Unlike Matlab, Octave Symbolic has no piecewise function. Is there a work around? I would like to do something like this:
syms x
y = piecewise(x0, 1)
Relatedly, how does one get pieces of a piecewise function? I ran the following:
>> int (exp(-a*x), x, 0, t)
And got the following correct answer displayed and stored in a variable:
t for a = 0
-a*t
1 e
- - ----- otherwise
a a
But now I would like to access the "otherwise" part of the answer so I can factor it. How do I do that?
(Yes, I can factor it in my head, but I am practicing for when more complicated expressions come along. I am also only really looking for an approach using symbolic expressions -- even though in any single case numerics may work fine, I want to understand the symbolic approach.)
Thanks!
Matlab's piecewise function seems to be fairly new (introduced in 2016b), but it basically just looks like a glorified ternary operator. Unfortunately I don't have 2016 to check if it performs any checks on the inputs or not, but in general you can recreate a 'ternary' operator in octave by indexing into a cell using logical indexing. E.g.
{#() return_A(), #() return_B(), #() return_default()}([test1, test2, true]){1}()
Explanation:
Step 1: You put all the values of interest in a cell array. Wrap them in function handles if you want to prevent them being evaluated at the time of parsing (e.g. if you wanted the output of the ternary operator to be to produce an error)
Step 2: Index this cell array using logical indexing, where at each index you perform a logical test
Step 3: If you need a 'default' case, use a 'true' test for the last element.
Step 4: From the cell (sub)array that results from above, select the first element and 'run' the resulting function handle. Selecting the first element has the effect that if more than one tests succeed, you only pick the first result; given the 'default' test will always succeed, this also makes sure that this is not picked unless it's the first and only test that succeeds (which it does so by default).
Here are the above steps implemented into a function (appropriate sanity checks omitted here for brevity), following the same syntax as matlab's piecewise:
function Out = piecewise (varargin)
Conditions = varargin(1:2:end); % Select all 'odd' inputs
Values = varargin(2:2:end); % Select all 'even' inputs
N = length (Conditions);
if length (Values) ~= N % 'default' case has been provided
Values{end+1} = Conditions{end}; % move default return-value to 'Values'
Conditions{end} = true; % replace final (ie. default) test with true
end
% Wrap return-values into function-handles
ValFuncs = cell (1, N);
for n = 1 : N; ValFuncs{n} = #() Values{n}; end
% Grab funhandle for first successful test and call it to return its value
Out = ValFuncs([Conditions{:}]){1}();
end
Example use:
>> syms x t;
>> F = #(a) piecewise(a == 0, t, (1/a)*exp(-a*t)/a);
>> F(0)
ans = (sym) t
>> F(3)
ans = (sym)
-3⋅t
ℯ
─────
9
The following code gives an error:
let alpha = Hashtbl.create 26 in
let print_and_add a =
print_char a;
Hashtbl.add alpha a true;;
let str = read_line () in
String.iter (fun x -> if Hashtbl.mem alpha x=false then print_and_add x) str
What it's supposed to do:each time the function is called (with a char argument),it should print the char,and add it to the Hash table (alpha).
I tried using the other syntax for functions:
let alpha = Hashtbl.create 26 in
let print_and_add = (fun a ->
print_char a;
Hashtbl.add alpha a true) in
let str = read_line () in
String.iter (fun x -> if Hashtbl.mem alpha x=false then print_and_add x) str
But I still want to know why the first code fails.
-Thanks for any help.
The ;; symbol specifically marks the end of an expression at the global level. So everything after it has to be part of a different expression. Hence alpha can't be defined after that.
I never use ;; in source code, only when typing to the toplevel. In my opinion, that's what it's for.
Your code also has let print_and_add ... without a corresponding in. This is valid only at the global level (not inside an expression).
If you change ;; to in in your original code, you get something that works. At least it works for me.
alpha is no longer in scope when you attempt to use it the second time in the first snippet.
I can't seem to find a simple answer to this seemingly simple SML question. I have the code:
fun inde(x, y, L) = if null L then nil else
if x=hd(L) then y+1::inde(x,y+1,tl L) else
inde(x,y+1,tl L);
I want y to be a variable outside the function, so it'll be inde(x,L) but have the y still count properly. When I declare it outside the function (to 0), when the function is recursively called, it resets to 0.
If you were to run this current function, it'd produce a list of where ever x is in the list (L).
so inde(1,0,[1,2,2,1,1]) would produce [1,4,5]
Idiomatic structure when using a functional programming style is to define an inner function that takes arguments that are of interest to the programmer, but not the user and then to call the inner function from the main function:
fun inde(x : int, L) =
let
fun inner(list1, list2, y : int) =
if null list1
then List.rev list2
else
if x = hd list1
then
inner(tl list1, y::list2, y + 1)
else
inner(tl list1, list2, y +1)
in
inner(L,[],1)
end
In the example function:
inner uses four values: the local variables list1,list2, and y. It also uses x from the enclosing scope.
inner builds (conses up) the list that will be returned using list2. It reverses the list with a call to List.rev from the SML Basis Library. This adds O(n) to the execution time.
The last part of the let...in...end construct: inner(L,[],1) is called "the trampoline" because the code gets all the way to the bottom of the source file and then bounces off it to start execution. It's a standard pattern.
Note that I started iterating with y equal to 1, rather than 0. Starting at zero wasn't getting anything done in the original file.
I've a problem with a loop for. In this program,
let f s =
for i = 0 to ((String.length s) - 1) do
print_char s.[i];
done;;
For some reasons, I want to change the variable i (increase,dicrease) but this variable is not mutable and I don't see how I can change the pointer on the string s. I think to an another function which but I don't know if is the good idea ..
This is a general question, not related to a particular operation. I would like to be able to write the results of an arbitrary function into elements of a cell array without regard for the data type the function returns. Consider this pseudocode:
zout = cell(n,m);
myfunc = str2func('inputname'); %assume myfunc puts out m values to match zout dimensions
zout(1,:) = myfunc(x,y);
That will work for "inputname" == "strcat" , for example, given that x and y are strings or cells of strings with appropriate dimension. But if "inputname" == "strcmp" then the output is a logical array, and Matlab throws an error. I'd need to do
zout(1,:) = num2cell(strcmp(x,y));
So my question is: is there a way to fill the cell array zout without having to test for the type of variable generated by myfunc(x,y ? Should I be using a struct in the first place (and if so, what's the best way to populate it)?
(I'm usually an R user, where I could just use a list variable without any pain)
Edit: To simplify the overall scope, add the following "requirement" :
Let's assume for now that, for a function which returns multiple outputs, only the first one need be captured in zout . But when this output is a vector of N values or a vector of cells (i.e. Nx1 cell array), these N values get mapped to zout(1,1:N) .
So my question is: is there a way to fill the cell array zout without having to test for the type of variable generated by myfunc(x,y) ? Should I be using a struct in the first place (and if so, what's the best way to populate it)?
The answer provided by #NotBoStyf is almost there, but not quite. Cell arrays are the right way to go. However, the answer very much depends on the number of outputs from the function.
Functions with only one output
The function strcmp has only one output, which is an array. The reason that
zout{1,:} = strcmp(x,y)
gives you an error message, when zout is dimensioned N x 2, is that the left-hand side (zout{1,:}) expects two outputs from the right-hand side. You can fix this with:
[zout{1,:}] = num2cell(strcmp(x,y)); % notice the square brackets on the LHS
However, there's really no reason to do this. You can simply define zout as an N x 1 cell array and capture the results:
zout = cell(1,1);
x = 'a';
y = { 'a', 'b' };
zout{1} = strcmp(x,y);
% Referring to the results:
x_is_y_1 = zout{1}(1);
x_is_y_2 = zout{1}(2);
There's one more case to consider...
Functions with multiple outputs
If your function produces multiple outputs (as opposed to a single output that is an array), then this will only capture the first output. Functions that produce multiple outputs are defined like this:
function [outA,outB] = do_something( a, b )
outA = a + 1;
outB = b + 2;
end
Here, you need to explicitly capture both output arguments. Otherwise, you just get a. For example:
outA = do_something( [1,2,3], [4,5,6] ); % outA is [2,3,4]
[outA,outB] = do_something( [1,2,3], [4,5,6] ); % outA is [2,3,4], outB is [6,7,8]
Z1 = cell(1,1);
Z1{1,1} = do_something( [1,2,3], [4,5,6] ); % Z1{1,1} is [2,3,4]
Z2 = cell(1,2);
Z2{1,1:2} = do_something( [1,2,3], [4,5,6] ); % Same error as above.
% NB: You really never want to have a cell expansion that is not surrounded
% by square brackets.
% Do this instead:
[Z2{1,1:2}] = do_something( [1,2,3], [4,5,6] ); % Z2{1,1} is [2,3,4], Z2{1,2} is [6,7,8]
This can also be done programmatically, with some limits. Let's say we're given function
func that takes one input and returns a constant (but unknown) number of outputs. We
have cell array inp that contains the inputs we want to process, and we want to collect the results in cell around outp:
N = numel(inp);
M = nargout(#func); % number of outputs produced by func
outp = cell(N,M);
for i=1:N
[ outp{i,:} ] = func( inp{i} );
end
This approach has a few caveats:
It captures all of the outputs. This is not always what you want.
Capturing all of the outputs can often change the behavior of the function. For example, the find function returns linear indices if only one output is used, row/column indices if two outputs are used, and row/column/value if three outputs are used.
It won't work for functions that have a variable number of outputs. These functions are defined as function [a,b,...,varargout] = func( ... ). nargout will return a negative number if the function has varargout declared in its output list, because there's no way for Matlab to know how many outputs will be produced.
Unpacking array and cell outputs into a cell
All true so far, but: what I am hoping for is a generic solution. I can't use num2cell if the function produces cell outputs. So what worked for strcmp will fail for strcat and vice versa. Let's assume for now that, for a function which returns multiple outputs, only the first one need be captured in zout – Carl Witthoft
To provide a uniform output syntax for all functions that return either a cell or an array, use an adapter function. Here is an example that handles numeric arrays and cells:
function [cellOut] = cellify(input)
if iscell(input)
cellOut = input;
elseif isnumeric(input)
cellOut = num2cell(input);
else
error('cellify currently does not support structs or objects');
end
end
To unpack the output into a 2-D cell array, the size of each output must be constant. Assuming M outputs:
N = numel(inp);
% M is known and constant
outp = cell(N,M);
for i=1:N
outp(i,:) = cellify( func( inp{i} ) ); % NB: parentheses instead of curlies on LHS
end
The output can then be addressed as outp{i,j}. An alternate approach allows the size of the output to vary:
N = numel(inp);
% M is not necessary here
outp = cell(N,1);
for i=1:N
outp{i} = cellify( func( inp{i} ) ); % NB: back to curlies on LHS
end
The output can then be addressed as outp{i}{j}, and the size of the output can vary.
A few things to keep in mind:
Matlab cells are basically inefficient pointers. The JIT compiler does not always optimize them as well as numeric arrays.
Splitting numeric arrays into cells can cost quite a bit of memory. Each split value is actually a numeric array, which has size and type information associated with it. In numeric array form, this occurs once for each array. When the array is split, this incurs once for each element.
Use curly braces instead when asigning a value.
Using
zout{1,:} = strcmp(x,y);
instead should work.