf functions.

Controlling Command Window Input and Output

Suppressing Output