Import Custom Distributions programmatically

I have a custom distribution in the +prob folder in my working directory. I can import this distribution by running the dfittool gui, then going to file -> import custom distributions. Is there a way to achieve the same (or similar) effect programmatically?

[Bruno Pop-Stefanov]

Hi John,

I was playing around with dfittool to see if there is a programmatical workflow, but I am not sure I understand what File > Import Custom Distributions does. I created a custom Laplace distribution by clicking File > Define Custom Distributions. This is what the doc explains. Then, I close and re-open dfittool and the new Laplace distribution is already there. Doing File > Import Custom Distributions seems to have no effect at all.

Would you mind explaining what this menu option does and what you were expecting to do with a programmatic workflow? Does it allow fitting outside of the Distribution Fitting Tool?

Thanks!

Answer 1

[Tom Lane]

This command shows the distributions that are available:

>> makedist

ans = 

      'beta'
      ...
      'weibull'

It also takes an argument that asks MATLAB go to out and look again. So if you have introduced a new distribution class using the prob.XXX convention you mention, it should find the new distribution:

>> makedist -reset
>> makedist

ans = 

      'beta'
      ...
      'laplace'   <-- the new one I added
      ...
      'weibull'