Matlab - dynamically produce string for anonymous function - string

I am trying to produce the argument string for an anonymous function based on the number of input arguments without using for loops. For example, if N=3, then I want a string that reads
#(ax(1),ax(2),ax(3),ay(1),ay(2),ay(3))
I tried using repmat('ax',1,N) but I cannot figure out how to interleave the (i) index.
Any ideas?
Aside: Great answers so far, the above problem has been solved. To provide some intuition for those who are wondering why I want to do this: I need to construct a very large matrix anonymous function (a Jacobian) on the order of 3000x3000. I initially used the Matlab operations jacobian and matlabFunction to construct the anonymous function; however, this was quite slow. Instead, since the closed form of the derivative was quite simple, I decided to form the anonymous function directly. This was done by forming the symbolic Jacobian matrix, J, then appending it to the above #() string by using char(J{:})' and using eval to form the final anonymous function. This may not be the most elegant solution but I find it runs much faster than the jacobian/matlabFunction combination, especially for large N (additionally the structure of the new approach allows for the evaluation to be done in parallel).
EDIT: Just for completeness, the correct form of the argument string for the anonymous function should read
#(ax1,ax2,ax3,ay1,ay2,ay3)
to avoid a syntax error associated with indexing.

I suggest the following:
N = 3;
argumentString = [repmat('ax(%i),',1,N),repmat('ay(%i),',1,N)];
functionString = sprintf(['#(',argumentString(1:end-1),')'], 1:N, 1:N)
First, you create input masks for sprintf (e.g. 'ax(%i)'), which you then fill in with the appropriate numbers to create the function string.
Note: the syntax #(ax(1),...) will not actually work. More likely, you want to use either #()someFunction(ax(1),...), or you are trying to pass multiple input arguments to an existing function, in which case storing the inputs in a cell array and calling the function as fun(axCell{:}) would work.

A solution would be to use arrayfun:
sx = strjoin(arrayfun(#(x) ['ax(' num2str(x) ')'], 1:3, 'UniformOutput', false), ',');
sy = strjoin(arrayfun(#(x) ['ay(' num2str(x) ')'], 1:3, 'UniformOutput', false), ',');
s = ['#(' sx ',' sy ')'];
contains
'#(ax(1),ax(2),ax(3),ay(1),ay(2),ay(3))'
Best,

Try this:
N = 3;
sx = strcat('ax(', arrayfun(#num2str, 1:N, 'uniformoutput', 0), '),');
sy = strcat('ay(', arrayfun(#num2str, 1:N, 'uniformoutput', 0), '),');
str = [sx{:} sy{:}];
str = ['#(' str(1:end-1) ')']

Related

i've a local variable unused in a function that made a matrix

I've a local variable that's not used in a function. This function does a matrix and returns that matrix empty.
I've tried to use 'i' variable using an "if i is None: pass" but the issue continue.
def create_matrix(rows, columns):
matrix = [[None] * columns for i in range(rows)]
return matrix
i want to dismiss this issue. Is there any way to do it? I know it's a stupid problem but i'm a little bit obsessed with have my code fully clean.
There's no issue if you never use an iterator variable. i in your code behaves like an iterator in a for that is not used:
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
// do something without using i
This would be ok in any language like C, C++, PHP...
However, if you really don't want named variables that are not used in any expression, you call it _:
def create_matrix(rows, columns):
matrix = [[None] * columns for _ in range(rows)]
return matrix
The _ variable is a implicit variable. It always exists, so you are not declaring anything new. It always has the value of the last evaluated expression and may be used in fors like that.

Why is my merge sort algorithm not working?

I am implementing the merge sort algorithm in Python. Previously, I have implemented the same algorithm in C, it works fine there, but when I implement in Python, it outputs an unsorted array.
I've already rechecked the algorithm and code, but to my knowledge the code seems to be correct.
I think the issue is related to the scope of variables in Python, but I don't have any clue for how to solve it.
from random import shuffle
# Function to merge the arrays
def merge(a,beg,mid,end):
i = beg
j = mid+1
temp = []
while(i<=mid and j<=end):
if(a[i]<a[j]):
temp.append(a[i])
i += 1
else:
temp.append(a[j])
j += 1
if(i>mid):
while(j<=end):
temp.append(a[j])
j += 1
elif(j>end):
while(i<=mid):
temp.append(a[i])
i += 1
return temp
# Function to divide the arrays recursively
def merge_sort(a,beg,end):
if(beg<end):
mid = int((beg+end)/2)
merge_sort(a,beg,mid)
merge_sort(a,mid+1,end)
a = merge(a,beg,mid,end)
return a
a = [i for i in range(10)]
shuffle(a)
n = len(a)
a = merge_sort(a, 0, n-1)
print(a)
To make it work you need to change merge_sort declaration slightly:
def merge_sort(a,beg,end):
if(beg<end):
mid = int((beg+end)/2)
merge_sort(a,beg,mid)
merge_sort(a,mid+1,end)
a[beg:end+1] = merge(a,beg,mid,end) # < this line changed
return a
Why:
temp is constructed to be no longer than end-beg+1, but a is the initial full array, if you managed to replace all of it, it'd get borked quick. Therefore we take a "slice" of a and replace values in that slice.
Why not:
Your a luckily was not getting replaced, because of Python's inner workings, that is a bit tricky to explain but I'll try.
Every variable in Python is a reference. a is a reference to a list of variables a[i], which are in turn references to a constantant in memory.
When you pass a to a function it makes a new local variable a that points to the same list of variables. That means when you reassign it as a=*** it only changes where a points. You can only pass changes outside either via "slices" or via return statement
Why "slices" work:
Slices are tricky. As I said a points to an array of other variables (basically a[i]), that in turn are references to a constant data in memory, and when you reassign a slice it goes trough the slice element by element and changes where those individual variables are pointing, but as a inside and outside are still pointing to same old elements the changes go through.
Hope it makes sense.
You don't use the results of the recursive merges, so you essentially report the result of the merge of the two unsorted halves.

Matlab: Exporting variables from ODE45

I have an ODE that uses many functions. I wish to export these "helper" functions so that I may graph them vs the independent variable of the ODE.
function dFfuncvecdW = ODE(W,Ffuncvec);
X = Ffuncvec(1);
y = Ffuncvec(2);
#lots of code
R = ... #R is a function of X,W and y.
#and a few other functions that are a function of X,W and y.
dXdW = ... #some formula
dydW = ... #some formula
dFfuncvecdW = [dXdW; dydW];
end
I call this function with:
Wspan = [0 8000.]
X0 = [0; 1.]
[W,X] = ode45(#ODE, Wspan, X0);
I can easily output X or W to an excel file:
xlswrite(filename,X,'Conversion','A1');
But I what I need is to save "R" and many other functions' values to an Excel file.
How do I do that?
I am still extremely new to Matlab. I usually use Polymath, but for this system of ODE's, Polymath cannot compute the answer within a reasonable amount of time.
EDIT1: The code I use was generated by Polymath. I used a basic version of my problem so that Polymath may excecute the program as it only gives the Matlab code once the Polymath code has succefully run. After the export, the complete set of equations were entered.
The easiest, and possibly fastest, way to handle this is to re-evaluate your functions after ode45 returns W and X. If the functions are vectorized it will be easy. Otherwise, just use a simple for loop that iterates from 1 to length(W).
Alternatively, you can use an output function to save your values on each iteration to a file, or a global, or, most efficiently, a sub-function (a.k.a. nested function) variable that shares scope with an outer function (see here, for example). See this answer of mine for an example of how to use an output function.
I found a rather quick and painless solution to my answer.
I merely appended a text file with code inside the ode function.
EDIT: I am unable to comment because I do have enough rep on this branch of SE.
My solution was add the following code:
fid = fopen('abc1.txt', 'at');
fprintf(fid, '%f\n', T);
fclose(fid);
right above
dYfuncvecdW = [dFAdW; dFBdW; dFCdW; dFDdW; dydW];
at the end of the ode function. This proved to be a temporary solution. I have opened another question about the output I recieved.

How to convert a string into a variable name in MATLAB? [duplicate]

Let's assume that I want to create 10 variables which would look like this:
x1 = 1;
x2 = 2;
x3 = 3;
x4 = 4;
.
.
xi = i;
This is a simplified version of what I'm intending to do. Basically I just want so save code lines by creating these variables in an automated way. Is there the possibility to construct a variable name in Matlab? The pattern in my example would be ["x", num2str(i)]. But I cant find a way to create a variable with that name.
You can do it with eval but you really should not
eval(['x', num2str(i), ' = ', num2str(i)]); %//Not recommended
Rather use a cell array:
x{i} = i
I also strongly advise using a cell array or a struct for such cases. I think it will even give you some performance boost.
If you really need to do so Dan told how to. But I would also like to point to the genvarname function. It will make sure your string is a valid variable name.
EDIT: genvarname is part of core matlab and not of the statistics toolbox
for k=1:10
assignin('base', ['x' num2str(k)], k)
end
Although it is long overdue, i justed wanted to add another answer.
the function genvarname is exactly for these cases
and if you use it with a tmp structure array you do not need the eval cmd
the example 4 from this link is how to do it http://www.mathworks.co.uk/help/matlab/ref/genvarname.html
for k = 1:5
t = clock;
pause(uint8(rand * 10));
v = genvarname('time_elapsed', who);
eval([v ' = etime(clock,t)'])
end
all the best
eyal
If anyone else is interested, the correct syntax from Dan's answer would be:
eval(['x', num2str(i), ' = ', num2str(i)]);
My question already contained the wrong syntax, so it's my fault.
I needed something like this since you cannot reference structs (or cell arrays I presume) from workspace in Simulink blocks if you want to be able to change them during the simulation.
Anyway, for me this worked best
assignin('base',['string' 'parts'],values);

How can I create function pointers from a string input in MATLAB?

If I use the inline function in MATLAB I can create a single function name that could respond differently depending on previous choices:
if (someCondition)
p = inline('a - b','a','b');
else
p = inline('a + b','a','b');
end
c = p(1,2);
d = p(3,4);
But the inline functions I'm creating are becoming quite epic, so I'd like to change them to other types of functions (i.e. m-files, subfunctions, or nested functions).
Let's say I have m-files like Mercator.m, KavrayskiyVII.m, etc. (all taking a value for phi and lambda), and I'd like to assign the chosen function to p in the same way as I have above so that I can call it many times (with variable sized matrices and things that make using eval either impossible or a total mess).
I have a variable, type, that will be one of the names of the functions required (e.g. 'Mercator', 'KavrayskiyVII', etc.). I figure I need to make p into a pointer to the function named inside the type variable. Any ideas how I can do this?
Option #1:
Use the str2func function (assumes the string in type is the same as the name of the function):
p = str2func(type); % Create function handle using function name
c = p(phi, lambda); % Invoke function handle
NOTE: The documentation mentions these limitations:
Function handles created using str2func do not have access to variables outside of their local workspace or to nested functions. If your function handle contains these variables or functions, MATLABĀ® throws an error when you invoke the handle.
Option #2:
Use a SWITCH statement and function handles:
switch type
case 'Mercator'
p = #Mercator;
case 'KavrayskiyVII'
p = #KavrayskiyVII;
... % Add other cases as needed
end
c = p(phi, lambda); % Invoke function handle
Option #3:
Use EVAL and function handles (suggested by Andrew Janke):
p = eval(['#' type]); % Concatenate string name with '#' and evaluate
c = p(phi, lambda); % Invoke function handle
As Andrew points out, this avoids the limitations of str2func and the extra maintenance associated with a switch statement.

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