Dumb mistakes we make with MATLAB.
39 views (last 30 days)
Show older comments
O.k., admit it. Who has done this (or something that resulted in the same loss of info) before?
>> laster
??? Undefined function or variable 'laster'.
>> lasterr
ans =
Undefined function or variable 'laster'.
D'Oh! I need a ERRORBEFORELASTERR function.
What's one of your dumb MATLAB mistakes?
5 Comments
Andrew Newell
on 23 Feb 2011
Edited: Walter Roberson
on 21 Sep 2016
My apologies to everyone while I learn how to edit comments. Here is my third try:
This is like David Lodge's "Humiliation Game" http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/jun/13/david.lodge, except that admitting we're dumb doesn't cost us a job (unless we work for Matlab?) and everyone believes us.
Accepted Answer
the cyclist
on 22 Feb 2011
Entering
>> rand(100000)
instead of
>> rand(100000,1)
Hm. Why has my whole machine come to a grinding halt?
8 Comments
Naz
on 5 Nov 2011
rand(10000) creates matrix of 10000x10000
rand(10000,1) creates matrix of 10000x1
In the first case you are likely to run out of memory. I think there is a default setting that defines how much memory Matlab can use.
Steven Lord
on 21 Sep 2016
More Answers (34)
Andrew Newell
on 22 Feb 2011
Trying to edit a command already visible in the Command Window:
>> x=3
x =
3
Now put the cursor up beside x=3 and try to change it to 4:
>> 4
Oh, right, I should be down here!
8 Comments
Sean de Wolski
on 22 Feb 2011
Andrew Newell about 2 hours ago
assert(Yup=vote)
Error: The expression to the left of the equals sign is not a valid target for an assignment.
+1 to Preview Window
Paulo Silva
on 22 Feb 2011
forget to put ; in some vector and array operations and get the command line spammed.
2 Comments
Sean de Wolski
on 22 Feb 2011
I do that all of the time. But just forgetting the ';' ONCE, isn't the bad part. I use the up arrow a lot and so then I rerun the same command w/out the damn ';'. One lost semicolon can stick around for awhile.
Andreas Goser
on 23 Feb 2011
Overlaying command with variables:
plot=1:10;
plot(1:10)
ans =
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Or command with commands like creating and own contrast.m function and then using MATLAB's CONTRAST function.
All this typicall leads to errors messages that are not helpful to detect the cause and only if you think of WHICH -ALL, you find it
2 Comments
Andrew Newell
on 23 Feb 2011
And the number of commands grows all the time - especially if you have been visiting the FEX a lot.
Jan
on 31 Oct 2011
x = 1:10; eval('plot=x;'); plot(1:10);
This give different results when run in the command window or inside a function.
Oliver Woodford
on 22 Feb 2011
clear
Oops, I wanted to keep one of those variables.
2 Comments
Sean de Wolski
on 22 Feb 2011
I almost never use clear. I downloaded 'keep' on the FEX and it is far better.
That is of course unless I take the "Nuke it from orbit" approach; for which I wrote a script: 'cll.m' >>clear;close all;clc
Matt Tearle
on 22 Feb 2011
I've been using MATLAB for 15 years or so - I teach people how to use it - and, of course, I stress the important difference between * and .* ...
So guess what once caused me a couple of hours of frustrated debugging of an image reconstruction algorithm...
Physician, heal thyself! (And don't test your algorithm on square images)
0 Comments
Matt Tearle
on 22 Feb 2011
More in keeping with the OP, and another in the "physician heal thyself" category:
[fiddling about at the command line, trying to work out some kinks in an algorithm]
x1 - x2 % looks mostly near zero, but big vector, so:
max(ans) % oops, I meant...
max(abs(ans)) % no, not *that* ans! ::sigh::
4 Comments
Matt Tearle
on 23 Feb 2011
As I reenter commands I chide myself "thought you'd save those few keystrokes, didn't you..."
Daniel Armyr
on 20 Jun 2011
Yeah, I was tought not to use ans by some teacher way back. Using ans simply gets you into trouble.
Aurelien Queffurust
on 15 Sep 2011
When I say orally to my peers to type
rehash toolboxcache
in 99 cases out of 100 they type
rehash toolboxcash
0 Comments
Jan
on 22 Feb 2011
The old EVAL bugs, only a little bit more concealed:
Marker = {'lank', 'rank'}; % Ankle markers
Trajectory = rand(100, 3, 2);
MagicAutoAssign(Marker, Trajectory);
plot(rank); % FAIL
% ---------------
function MagicAutoAssign(Marker, Trajectory)
for i = 1:numel(Marker)
assignin('caller', Marker{i}, Trajectory(:, :, i));
end
Now plotting "rank" fails, because Matlab calls the toolbox function RANK instead. But it works, if "rank" is accessed using an index:
plot(1:100, rank(:, 1)); % OK
It was even worse in Matlab < 2008a: Even "RANK" in uppercase letters was forwarded to the function in non-debug mode, but in debug mode the uppercase "RANK" was recognized as variable. So you can create an error, which disappears at debugging - worst case!
Simple conclusion: Never create variables dynamically.
Andrew Newell
on 22 Feb 2011
The case of the misplaced transpose:
v1'*v2
instead of
v1*v2'
2 Comments
Matt Tearle
on 22 Feb 2011
especially when these are very long row vectors... and there's no semicolon at the end of that line.
Michael Quinn
on 4 Mar 2011
>> exit
instead of
>> edit
2 Comments
Steven Lord
on 2 Oct 2017
Go to the Preferences and expand the MATLAB > General > Confirmation Dialogs section. There's an entry, "Confirm before exiting MATLAB", that if you select it will bring up a dialog each time you try to quit MATLAB (normally. If you forcibly kill it from Task Manager, or if MATLAB crashes, it won't be able to show the dialog.)
Knut
on 5 Mar 2013
for i = 1:3
disp(exp(i*pi));
end
Instead of:
for i = 1:3
disp(exp(1i*pi));
end
0 Comments
Kye Taylor
on 24 Apr 2013
>> close al
Error using close (line 111)
Specified window does not exist.
Dammit!
0 Comments
Adam
on 21 Sep 2016
Since I happened across this old thread, one that continually catches me out since I work a lot with plotting of complex signals is to the effect of
figure; plot( mySignal )
hilbSignal = hilbert( mySignal )
hold on;
plot( hilbSignal );

Doh! Pretty spider's web, but not quite what I was looking for. One day I will remember I have complex data and that I actually want either the real or imaginary part! In this case I keep just thinking of the hilbert transform result as the imaginary part only that it adds.
0 Comments
Andrew Newell
on 22 Feb 2011
Rejoice - now you can do it object-oriented style!
>> ME = MException
??? Error using ==> MException
Not enough input arguments
>> ME = MException.last
ME =
MException
Properties:
identifier: 'MATLAB:minrhs'
message: 'Not enough input arguments.'
cause: {0x1 cell}
stack: [0x1 struct]
Methods
2 Comments
Jiro Doke
on 22 Feb 2011
Even with this, you can make the same mistake:
>> MException.lst
??? No appropriate method, property, or field lst for class MException.
>> MException.last
ans =
MException
Properties:
identifier: 'MATLAB:noSuchMethodOrField'
message: 'No appropriate method, property, or field lst for class MException.'
cause: {}
stack: [0x1 struct]
Methods
Andrew Newell
on 22 Feb 2011
While in the debugger, typing quit instead of dbquit kills Matlab!
(My earlier version of this answer may have been too cryptic.)
0 Comments
Jan
on 22 Feb 2011
Working:
n = datenum(datestr(now, 29), 29)
Failing (Matlab 2009a):
n = datenum(datestr(now, 30), 30)
>> Failed to lookup month of year.
DATENUM(S, F) needs a string as format specifier F. If F is numerical, it is interpreted as pivot year. With F=29 DATENUM works on accident only.
0 Comments
Jan
on 3 Mar 2011
I've tried to start an instance of another Matlab version, but the current directory was a toolbox folder by accident:
In Matlab 6.5, Windows:
cd(fullfile(matlabroot, 'toolbox\matlab\strfun');
system('C:\Programme\Matlab\R2009a\bin\win32\MATLAB.exe &')
==> Matlab 2009a starts with a lot of warnings about finding M-files, which are builtin functions. Then the script STRNCMP (the help text only!) is attempted to execute as a function. Because this fails, the Matlab path contains just \toolbox\local. Without toolbox function the diagnosis was tedious.
I had a similar break down, after overloading STRCMP with a damaged version.
2 Comments
Jan
on 3 Mar 2011
I'm glad to hear that. It is a mess and a silly waste of time. Another version of such faults:
M-script with the help text only in one folder:
\MFiles\Folder\MyFun.m
Compiled function for different platforms in specific folders, which are included in the path dynamically:
\MFiles\ForMatlab6\MyFun.dll
\MFiles\ForMatlab7\MyFun.mexw32
Now calling MyFun from the command line or another M-function fails, if \MFiles\Folder\ is the current folder: "Attempt to call the script MyFun as a function". Solution: CD to a neutral folder.
Jan
on 4 Apr 2011
I wanted to add the optimization flag /arch:SSE2 in my MEX call in Matlab 2009a:
mex -O OPTIMFLAGS="$OPTIMFLAGS /arch:SSE2" func.c
For a batch processing I need the functional form (or EVAL?!):
mex('-O', 'OPTIMFLAGS="$OPTIMFLAGS /arch:SSE2"', 'func.c')
>> ERROR: flag /arch:SSE2 is not recognized.
Ugly parser! The over-complicated BAT-> M-> PERL-> Compiler pipeline of the MEX command tries to be intelligent. This works:
mex('-O', 'OPTIMFLAGS="$OPTIMFLAGS', '/arch:SSE2"', 'func.c')
The string must be split inside the double quoted section, although these double quotes are used to avoid the splitting!
0 Comments
Jan
on 27 May 2011
Check if a path name contains a certain folder name anywhere
if any(findstr(PathName, '/Sub/')) ...
Because FINDSTR searches the shorter string in the longer one, the condition is true for the path name '/' also.
Modern Matlab version use STRFIND(String, Pattern) and afaik FINDSTR will be deprecated. But the program containing the example was developped under Matlab 5.3. Fixing the bug by changing FINDSTR to STRFIND is not trivial, if the strings are created dynamically, e.g. FINDSTR(a{i}, ['@', b{j}]).
At least in Matlab 2009a the toolbox functions contains a lot of these pitfalls, e.g. Signal\PMEM: "if ~isempty(findstr(flag, 'CORR')), ...", which triggers for 'OR' also.
0 Comments
Ben Mitch
on 27 May 2011
Moving into the Figure window, but in a similar spirit to the rand(100000) thing, I use this when I need an excuse to take a break...
data = randn(2, 1e6);
plot(data)
when I meant this...
plot(data')
0 Comments
Grzegorz Knor
on 15 Sep 2011
Sometimes I make a typo in structure field name, for example:
my_struct.field1 = 1
and then:
my_struct.filed1 = 2
It produces:
my_struct =
field1: 1
filed1: 2
instead of:
my_struct =
field1: 2
2 Comments
Walter Roberson
on 15 Sep 2011
Too bad we cannot "lock down" structures to prevent new fields from being added.
Jan
on 15 Sep 2011
@Walter: We can. I'm using a selftest function, which scans the source code and checks all symbols, which contain a dot. The structs are created in a dedicted function, and no other function is allowed to add further fields.
I care for a minimal edit-distance, e.g. I avoid S.mvc and S.mcv, which would be too susceptible for typos. Of course I never create fields by complicated EVAL commands or LOAD structs directly to the workspace.
Using OO methods would be a more convenient method to limit the definition of fields. But even for functional programs, OO strategies are important for writing reliable software.
Jan
on 31 Oct 2011
The process-first-non-singelton feature can be smarter than the user:
m = randi(4);
n = randi(4);
M = rand(m, n);
ColumnSum = sum(M); % DANGEROUS
If m is 1, the sum is calulated alog the 2nd dimension. Better:
ColumnSum = sum(M, 1); % Secure
NOTE: For min, max and std the 2nd input is not the dimension!
max([1, 2; 3, 4], 2) % >> [2, 2; 3, 4], elementwise maximun
max([1, 2; 3, 4], [], 2) % >> [2; 4], maximun along 2nd dimension
2 Comments
the cyclist
on 31 Oct 2011
The squeeze() command has similar dangers, when there are unanticipated singleton dimensions. In my experience, it is almost always possible, and wiser, to use permute() rather than squeeze().
Jan
on 31 Oct 2011
permute()? I'd expect reshape() to do the equivalent operation without the smart choice of the dimension.
Shatrughan
on 4 Nov 2011
have anyone tried typing "Why" in the command prompt? MATLAB gives funny responses..just carry on typing for fun.. :)
1 Comment
Image Analyst
on 4 Feb 2012
I've listed some other Easter Eggs in http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/2001-what-matlab-easter-eggs-do-you-know
Jan
on 4 Feb 2012
Although I never use clear all (see Answers: Bad CLEAR ALL), it appears in user-supplied code frequently. If all is defined as a variable, the behaviour might be unexpected:
clear all
b = 1;
all = 2;
clear all
whos
% Name Size Bytes Class Attributes
% b 1x1 8 double
If "all" is a variable, it is cleared, but the other variables are not touched.
[EDITED] The "clear all" behaviour is a typical example for the bad programming practize of using magic numbers. Here the string 'all' is magic, because it triggers a totally amnesia, if there is no variable of this name. It would be smarter to use invalid symbols for special commands, e.g. "$all". See Wiki: magic numbers and Wiki: magic strings.
9 Comments
Eric Sampson
on 24 Apr 2013
To be honest I think a lot of the functions that were created in early MATLAB versions are the ones that tend to have syntax issues like this... Since they've been around so long it would be hard for TMW to break backwards compatibility. As TMW hired more professional programmers over the years, instead of mathematicians/scientists doubling as programmers, things have improved IMHO, like your example about '-regexp'. Of course this is all personal opinion YMMV etc, and it's not intended to be a slight at all to TMW old-timers :)
Eric Sampson
on 24 Apr 2013
P.S. I've also recently requested that TMW consider making the use of 'clear all' an M-lint/Analyzer warning, because it has side effects that trip people up (like clearing breakpoints & globals, flushing the M-file cache, etc). If you like the idea, call/email support and lend your vote to this enhancement request! :)
Jan
on 8 May 2012
Edited: Jan
on 16 Sep 2012
The strings 'default', 'remove', and 'factory' are not allowed as uimenu labels, see Ref: uimenu_props. To get the string 'default' as label, '\default' must be used.
This is another example for the bad magic strings. Imagine you want to create a bunch of uimenu s automatically using a list of words. Then the exception handling for these three words will be ugly and increase the program size without a real benefit.
[EDITED] The named strings have a special meaning for other handle graphics objects also, e.g. UICONTROLs:
uicontrol('String', 'default')
This doe not display 'default' in a button, but an empty string, because this is the default value:
get(0, 'defaultUIControlString')
To display 'default', 'factory', or 'remove', a leading backslash is required, see doc: setting-default-property-values:
uicontrol('String', '\default')
It would be smarter to use the backslash for the special commands, but this cannot be changed without breaking the backward compatibility.
2 Comments
Geoff
on 10 May 2012
Corrupting years of experience in other languages...
After using MatLab for several months now, I find that when I go back to writing C code I catch myself forgetting to put parentheses on my if statements and using single-quotes for my strings.
4 Comments
Jan
on 3 Oct 2017
I needed a short and confusing command for a demonstration:
eval = 1:255
eval eval
Error: "eval" was previously used as a variable, conflicting with its use here as the name of a function or command.
This works:
eval('eval')
>> 100 117 96 107
0 Comments
Michael Richards
on 15 Sep 2020
fig = figure('CloseReqFcn',@error_prone_fcn)
presses x button
error
alt-f4
error
tries close matlab
error
task manager > end task
error
1 Comment
Steven Lord
on 15 Sep 2020
Specifying 'force' with the close command will force the figure to close, bypassing its CloseRequestFcn.
fig = figure('CloseRequestFcn',@(varargin) error('No closing this figure!'));
close(fig) % Will not close the figure
close(fig, 'force') % Will close the figure
fig % This is now a handle to a deleted figure
DGM
on 1 Jun 2022
Edited: DGM
on 1 Jun 2022
I spent a moment today trying to figure out why
outarray = logical(size(inarray)); % preallocate
didn't create a logical array with the same size as inarray.
I swear I must have brain damage, and with the caliber of forehead slap I needed, I can see how it would happen.
0 Comments
See Also
Categories
Find more on Programming Utilities in Help Center and File Exchange
Community Treasure Hunt
Find the treasures in MATLAB Central and discover how the community can help you!
Start Hunting!