General MATLAB commands

These are Matlab commands to be used for on-line help, directory information, workspace information, general information and Matlab termination.

These functions can be used within scripts or from the command window.

Download Command Summary

On-line help

help	lists topics on which help is available
helpwin	opens the interactive help window
helpdesk	opens the web browser based help facility
help topic	provides help on topic
lookfor string	lists help topics containing string
demo	runs the demo program

Directory information

pwd	shows the current working directory
cd	changes the current working directory
dir	lists files within the current directory
ls	lists contents of the current directory, same as dir
path	gets or sets MATLAB search path
editpath	modifies MATLAB search path
copyfile	copies a file
mkdir	creates a directory

Workspace information

who	lists variables currently in the workspace
whos	lists variables in the workspace with their size
clear	all variables are removed
clear x y z	clears only variables x, y and z
clear all	clears all variables and functions from workspace
mlock fun	locks function fun so that 'clear' cannot remove it
munlock fun	unlocks function fun so that 'clear' can remove it
clc	clears command window, command history is lost
close all	closes all of the figure windows

General information

computer	tells you the computer type you are using
clock	gives you clock time and date as a vector
date	gives you the date as a string
ver	shows the license and the version information about MATLAB installed on your computer
bench	benchmarks your computer on running MATLAB compared to other computers

Termination

^c (Ctl-c)	local abort, kills the current command execution
quit	quits MATLAB
exit	same as quit

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General MATLAB commands