Is it possible to define more than one function per file in MATLAB, and access them from outside that file?

Nathan_Fellman_1084 0
Viewed 113145

When I was studying for my undergraduate degree in EE, MATLAB required each function to be defined in its own file, even if it was a one-liner.

I'm studying for a graduate degree now, and I have to write a project in MATLAB. Is this still a requirement for newer versions of MATLAB?

If it is possible to put more than one function in a file, are there any restrictions to this? For instance, can all the functions in the file be accessed from outside the file, or only the function that has the same name as the file?

Note: I am using MATLAB release R2007b.

function-declaration matlab function scope file
9 Answers

As of R2017b, this is not officially possible. The relevant documentation states that:

Program files can contain multiple functions. If the file contains only function definitions, the first function is the main function, and is the function that MATLAB associates with the file name. Functions that follow the main function or script code are called local functions. Local functions are only available within the file.

However, workarounds suggested in other answers can achieve something similar.

user_33720610

I have try with the SCFRench and with the Ru Hasha on octave.

And finally it works: but I have done some modification

function message = makefuns
    assignin('base','fun1', @fun1);   % Ru Hasha
    assignin('base', 'fun2', @fun2);  % Ru Hasha
    message.fun1=@fun1;               % SCFrench
    message.fun2=@fun2;               % SCFrench
end

function y=fun1(x)
    y=x;
end

function z=fun2
    z=1;
end

Can be called in other 'm' file:

printf("%d\n", makefuns.fun1(123));
printf("%d\n", makefuns.fun2());

update:

I added an answer because neither the +72 nor the +20 worked in octave for me. The one I wrote works perfectly (and I tested it last Friday when I later wrote the post).

user_55693330
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