MATLAB Cheat Sheet

Useful Commands Vectors/Matrices Operations Vector Indexing

a + b element-wise addition
a - b element-wise subtraction a(1) the first element in vector
clc clear command window
a * b matrix multiplication a([1, 2, 5]) the first, second and fifth element in
clear clear workspace
a .* b element-wise multiplication vector
clear x clear x from workspace
a / b matrix division, mrdivide a(1:3) the first three elements of an vector
close all close all figures
a \ b mldivide a([1:3 5:6]) selected elements of a vector
help function help for function
a ./ b element-wise division a(end) the last element of the vector
doc function documentation for function
a ˆ b matrix power a(5:end) from the fifth to the last element in
quit, exit terminates Matlab
a .ˆ b element-wise power vector
edit opens Matlab editor
a.´ transpose a(5:end-1) from the fifth to the penultimate ele-
functionName
a´ transpose + complex conjugate (Her- ment in vector
format sets command window output format
mitian transpose) a(1) = 10 replace the first element in vector by
short/long/compact
[A B] concatenates 2 matrices horizontally 10
[A; B] concatenates 2 matrices vertically a([1 3 5]) = [2 replace elements in vector by values 2,
cat(dim, A, B) concatenates 2 matrices 5 7] 5, and 7
length(A) size of longest dimension of A a([1 3 5]) = [] discard elements on position 1, 3, and
Built in Functions/Constants size(A) size of A 5
ndims(A) number of dimensions of A
numel(A) number of elements of A
pi constant π tril(A) lower triangular part of matrix Matrix Indexing
exp() exponential function triu(A) upper triangular part of matrix
eps() floating point accuracy repmat(A, x, y) repeats copy of matrix A(1, 1) an element in the first row and first
1e6 1 × 106 reshape(A, x, y) changes dimensions of matrix column of matrix
Inf infinity value squeeze(A) removes dimensions of size 1 A([1 5], 2:4) elements of matrix in the first and fifth
NaN not-a-number value flip(A, dim) flips array (see also fliplr and rows and in columns two, three and
1i, 1j imaginary unit flipud) four
circshift(A, K, circularly shifts array A(n, :) the nth row in array
dim) A(:, n) the nth column in array
det(A) matrix determinant A(n, :) = [] discard nth row in array
Vectors/Matrices Creation inv(A) matrix inversion A(:, n) = [] discard nth column in array
roots(vec) polynomial roots A(1) the first element in array (linear index-
round(A) round to nearest decimal integer (see ing)
x = [1 2 3] row vector 1 × 3 also ceil, floor, and fix) A(1:3) the first three elements of an array (lin-
x = [1; 2; 3] column vector 3 × 1 mod(A, n) modulo operation ear indexing)
x = [1 2; 3 4] matrix 2 × 2 rem(A, n) reminder after division
a:b row vector [a, a + 1, . . . , b]
row vector [a, a + x, . . . , b]
Logical Operators
a:x:b Logical Indexing
linspace(a, b, n evenly spaced points between a and & logical AND
n) b && short-circuit logical AND
logical OR A(A == 3) extract elements equal to 3
logspace(a, b, n logarithmically spaced points be- |
short-circuit logical OR A(A > 5) extract elements greater than 5
n) tween 10a and 10b ||
not A(A > 5 & A < extract elements greater than 5 and at
ones(n, m) matrix of values 1, [n × m] ~
function all 30) the same time less than 30
zeros(n, m) matrix of values 0, [n × m] all
eye(n) identity matrix, [n × n] any function any
NaN(n, m) matrix of values NaN, [n × m] is* several function with logical output
Inf(n, m) matrix of values true, [n × m] Debugging and Time Measurement
true(n, m) matrix of logical ones, [n × m] Relation Operators
false(n, m) matrix of logical zeros, [n × m] > greater then keyboard pauses execution
rand(n, m) matrix of random uniformly dis- >= greater then or equal to dbcont resume execution (end debug mode)
tributed values, [n × m] (see also < less then dbclear all removes all breakpoints
randi and randn <= less then or equal to tic, toc start/stop time measurement
diag() diagonal elements of matrix, vector -> == equal to profile profile code execution
square matrix ~= not equal to on/off/clear/viewer
Loops and Branching Basic Visualization writematrix(A, writes matrix to file (see also
filename) readmatrix)
if expression program branching using if-else figure opens empty figure imwrite(A, writes image to graphics file (see also
... axes creates Cartesian axes filename) imread)
elseif plot(x, y) 2D line plot
expression hold on/off retain current plot with new line fid = open file
... grid display/hide grid lines fopen(filename)
else on/off/minor fclose(fid) close opened file
... title(txt) adds title to figure fgetl(fid) read line from file
end xlabel(txt) adds x-axis label (same for y and z) fread(fid) read from binary file
xlim([min, max]) sets limits of x-axis (same for y and z) fwrite(fid, A) write to binary file
switch variable program branching using switch colormap view colormap
case value1 stem(x, y) discrete stem plot Other Data Types
... pcolor(A) displays array data as colored cells A = cell(m, n) create cell array
case {value2, surf(X, Y, Z) displays surface plot A = {x, y, z} create cell array
value3} semilogx(X) semi-logarithmic plot (same for y) A(1, 1) smooth parentheses indexing, creates
... image(X) Show image from array subset cell array
otherwise doc LineSpec plot parameters to customize curves A{1, 1} curly brackets indexing, access to data
... set(ref, Name, sets graphics object property in cell array
end Value) B = create structure array
get(ref, Name) query graphics object property value struct(field,
for n = 1:10 for cycle ref.Name = Value dot notation, sets graphics object value)
... property B.field = value create structure array
end Value = ref.Name dot notation, query graphics object double(A) converts array to double precision (see
property value also single)
while expression while cycle view(az, el) camera line of sight int8(A) converts array to 8-bit signed inte-
... ger (see also int16, int32, uint8,
end Character arrays and Strings int18, . . . )
datetime() array representing points in time (see
break terminates execution of loop 'Hello world!' character vector is created using single also years, days, hours, . . . )
continue pass control to next iteration quotation marks sparse(A) creates sparse matrix
return return to invoking function A = char(B) convert another data type to character
array Other useful functions
Functions strfind(str, find string within other string find(X) find indices of nonzero elements
pattern) fprintf(fileID, write data to text file
function [out1, function definition
out2] = foo(in1, strcmp(str1, compare strings format, A1)
str2) sprintf(format, format data into character vector
in2)
@sin handle function definition strjoin(str, join strings in array A1)
delimiter) eval(txt) executes Matlab expression in text
@(x) xˆ2 + anonymous function definition
strtok(str, split string into parts feval(fun, x1) evaluate function
sin(x)
delimiter) str2num(X) convert character array to numeric ar-
nargin returns number of inputs
regexp(str, reg) match regular expression ray
nargout returns number of outputs
str2double(X) convert characters to double precision
varargin input variable allowing multiple inputs
"Hello world!" string is created using double quota- numbers
varargout output variable allowing multiple out-
tion marks num2str(X) convert numeric array to character ar-
puts
A = string(B) convert another data type to string ray
realmax largest positive floating-point num-
Set operations ber (see also realmin, intmax, and
File Handling
intersect(A, B) set intersection of two arrays realmin)
union(A, B) set union of two arrays dir folderName lists folder content interp1 1-D interpolation (see also interp2,
setdiff(A, B) set difference of two arrays pwd identifies current folder interp3, and interpn)
setxor(A, B) set exclusive or of two arrays exist name check existence of variable, function, fminbnd find minimum of single-variable func-
unique(A) unique values in array folder, . . . tion
sort(X) sort array elements cd(path) changes current folder fft Fast Fourier transform (see also fft2,
sortrows(X) sorts rows of matrix mkdir(path, makes new folder fftn, ifft, fftshift, . . . )
issorted(X) determines if the array is sorted folderName) timer creates object of timer to schedule exe-
ismember(A, B) array elements that are members of set rmdir(path) remove folder cution of Matlab commands (see doc-
array umentation)
Shortcuts Command Window Shortcuts Matlab Editor Matlab File Suffix (not all)
ENTER line execution CTRL + moves between tabs .m script/function/class
ESC delete whole line PG.UP/PG.DOWN .mlx Matlab live script
DEL delete one character (right to the cur- CTRL + R comment lines .p protected Matlab code
sor) CTRL + T uncomment lines .mat binary data file
BACKSPACE delete one character (left to the cursor) CTRL + D open highlighted m-file (func- .fig Matlab figure
HOME moves cursor to the beginning of line tion/script) .mdl, .slx Simulink model
END moves cursor to the end of line F5 execute current script/function .mdlp, .slxp Simulink protected model
CTRL + ↑ moves cursor to the beginning of next CTRL + S save current file (done automatically .mexa64, mex libraries
word after pressing F5 .mexmaci64,
CTRL + ↓ moves cursor to the beginning of pre- CTRL + HOME jump to the beginning of file .mexw32,
vious word CTRL + END jump to the end of file .mexw64
SHIFT + ENTER sends cursor to the next line (without CTRL + →/← jump word-by-word or expression-by- .mlappinstall APP file – installer
execution) expression to the right/left .mlpkginstall support package – installer
CTRL + K deletes all to the right of cursor CTRL + W close current file .mltbx toolbox file – installer
CTRL + C forces interruption of Matlab CTRL + O activates open file dialog box .mn MuPAD notebook
(e.g.long/erroneous calculation) CTRL + F find/replace dialog box .mu MuPAD code
CTRL + TAB switching between windows of Mat- CTRL + G “go to", jumps to the indicated line
lab environment number
↓ and ↑ command history listing (searching in CTRL + I indent of block of lines corresponding
available CTRL + F) to key words
F1 context help related to the word where F1 open context help related to the func-
the cursor is placed tion at position of the cursor
TAB function or variable name hint F9 run highlighted code
Handle Graphics App Building (new graphics)
fig = figure get figure reference uifigure creates graphics window
set(ref, Name, Value) sets graphics object property uiaxes creates axes in uifigure
get(ref, Name) query graphics object property value uipanel creates panel; container for other objects
ref.Name = Value dot notation, sets graphics object property uitab creates tab; container for other objects
Value = ref.Name dot notation, query graphics object prop- uigridlayout layout manager; positioning of graphics
erty value components
uibuttongroup creates superior object for group of buttons
groot, get(0) graphics root object (screen) (i.e. radiobuttons)
axes creates Cartesian axes uimenu creates menu or menu item
axis(lims) scales axes uitable creates 2D table
uimenu creates menu or menu item uilabel creates text field
uicontextmenu creates context menu uieditfield creates editable text field
uitoolbar creates toolbar with icons uitextarea creates multiple line editable text
uipanel creates panel; container for other objects uibutton creates one-state or two-state button
uitabgroup creates tabgroup; container for other tabs uiradiobutton creates radio button component
uitab crates a tab; container for other objects uicheckbox creates checkbox component
uitable creates 2D table uilistbox creates list of items
uibuttongroup creates superior object for group of buttons uidropdown creates drop-down component (popup
(i.e. radiobuttons) menu)
uicontrol creates fundamental element of GUI, be- uislider creates slider component
havior depends on style of the object uispinner creates spinner component
uicontrol('Style', style) changes style of uicontrol uiswitch(style) creates switch object (possible styles:
uicontrol('Style', 'Text') creates text field 'slider', 'rocker', and 'toggle')
uicontrol('Style', 'Edit') creates editable text field uiknob(style) creates knob component (possible styles:
uicontrol('Style', 'Pushbutton') creates one-state button 'continuous' and 'discrete')
uicontrol('Style', 'Togglebutton') creates two-state button uigauge(style) creates gauge component (possible styles:
uicontrol('Style', 'Radiobutton') creates radio button 'circular', 'linear', 'ninetydegree', and
uicontrol('Style', 'Checkbox') creates checkbox 'semicircular')
uicontrol('Style', 'Listbox') creates list of items uilamp creates lamp component
uicontrol('Style', 'Popupmenu') creates popup menu with multiple choices uitree creates tree component
uicontrol('Style', 'Slider') creates slider uidatepicker creates calendar component
uiimage creates image component
set(ref, 'Callback', @foo) set callback as function handle uihtml creats HTML component
set(ref, 'Callback', @(src, set callback as anonymous function
event)foo(in1)) ref.ButtonPushedFcn = @foo set callback as function handle
set(ref, 'Callback', {@foo, in1}) set callback as function handle in cell array ref.ButtonPushedFcn = @(src, set callback as anonymous function
event)foo(in1))
gcf returns reference of current figure (last ref.ButtonPushedFcn = {@foo, in1} set callback as function handle in cell array
active)
gca returns reference of current axes (last ac- setappdata(ref, field, data) defines stored data inside the application
tive) getappdata(ref, field) retrieves previously stored data
gco returns reference of last "mouse-clicked"
object uialert predefined alert window
findobj(property, value) finds object(s) with required property uiconfirm predefined confirmation window
findall finds all graphics objects
allchild(ref) finds all children objects of selected object
copyobj(ref) copies an object
delete(ref) deletes object

setappdata(ref, field, data) defines stored data inside the application

getappdata(ref, field) retrieves previously stored data

msgbox(mess) creates message dialog window