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| Contents | Index |
| Learn more about MATLAB |
See also Examples of Desktop Arrangements.
To open a tool, select it from the Desktop menu. A check mark in front of the tool name on the menu indicates that the tool is open. The tool opens in the location it occupied the last time you used it. The dimensions of other open tools adjust to accommodate the newly opened tool. If you close and then reopen multiple tools sequentially, the location and size of the tools when you reopen them can be different from when you last closed them.
Tools and the documents associated with them can be part of the desktop. You can open a document and its associated tool at the same time, as follows:
Variable Editor — Open it by double-clicking a variable in the Workspace browser.
Editor — Open it by creating a text file, such as an M-file, or opening an existing file. For instructions, see Starting, Creating Files, and Closing the Editor.
Figures — Create figures using plot and other graphics functions.
You also can open most desktop tools by:
Clicking the desktop Start button, selecting Desktop Tools, and then clicking the tool you want to open.
Using a function. For example, type helpbrowser to open the Help browser. For information on how to open a given tool using a function, see the documentation for that tool.
The following example shows how the MATLAB desktop can look with the Command Window, Command History window, Help browser, and the files collatz.m and lengthofline.m open in the Editor. Because the Command Window is the active window, its title bar is dark blue.
You can navigate among desktop tools and documents by:
Choosing an entry in the Window menu
Using a function that opens the tool or document
Clicking the entry for an undocked tool or document on the Microsoft Windows task bar (or the equivalent for your platform)
To make a tool or document the active window, do one of the following:
Select the tool from the Window menu.
The Window menu displays all open desktop tools and documents, as well as opened tools for other MathWorks products.
Use the shortcut or mnemonic indicated on the Window menu for that tool or document.
Run the function that opens the tool.
If the tool is already open, the command selects the tool.
If the tool is not already open, the command opens and selects the tool.
For example, type helpbrowser to open or select the Help browser. The documentation for each tool includes information on the function for opening and selecting that tool.
To close a desktop tool, do one of the following:
Select the item on the Desktop menu.
The check mark preceding the tool name on the menu clears and the tool closes.
Click the Close box
on the title bar for the tool.
Select File > Close Toolname.
Right-click the Microsoft Windows task bar entry for an undocked tool and select Close.
When you close a tool, other tools in the desktop adjust their sizes accordingly.
For tools that contain documents, all documents in that tool close, as well. For the Editor, a dialog box appears asking you to save any documents that have unsaved changes. If you do not want to see that dialog box or save any unsaved changes, hold Ctrl and click the Close box.
To resize tools on the MATLAB desktop, you can use the mouse or the keyboard, as described in the following sections:
To expand or reduce the size of adjacent tool windows, use the pointer to drag the bar that appears between them. This bar is the separator bar. When you move the pointer onto the separator bar, the pointer assumes a different shape, as follows:
On Windows platforms, when the pointer is between
two tools or documents, it is a double-headed arrow
.
On UNIX platforms, when the pointer is between
two tools or documents, it is an arrow with a bar.
When the pointer is between three or four documents,
it is a four-headed arrow
.
You can use menu item mnemonics to resize desktop tools using the keyboard.
For example, suppose the Command Window is open on the desktop along with other tools. To make the Command Window the active tool:
Click in the Command Window.
Press Alt+D, Z. This action is the mnemonic equivalent of selecting Desktop > Resize Command Window.
The pointer shape becomes an arrow.
Use the keyboard arrow keys to change the size of the Command Window.
Press Enter to accept the new size, or press Esc to return the Command Window to its original size.
To move the location of tools on the MATLAB desktop, use the mouse or the keyboard, as described in the following sections:
To move a tool to another location on the MATLAB desktop using the mouse, follow these steps:
Drag the title bar of the tool to where you want the tool to be.
As you drag the tool, an outline of it appears. The status bar indicates where the tool moves if you release the mouse. For instance, it can display:
Release the mouse to dock the Editor on the top.
Release the mouse to tab-dock the Current Folder.
Release the mouse to leave the Editor in the current location.
When the outlined position is where you want the tool to be, release the mouse button.
The tool stays at the new location.
The following illustration shows how it looks as you drag the Command History tool above the Command Window. When you begin dragging the Command History tool, the outline appears around the tool. When you drag it across the boundary separating the two tools, the outline indicates the top-bottom arrangement. If you release the mouse button, you change the arrangement from side-by-side to top-bottom.
Other tools on the desktop automatically resize to accommodate the new configuration. The following example shows how the desktop looks after you move the Command History tool above the Command Window.
To move desktop tools using the keyboard, follow the menu item mnemonics. For example, suppose the Command Window and other tools are currently open on the desktop. To move the Command Window to a new location, follow these steps:
Make the Command Window the active tool by pressing Ctrl+0.
Press Alt+D, V, which is the mnemonic equivalent for selecting Desktop > Move Command Window.
The pointer shape becomes an arrow.
Use the arrow keys to move the outline of the Command Window to a new location.
Press Enter to keep the tool at the new location, or press Esc to return the Command Window to its original position.
You can move a tool outside the MATLAB desktop (called undocking) to make it larger or easier to use. For example, when referring to the online documentation, you can move the Help browser off the desktop and enlarge it.
To move a tool outside the desktop:
Select the tool to make it active.
Perform one of the following:
Click the Undock button
in the title bar
of the tool you want to move outside the desktop.
Select Undock for that tool from the Desktop menu; the tool must be the currently active one.
Drag the title bar of the tool outside the desktop. As you drag, an outline of the tool appears. Release the mouse.
The tool displays outside the MATLAB desktop and an entry for it appears in the Windows task bar or the equivalent for your platform. Tools within the desktop resize accordingly.
To move a tool that is outside the MATLAB desktop back onto the desktop, do one of the following:
Click the Dock button
in the menu bar for that tool.
Select Dock from the Desktop menu for that tool.
The tool moves onto the desktop and other tools within the desktop automatically resize to accommodate the new tool.
You can group tools so that they occupy the same location on the MATLAB desktop. Basically, you are stacking one tool on top of another. Then, you can access the individual tools using the tool name on the title bar:
To group tools:
Drag the title bar of one tool on the desktop on top of another tool on the desktop.
An outline of the tool you are dragging overlies the target tool.
Both tools occupy the same space. Labeled tabs appear at the top of that space.
To view a grouped tool, click the title bar for the tool. The selected tool moves to the foreground and becomes the currently active window.
When you click the Close box
for a tool grouped with other tools,
that tool closes. You cannot close all the grouped tools at once.
Instead, close each tool individually.
Right-click the title bar for a tool and use the context menu to close, undock, maximize, or minimize the tool.
To hide the title bars for desktop tools so they use less space, select Desktop > Titles. This action clears the check mark next to the Titles menu item. Identify a desktop tool with a hidden title by hovering over the area where the title bar used to be. A ToolTip displays the name of the tool.
MATLAB software provides multiple ways to maximize tools on the desktop. It also has multiple ways of restoring the desktop to the layout in place before you resized it. For example:
To resize the active tool so it occupies the entire MATLAB desktop do one of the following:
Double-click the title bar in that tool.
Select Desktop > Maximize Toolname.
Click the Maximize button
on the tool title bar.
To return to the layout as it appeared before you maximized it, do one of the following:
Double-click the maximized title bar for that tool.
Select Desktop > Restore Toolname.
Click the Restore button
on the title bar in that tool.
You can minimize any tool on the desktop, which creates a button representing the tool along an edge of the desktop. For example, suppose you minimize the Command Window. The desktop looks like the following, although the layout of the desktop and the location of the button can be different for your desktop.
MATLAB software provides multiple ways to minimize tools in the desktop, restore the previous desktop layout, and manipulate the location of the tool button. For example:
To minimize a tool, do one of the following:
Select Desktop > Minimize Toolname.
Use the Minimize button
on the title bar for the tool.
The button for the tool appears along the edge indicated by the minimize arrow in the Desktop menu item or by the arrow on the button.
To view or use a minimized tool, hover over or click the button for the tool. This action temporarily opens the tool on the desktop. When you finish using the tool, click the Minimize button or another tool. The tool appears again as a button along the edge of the desktop.
To return the tool to the position it occupied before you minimized it, do one of the following:
Double-click the button for the tool.
Right-click the button for the tool, and then select Restore > Toolname.
Hover over or click the button for the tool, and then
click the Restore button
on the title bar of the tool.
To move the button for the tool, drag it to a different edge.
If you drag the button to a nonedge location on the desktop or outside of the desktop, it moves the tool and opens restores it.
 | Desktop Overview | Opening and Arranging Desktop Documents |  |
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