who(location) lists variables in the specified location: 'global' for the global workspace, or '-file' for a MAT-file. For MAT-files, you must also include the file name as an input.

who(variables,location) lists the specified variables in the specified location. The location input can appear before or after variables.

c = who(variables,location) stores the names of the variables in cell array c. Specifying variables and location is optional.

Tips

The who function displays the variable list unless you specify an output argument.
When used within a nested function, the who function lists the variables in the workspaces of that function and all functions containing that function, grouped by workspace. This applies whether you call who from your function code or from the MATLAB debugger.

Input Arguments

variables

Strings that specify the variables to list. Use one of these forms:

`var1, var2, ...`	List the specified variables. Use the `''` wildcard to match patterns. For example, `who('A')` lists all variables that start with `A`.
`'-regexp', expressions`	List variables whose names match the specified regular expressions.

Default: '*' (all variables)

location

String that indicates whether to list variables from the global workspace or from a file:

`'global'`	Global workspace.
`'-file', filename`	MAT-file. The `filename` input can include the full, relative, or partial path.

Default: '' (current workspace)

Output Arguments

`c`	Cell array of strings that correspond to each variable name.

Examples

Display information about variables in the current workspace whose names start with the letter a:

who a*

Show variables stored in MAT-file durer.mat:

who -file durer

This code returns:

Your variables are:

X        caption  map

Store the variable names from durer.mat in cell array durerInfo:

durerInfo = who('-file', 'durer');

Display the contents of cell array durerInfo:

for k=1:length(durerInfo)
   disp(durerInfo{k})
end

This code returns:

  X
  caption
  map

Suppose that a file mydata.mat contains variables with names that start with java and end with Array. Display information about those variables:

 whos -file mydata -regexp \<java.*Array\>

Call who within a nested function (get_date):

function who_demo
date_time = datestr(now);
 
[str pos] = textscan(date_time, '%s%s%s', ...
                     1, 'delimiter', '- :');
get_date(str);

   function get_date(d)
      day = d{1};
      mon = d{2};
      year = d{3};
      who
   end

end

When you run who_demo, the who function displays the variables by function workspace (although the name of the function does not appear in the output):

Your variables are:

d          mon        ans        pos        
day        year       date_time  str

Alternatives

To view the variables in the workspace, use the Workspace browser. To view the contents of MAT-files, use the Details Panel of the Current Folder Browser.

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who - List variables in workspace

Syntax

Description