Release 11 Enhancements (Release 11 New Features)

Release 11 New Features

Development Environment Enhancements

MATLAB 5.3 includes a number of enhancements to these existing development environment tools:

Command Window
Array Editor
Profiler
Figure Window
PrintFrame Editor

MATLAB 5.3 also introduces two powerful tools, the Plot Editor and Print Preview.

Enhancements to the Command Window (PC Only)

The MATLAB Command Window for the PC now includes new user interface features.

Show or Hide the Toolbar

To remove the toolbar from the Command Window, select Toolbar from the View menu, which unchecks it. To display the toolbar, select Toolbar from the View menu, which checks it.

Note that this feature does not affect the setting for Show Toolbar in the Preferences dialog box. The preferences setting pertains to the toolbar status when you first start MATLAB.

View License Information

Select Show License from the Help menu to view license information for your MATLAB configuration.

Join Access

Select Join MATLAB Access from the Help menu to become a MATLAB Access member. Access helps you stay up-to-date on the latest developments for the MATLAB product family and provides many other benefits. You can become a MATLAB Access member at no cost. To join Access from the Help menu, you need to be connected to the Internet. Access membership is not available for the Student Edition of MATLAB.

Dock the Toolbar

You can move the toolbar to another position (that is, undock the toolbar). Click and hold on any separator bar (dividing line between groups of buttons) and then move the toolbar to a new location. To dock the toolbar, move it to an inside edge of the Command Window. The new toolbar position is maintained when you restart MATLAB.

View Description of Feature

When you move the mouse over a toolbar button or menu item, a brief description of the item appears in the left side of the status bar. This provides more information than the tooltip provides.

Cap, Num, and Scroll Locks

In the right side of the status bar is a display area that shows whether the caps, num, and scroll lock keys are active.

Enhancements for the edit Command (UNIX)

The edit command uses the MATLAB Editor/Debugger unless you turned off the builtinEditor in your ~home/.Xdefaults file. There is now a way to turn off the builtinEditor during a MATLAB session:

system_dependent('builtinEditor','off')

edit then uses the editor defined for your UNIX$EDITOR environment variable. To turn the MATLAB Editor/Debugger back on during the session, use

system_dependent('builtinEditor','on')

You can include the system_dependent command in your startup.m file or in your matlabrc.m file if you have access to it. Type doc matlabrc for more information.

Workspace Variables in the Array Editor

The openvar function now opens the named workspace variable in the Array Editor for graphical debugging.

Enhanced Display for Structure Members

The MATLAB variable display feature has been enhanced to provide more detailed information for structure members that contain an empty variable or a cell.

For example, this assignment previously displayed the empty matrix ([]) for the variable contents. The improved variable display is

s.a = zeros(0,4)

s = 

    a: [0x4 double]

This assignment to a cell previously displayed only the cell class and size, as shown here.

s.c = {[4 5 6] 'foo'}

s = 

    c: {1x2 cell}

The improved variable display is

s.c = {[4 5 6] 'foo'}

s = 

    c: {[4 5 6]  'foo'}

If the contents of the cell cannot be displayed on one line, MATLAB displays the variable using the cell class and size as in previous versions of the software.

Enhanced MATLAB Profiler

The MATLAB profiler was significantly enhanced to expand data collection about function performance. The profiler improvements include:

Simultaneous data collection for all functions
More information about each function, including: number of calls, list of parent functions, list of child functions, and execution count and execution time for each line of code
Optional recording of function call history
Report generation in HTML format

Use the profile command to start the profiler.

New profreport Function

You can use the new profreport command to generate a report of the function call statistics logged by the M-file profiler. The report is in HTML format and is displayed in your Web browser. You can generate a report for the current profiler session or for statistics that were saved in an earlier session.

Figure Window Enhanced

The figure window has been enhanced significantly for MATLAB 5.3:

The File menu now includes options for
- Saving a figure using a standard graphics file format (e.g., TIFF)
- Setting up a page for printing
A Tools menu has been added
A new toolbar has been added

The Tools menu and the new toolbar give you access to the new Plot Editor.

For more details, see "Figure Window Enhancements" later in this chapter.

PrintFrame Editor Enhancements

While the functionality for the PrintFrame Editor has not changed, its user interface has a new look. For more details, see the "New Look for the PrintFrame Editor" section later in this chapter.

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