Julia: Testing function in interactive session - function

I am not sure if it is possible, but I would like to be able to grab the default argument values of a function and test them and the code within my functions without having to remove the commas (this is especially useful in the case when there are many arguments).
In effect, I want to be able to have commas when sending arguments into the function but not have those commas if I copy and paste the arguments and run them by themselves.
For example:
function foo(
x=1,
y=2,
z=3
)
bar(x,y,z)
end
Now to test pieces of the function outside of the code block, copy and paste
x=1,
y=2,
z=3
bar(x,y,z)
But this gives an error because there is a comma after x=1
Perhaps I am not asking the right question. If this is strange, what is the preferred method for debugging functions?

It isn't pretty but if you define your function like:
function foo(
(x=1),
(y=2),
(z=3)
)
bar(x,y,z)
end
then it works as you describe.

Related

Can I call a function to solve for different variables?

I have a function where I want to solve for many variables separately, do I have to write down the function every time in terms of the other variable?
x,xG,xR
y = e.^tan(x.^2)+cos.^2(x);
yG = e.^tan(xG.^2)+cos.^2(xG);
First you cannot write an expression like cos.^2(x). If x is a single variable (ie x=pi) you could write either cos(x)^2 or cos(x^2). If x is a vector (a column vector might be x=[3;4;pi] and a row vector might be x=[3,4,pi], then you might write cos(x).^2 or cos(x.^2). The role of the period (.) in octave is explained here: https://octave.org/doc/v4.0.3/Arithmetic-Ops.html
Another issue has to do with understanding the difference between an expression: x=e^tanh(y); and a function. The later is a separate chunk of code that can be invoked from anywhere in your program.
Consider this simple example
1;
function y=myfunc(x)
y=exp(tanh(x));
endfunction
## main program
xxx=pi/3;
yyy=myfunc(xxx);
printf('%7.3f %7.3f\n',xxx,yyy)
y=exp(tanh(pi/3))
comments: The '1' in the first line tells Octave that there is more to the script than just the following function: the main program has to be interpreted as well. The function line specifies that inside the function, the input will be called x and the output y, so when my function is called from main, the input is xxx(=pi/2) and the output is yyy. The last line in this tiny script is an expression that does the same thing as the function. Note that since I didn't include a semi-colon at the end of that line the result is printed out
I suggest you play with this for a while, then if you have more questions, ask them in a new question.

Ada package function identifier expected

Learning Ada and trying to make a stack ADT and I'm using this webpage to figure it out.
http://www.functionx.com/ada/Lesson06.htm
eightqueens.adb
with Ada.Text_IO;
use Ada.Text_IO;
with Stack;
use Stack;
procedure EightQueens is
begin
put_line ("awd");
end EightQueens;
stack.ads
package Stack is
function awd () return Integer;
end Stack;
stack.adb
package body Stack is
function awd () return integer is
begin
return 1;
end awd;
end Stack;
Error is
stack.ads:2:19: identifier expected
I'm most certain I did everything correctly.
Ada doesn't use empty parentheses, either for defining or for calling functions or procedures.
And for future reference, the phrase "I'm most certain I did everything correctly." is a red flag indicating that you've almost certainly done something wrong.
Just to elaborate, there are some syntactic decisions that Ada made that IMHO are superior to what you may be used to from C-syntax languages.
Functions with no parameters don't use empty parenthesis in their calls. This allows you to change a contant to a function call without having to recode any of the clients.
Arrays use parentheses like function calls do, rather than some unique syntax. This allows you to change an array constant to a function call without having to recode any of the clients.
To look at it another way, a constant is just a simplified version of a parameterless function, for when you can get away with always returning the same value. Likewise, a constant array is a simplified version of a parametered function call, for when you can get away with always returning the same value. If you later discover you need a more complex implementation, that's not the client's concern, and should not affect their code.

'Invalid Handle object' when using a timer inside a function in MatLab

I am using a script in MatLab that works perfectly fine by itself, but I need to make a function out of it.
The script read a .csv file, extract all values, start a timer, and at each tick displays the corresponding coordinates extracted from the .csv, resulting in a 3D animation of my graph.
What I would like is to give it the location of the .csv, so that it starts displaying the graphs for this csv.
Here is what I have come up with:
function handFig(fileLoc)
csv=csvread(fileLoc,1,0);
both = csv(:,2:19);
ax=axes;
set(ax,'NextPlot','replacechildren');
Dt=0.1; %sampling period in secs
k=1;
hp1=text(both(k,1),both(k,2),both(k,3),'thumb'); %get handle to dot object
hold on;
hp2=text(both(k,4),both(k,5),both(k,6),'index');
hp3=text(both(k,7),both(k,8),both(k,9),'middle');
hp4=text(both(k,10),both(k,11),both(k,12),'ring');
hp5=text(both(k,13),both(k,14),both(k,15),'pinky');
hp6=text(both(k,16),both(k,17),both(k,18),'HAND');
L1=plot3([both(k,1),both(k,16)],[both(k,2),both(k,17)],[both(k,3),both(k,18)]);
L2=plot3([both(k,4),both(k,16)],[both(k,5),both(k,17)],[both(k,6),both(k,18)]);
L3=plot3([both(k,7),both(k,16)],[both(k,8),both(k,17)],[both(k,9),both(k,18)]);
L4=plot3([both(k,10),both(k,16)],[both(k,11),both(k,17)],[both(k,12),both(k,18)]);
L5=plot3([both(k,13),both(k,16)],[both(k,14),both(k,17)],[both(k,15),both(k,18)]);
hold off;
t1=timer('TimerFcn','k=doPlot(hp1,hp2,hp3,hp4,hp5,hp6,L1,L2,L3,L4,L5,both,t1,k)','Period', Dt,'ExecutionMode','fixedRate');
start(t1);
end
And the doplot function used:
function k=doPlot(hp1,hp2,hp3,hp4,hp5,hp6,L1,L2,L3,L4,L5,pos,t1,k)
k=k+1;
if k<5000%length(pos)
set(hp1,'pos',[pos(k,1),pos(k,2),pos(k,3)]);
axis([0 255 0 255 0 255]);
set(hp2,'pos',[pos(k,4),pos(k,5),pos(k,6)]);
set(hp3,'pos',[pos(k,7),pos(k,8),pos(k,9)]);
set(hp4,'pos',[pos(k,10),pos(k,11),pos(k,12)]);
set(hp5,'pos',[pos(k,13),pos(k,14),pos(k,15)]);
set(hp6,'pos',[pos(k,16),pos(k,17),pos(k,18)]);
set(L1,'XData',[pos(k,1),pos(k,16)],'YData',[pos(k,2),pos(k,17)],'ZData',[pos(k,3),pos(k,18)]);
set(L2,'XData',[pos(k,4),pos(k,16)],'YData',[pos(k,5),pos(k,17)],'ZData',[pos(k,6),pos(k,18)]);
set(L3,'XData',[pos(k,7),pos(k,16)],'YData',[pos(k,8),pos(k,17)],'ZData',[pos(k,9),pos(k,18)]);
set(L4,'XData',[pos(k,10),pos(k,16)],'YData',[pos(k,11),pos(k,17)],'ZData',[pos(k,12),pos(k,18)]);
set(L5,'XData',[pos(k,13),pos(k,16)],'YData',[pos(k,14),pos(k,17)],'ZData',[pos(k,15),pos(k,18)]);
else
k=1;
set(hp1,'pos',[pos(k,1),pos(k,2),pos(k,3)]);
axis([0 255 0 255 0 255]);
set(hp2,'pos',[pos(k,4),pos(k,5),pos(k,6)]);
set(hp3,'pos',[pos(k,7),pos(k,8),pos(k,9)]);
set(hp4,'pos',[pos(k,10),pos(k,11),pos(k,12)]);
set(hp5,'pos',[pos(k,13),pos(k,14),pos(k,15)]);
set(hp6,'pos',[pos(k,16),pos(k,17),pos(k,18)]);
end
However, when I run handFig('fileName.csv'), I obtain the same error everytime:
??? Error while evaluating TimerFcn for timer 'timer-7'
Invalid handle object.
I figured that it might come from the function trying to create a new 'csv' and 'both' everytime, so I tried removing them, and feeding the function the data directly, without results.
What is exactly the problem? Is there a solution?
Thanks a lot!
I think it's because when you call doPlot in the timer for the first time, you pass in t1 as an argument, and it might not exist the first time.
Does doPlot need t1 at all? I'd suggest modifying it so it's not used, and then your call to:
t1=timer('TimerFcn','k=doPlot(hp1,hp2,hp3,hp4,hp5,hp6,L1,L2,L3,L4,L5,both,k)','Period', Dt,'ExecutionMode','fixedRate');
Note the missing t1 in the doPlot call.
Either that, or initialise your t1 before you create the timer so it has some value to pass in.
Update (as an aside, can you use pause(Dct) in a loop instead? seems easier)
Actually, now I think it's a problem of scope.
It took a bit of digging to get to this, but looking at the Matlab documentation for function callbacks, it says:
When MATLAB evaluates function handles, the same variables are in scope as when the function handle was created. (In contrast, callbacks specified as strings are evaluated in the base workspace.)
You currently give your TimerFcn argument as a string, so k=doPlot(...) is evaluated in the base workspace. If you were to go to the matlab prompt, run handFig, and then type h1, you'd get an error because h1 is not available in the global workspace -- it's hidden inside handFig.
That's the problem you're running into.
However, the workaround is to specify your function as a function handle rather than a string (it says function handles are evaluated in the scope in which they are created, ie within handFig).
Function handles to TimerFcn have to have two arguments obj and event (see Creating Callback Functions). Also, that help file says you have to put doPlot in its own m-file to have it not evaluate in the base Matlab workspace.
In addition to these two required input arguments, your callback
function can accept application-specific arguments. To receive these
input arguments, you must use a cell array when specifying the name of
the function as the value of a callback property. For more
information, see Specifying the Value of Callback Function Properties.
It goes through an example of what you have to do to get this working. Something like:
% create timer
t = timer('Period', Dt,'ExecutionMode','fixedRate');
% attach `k` to t so it can be accessed within doPlot
set(t,'UserData',k);
% specify TimerFcn and its extra arguments:
t.TimerFcn = { #doPlot, hp1, hp2, hp3, ...., both };
start(t)
Note -- the reason k is set in UserData is because it needs to be somehow saved and modified between calls to doPlot.
Then modify your doPlot to have two arguments at the beginning (which aren't used), and not accept the k argument. To extract k you do get(timer_obj,'UserData') from within doPlot:
function k=doPlot(timer_obj, event, hp1,hp2,hp3,.....)
k = get(timer_obj,'UserData');
.... % rest of code here.
% save back k so it's changed for next time!
set(timer_obj,'UserData',k);
I think that's on the right track - play around with it. I'd highly recommend the mathworks forums for this sort of thing too, those people are whizzes.
This thread from the mathworks forum was what got me started and might prove helpful to you.
Good luck!

Matlab/Octave function handlers and nargin

I am writing program in Octave and I encountered a problem, I implemented Gauss-Legandre Quadrature and I pass to my Gauss-Legandre function few arguments, and I pass the function to be intergrated in a cell cube, so I can pass few function at a time. I have this piece of code:
for weight=1:length(w)
temp=1;
for fun=1:length(c)
%liczenie iloczynu f(x_i)g(x_i), x_i - pieriwastki wielomianu Legandra
f=c{fun};
nargin(func2str(c{fun}))
if (nargin (func2str(c{fun})) == 1)
disp('a');
temp*=c{fun}((b-a)/2 * x(weight) + (a+b)/2);
else
(b-a)/2 * x(weight) + (a+b)/2;
temp*=f((b-a)/2 * x(weight) + (a+b)/2,I,points);
end
end
%mnozenie wyniku przez odpowiedni wspolczynnik - wage
temp*=w(weight);
result+=temp;
end
In cell array there are function handlers to functions which I want to integrate. Depending on number of arguments that function takes i want to use two different calls for function. If in cell array there is handler to a function that is written in .m file in the same directory as my Octave working directory everything works fine, but when i define function in Octave running time, for example:
function result=a(x)
result=x*x
end
Type
c{1}=#a
and pass this cell array to my function Kwadratury there is an error of nargin
error: nargin: invalid function
error: called from:
Why is that and how can I solve it, so I can define function not only in .m files but also in Octave.
I suspect I have a solution, but as this is Octave-specific and I'm mostly used to MATLAB, your mileage may vary.
You call the nargin function by supplying a string argument, this means that nargin will have to resolve that function and check the number of arguments. When you declare a function in-line, that function is defined within that scope (i.e. your base scope), so resolving the function name will not work from within any function (or it might resolve to a built-in function, which is even worse behavior).
The best solution is to use nargin(c{fun}) instead of nargin(func2str(c{fun})). That way you pass the actual function handle along, and there is no need to resolve the function name to the actual function, and hence no possible ambiguity.
In general I recommend against using strings to pass functions: that why function handles are included in MATLAB, so anyone reading your code (or a static code analysis tool) will be able to understand you are working with functions. When using strings, everything becomes ambiguous: does a string 'a' refer to the function a or to the first letter in the alphabet?
With regard to using inline functions, I don't know whether Octave supports this, but if you function is quite simple, it's easier to define an anonymous function, such as your example, by a = #(x)(x*x);. That is a construct that is supported by MATLAB, so that makes your code more portable to other environments (well, you'd still need to replace X *= A with X = X * A; to be MATLAB compatible).
edit:
Another possibility could be to just try out whether a form with multiple parameters works and fall back to the one parameter form when necessary:
try
(b-a)/2 * x(weight) + (a+b)/2;
temp*=f((b-a)/2 * x(weight) + (a+b)/2,I,points);
catch ME
try
disp('a');
temp*=c{fun}((b-a)/2 * x(weight) + (a+b)/2);
catch ME
end
end
You might want to check whether the returned error ME really states that a wrong number of arguments is used to allow other errors through. I do admit this is an ugly work-around, but since Octave apparently doesn't support function handles for nargin, it might be the only way you'd get what you want for inline functions.

Accessing the Body of a Function with Lua

I'm going back to the basics here but in Lua, you can define a table like so:
myTable = {}
myTable [1] = 12
Printing the table reference itself brings back a pointer to it. To access its elements you need to specify an index (i.e. exactly like you would an array)
print(myTable ) --prints pointer
print(myTable[1]) --prints 12
Now functions are a different story. You can define and print a function like so:
myFunc = function() local x = 14 end --Defined function
print(myFunc) --Printed pointer to function
Is there a way to access the body of a defined function. I am trying to put together a small code visualizer and would like to 'seed' a given function with special functions/variables to allow a visualizer to 'hook' itself into the code, I would need to be able to redefine the function either from a variable or a string.
There is no way to get access to body source code of given function in plain Lua. Source code is thrown away after compilation to byte-code.
Note BTW that function may be defined in run-time with loadstring-like facility.
Partial solutions are possible — depending on what you actually want to achieve.
You may get source code position from the debug library — if debug library is enabled and debug symbols are not stripped from the bytecode. After that you may load actual source file and extract code from there.
You may decorate functions you're interested in manually with required metadata. Note that functions in Lua are valid table keys, so you may create a function-to-metadata table. You would want to make this table weak-keyed, so it would not prevent functions from being collected by GC.
If you would need a solution for analyzing Lua code, take a look at Metalua.
Check out Lua Introspective Facilities in the debugging library.
The main introspective function in the
debug library is the debug.getinfo
function. Its first parameter may be a
function or a stack level. When you
call debug.getinfo(foo) for some
function foo, you get a table with
some data about that function. The
table may have the following fields:
The field you would want is func I think.
Using the debug library is your only bet. Using that, you can get either the string (if the function is defined in a chunk that was loaded with 'loadstring') or the name of the file in which the function was defined; together with the line-numbers at which the function definition starts and ends. See the documentation.
Here at my current job we have patched Lua so that it even gives you the column numbers for the start and end of the function, so you can get the function source using that. The patch is not very difficult to reproduce, but I don't think I'll be allowed to post it here :-(
You could accomplish this by creating an environment for each function (see setfenv) and using global (versus local) variables. Variables created in the function would then appear in the environment table after the function is executed.
env = {}
myFunc = function() x = 14 end
setfenv(myFunc, env)
myFunc()
print(myFunc) -- prints pointer
print(env.x) -- prints 14
Alternatively, you could make use of the Debug Library:
> myFunc = function() local x = 14 ; debug.debug() end
> myFunc()
> lua_debug> _, x = debug.getlocal(3, 1)
> lua_debug> print(x) -- prints 14
It would probably be more useful to you to retrieve the local variables with a hook function instead of explicitly entering debug mode (i.e. adding the debug.debug() call)
There is also a Debug Interface in the Lua C API.