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Getting Help
The MathWorks provides online help for all products. Printed versions for some of the online documentation are also provided. The online material sometimes has information not included with the printed material and may be more current than the printed material.
The primary ways to access the online help are:
- Using the Help Browser - Use the Help browser to find and view information about your MathWorks products. It includes a contents listing, global index, and search feature.
- Using Help Functions - Type
help functionname to get M-file help, which provides a brief description of the function and its syntax in the Command Window. Other help functions are available as well.
- Other Methods for Getting Help - You can use product-specific help features, run demos, contact Technical Support, search documentation for other MathWorks products, view a list of other books, and participate in a MATLAB newsgroup.
In addition to using online help, you can print documentation - see Printing Documentation.
Types of Information
The Help browser and help functions provide access to the following types of documentation. Use the type of documentation most suited to your needs.
- Release Notes - An overview of new products and features in this release, it also includes upgrade information and any known problems and limitations. Review the Release Notes for all your products when you first start using the new release.
- Getting Started with ... - Primarily aimed at novice users, this documentation contains instructions for a product's main features. Review Getting Started documentation before you begin using a product or feature for the first time. Then, to learn more, go to the "Using..." collections or reference pages.
- Using ... collections - This material contains overviews and complete instructions for using a product. Consult it after reviewing Getting Started material.
- Reference Pages - Every function has a reference page that provides the syntax, description, examples, and other information for that function. It includes links to related functions and additional information. Reference pages are also provided for blocks. Use reference pages to learn about a function or to see its syntax.
- M-File Help - Get M-file help in the Command Window to quickly access basic information for a function. It provides a brief description of a function and its syntax. It is called M-file help because the text of the help is a series of comments at the start of the M-file for a function.
- Product Page - Available on MathWorks Web site, a product page contains the latest product information, such as system requirements.
- Online Knowledge Base - This is the MathWorks Technical Support online knowledge base. It provides solutions to questions posed by users.
| | Copying Functions from the Command History Window | | Using the Help Browser | |