Desktop Tools and Development Environment

Opening Existing Files in the Editor/Debugger

To open an existing file in the Editor/Debugger, click the Open file button on the desktop or Editor/Debugger toolbar, or select File -> Open.

The Open dialog box appears, listing all M-files. You can see different files by changing the selection for Files of type in the dialog box. Type or select a filename, and click Open. If you access the Open dialog box from the desktop, the current directory files are shown, but if you access it from the Editor/Debugger, the files in the directory for the current file are shown.

The Editor/Debugger opens, if it is not already open, with the file displayed. You can have multiple Editor/Debugger files open at once, and the location of the files and the Editor/Debugger are determined by document positioning guidelines. You can rearrange the documents to suit your needs. For details, see Opening and Arranging Documents.

To make a document in the Editor/Debugger become the current document, click it, or select it from the Window menu or document bar.

Other Methods for Opening Files in the Editor/Debugger

These are other ways to open files in the Editor/Debugger:

• Drag a file from another MATLAB desktop tool or a Windows tool into the Editor/Debugger. For example, drag files from the Current Directory browser, or from Windows Explorer.
• Open files from the Current Directory browser--see Opening Files.
• Select a file to open from the most recently used files, which are listed at the bottom of the File menu in the Editor/Debugger and all other desktop tools. You can change the number of files appearing on the list--select File -> Preferences -> Editor/Debugger and in the Most recently used file list, specify the Number of entries.
• In the Editor/Debugger or another desktop tool such as the Command Window, select a filename, right-click, and select Open Selection from the context menu to open that file. For details, see Opening a Selection in an M-File.
• Set a preference that instructs MATLAB, upon startup, to automatically open the files that were open when the previous MATLAB session ended. Select File -> Preferences -> Editor/Debugger and in the Opening files in editor area, select the check box for On restart reopen files from previous MATLAB session.

Function Alternative for Opening an M-File.   Use the edit or open function to open an existing file in the Editor/Debugger. For example, type

edit collatz.m

to open the file collatz.m in the Editor/Debugger, where collatz.m is on the search path or in the current directory. Use the relative or absolute pathname for the file you want to open if it is not on the search path or in the current directory.

Creating a New File in the Editor/Debugger

Opening the Editor Without Starting MATLAB

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