matlabcolon (matlab:) (MATLAB Functions)

Run specified function via hyperlink

Syntax

disp('<a href="matlab: stmnt_1; stmnt_n;">hyperlink_text</a>')

Description

matlab: executes stmnt_1 through stmnt_n when you click (or press Ctrl+Enter) in hyperlink_text. This must be used with another function, such as disp, where disp creates and displays underlined and colored hyperlink_text in the Command Window. Use disp, error, fprintf, help, or warning functions to display the hyperlink. The hyperlink_text is interpreted as HTML, so use HTML character entity references or ASCII values for special characters. Include the full hypertext string, from '<a href= to </a>' within a single line, that is, do not continue a long string on a new line.

Remarks

The matlab: function behaves differently with diary, notebook, type, and similar functions than might be expected. For example, if you enter the following statement

disp('<a href="matlab:magic(4)">Generate magic square</a>')

the diary file, when viewed in a text editor, shows

disp('<a href="matlab:magic(4)">Generate magic square</a>')
<a href="matlab:magic(4)">Generate magic square</a>

If you view the output of diary in the Command Window, the Command Window interprets the <a href ...> statement and does display it as a hyperlink.

Examples

Single Function

The statement

disp('<a href="matlab:magic(4)">Generate magic square</a>')

displays

in the Command Window. When you click the link Generate magic square, MATLAB runs magic(4).

Multiple Functions

You can include multiple functions in the statement, such as

disp('<a href="matlab: x=0:1:8;y=sin(x);plot(x,y)">Plot x,y</a>')

which displays

in the Command Window. When you click the link, MATLAB runs

```
x = 0:1:8;
y = sin(x);
plot(x,y)
```

Clicking the Hyperlink Again

After running the statements in the hyperlink Plot x,y defined in the previous example, Multiple Functions, you can subsequently redefine x in the base workspace, for example, as

```
x = -2*pi:pi/16:2*pi;
```

If you then click the hyperlink, Plot x,y, it changes the current value of x back to

```
 0:1:8
```

because the matlab: statement defines x in the base workspace. In the matlab: statement that displayed the hyperlink, Plot x,y, x was defined as 0:1:8.

Presenting Options

Use multiple matlab: statements in an M-file to present options, such as

disp('<a href = "matlab:state = 0">Disable feature</a>')
disp('<a href = "matlab:state = 1">Enable feature</a>')

The Command Window displays

and depending on which link is clicked, sets state to 0 or 1.

Special Characters

To create a string that includes a special character such as a greater than sign, >, you need to use the HTML character entity reference for the symbol, >. Otherwise, the symbol is interpreted as completing the <a href = " ... " element. For example, run

disp('<a href="matlab:str = ''Value &gt; 0''">Positive</a>')

and the Command Window displays

Instead of the HTML character entity reference, you can use the ASCII value for the symbol. For example, the greater than sign, >, is ASCII 62. The above example becomes

disp(...
'<a href="matlab:str=[''Value '' char(62) '' 0'']">Positive</a>')

Use these values for common special characters.

Character
HTML Character Entity Reference
ASCII Value

>
>
62

<
<
60

&
&
38

"
"
34

Character	HTML Character Entity Reference	ASCII Value
`>`	`>`	62
`<`	`<`	60
`&`	`&`	38
`"`	`"`	34

Links from M-File Help

For functions you create, you can include matlab: links within the M-file help, but you do not need to include a disp or similar statement because the help function already includes it for displaying hyperlinks. Use the links to display additional help in a browser when the user clicks them. The M-file soundspeed contains the following statements:

function c=soundspeed(s,t,p)

% Speed of sound in water, using
% <a href="matlab: web('http://www.zu.edu')">Wilson's 
formula</a>
% Where c is the speed of sound in water in m/s

etc.

Run help soundspeed and MATLAB displays the following in the Command Window.

When you click the link Wilson's formula, MATLAB displays the HTML page http://www.zu.edu in the Web browser. Note that this URL is only an example and is invalid.

See Also

disp, error, fprintf, input, run, warning

HTML character entity references at http://www.w3.org/.

material matlabrc