I am calling a self written function 'func' of a vector like this:
x_values=[0 1 2];
result=func(x_values);
The problem is that in this function i have an if statement to determine the ouput. If I apply this function to a scalar, I have no problem, but if I apply it to a vector of numbers, the if statement doesn't do his job. why? And how can i repair it?
function [y]=func(x)
if(x==0)
y=0
else
y=1./sin(x);
end
end
You need to treat the zero and non-zero entries separately. This is easily achieved via indexing:
function [y]=func(x)
xIsZero = x==0;
%# preassign y
y = x;
%# fill in values for y
y(xIsZero) = 0
y(~xIsZero) = 1./sin(x(~xIsZero))
The answer is explained in the help document of IF:
An evaluated expression is true when the result is nonempty and
contains all nonzero elements (logical or real numeric). Otherwise,
the expression is false.
Conclusion: either add a for loop, or find a better way to vectorize your expression
You want to assign only a subset of the vector. For example:
function [y]=func(x)
y=zeros(size(x));
mask = x ~= 0;
y(mask) = 1 ./ sin(x(mask));
end
Related
This function is supposed to return a function handle to the nested function inside, but if the variable x is set to a negative value in the outer function, it doesn't work.
The inner nested function is just a constant function returning the value of the variable x that is set in the outer function.
function t=test(x)
x=-1;
function y=f()
y=x;
endfunction
t=#f;
endfunction
If I try to evaluate the returned function, e.g. test()(3), I get an error about x being undefined. The same happens if x is defined as a vector with at least one negative entry or if x is argument of the function and a negative default value is used for evaluation. But if I instead define it as some nonnegative value
function t=test(x)
x=1;
function y=f()
y=x;
endfunction
t=#f;
endfunction,
then the returned function works just fine. Also if I remove the internal definition of x and give the value for x as an argument to the outer function (negative or not), like
function t=test(x)
function y=f()
y=x;
endfunction
t=#f;
endfunction
and then evaluate e.g. test(-1)(3), the error doesn't occur either. Is this a bug or am misunderstanding how function handles or nested functions work?
The Octave documentation recommends using subfunctions instead of nested functions, but they cannot access the local variables of their parent function and I need the returned function to depend on the input of the function returning it. Any ideas how to go about this?
This is a bug that was tracked here:
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?func=detailitem&item_id=60137
Looks like it was fixed and will be gone in the next release.
Also, to explain the different behavior of negative and positive numbers: I experimented a bit, and no variable that is assigned a computed value is being captured:
function t=tst()
x = [5,3;0,0]; # captured
y = [5,3;0,0+1]; # not captured
z = x + 1; # not captured
function y=f()
endfunction
t=#f;
endfunction
>> functions(tst)
ans =
scalar structure containing the fields:
function = f
type = nested
file =
workspace =
{
[1,1] =
scalar structure containing the fields:
t = #f
x =
5 3
0 0
}
The different behavior of negative and positive numbers are probably caused by the minus sign - before the numbers being treated as a unary operator (uminus).
As of octave version 5.2.0 the nested function handles were not supported at all. I'm going to guess that is the novelty of the version 6.
In octave functions are not variables, the engine compiles\translates them at the moment of reading the file. My guess would be that behavior you are observing is influenced by your current workspace at the time of function loading.
The common way for doing what you are trying to do was to generate the anonymous (lambda) functions:
function t = test1(x=-1)
t = #()x;
end
function t = test2(x=-1)
function s = calc(y,z)
s = y + 2*z;
end
t = #(a=1)calc(a,x);
end
Note that default parameters for the generated function should be stated in lambda definition. Otherwise if you'd call it like test2()() it would not know what to put into a when calling calc(a,x).
If you are trying to create a closure (a function with associated state), octave has limited options for that. In such a case you could have a look at octave's object oriented functionality. Classdef might be useful for quick solutions.
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
So I have a for-loop in MATLAB, where either a vector x will be put through one function, say, cos(x).^2, or a different choice, say, sin(x).^2 + 9.*x. The user will select which of those functions he wants to use before the for-loop.
My question is, I dont want the loop to check what the user selected on every iteration. Is there a way to use a pointer to a function, (user defined, or otherwise), that every iteration will use automatically?
This is inside a script by the way, not a function.
Thanks
You can use function_handles. For your example (to run on all available functions using a loop):
x = 1:10; % list of input values
functionList = {#(x) cos(x).^2, #(x) sin(x).^2 + 9*x}; % function handle cell-array
for i=1:length(functionList)
functionOut{i} = functionList{i}(x); % output of each function to x
end
You can try something like the following:
userChoice = 2;
switch userChoice
case 1
myFun = #(x) sin(x).^2 + 9.*x;
case 2
myFun = #(x) cos(x).^2;
end
for k = 1:10
x(k,:) = myFun(rand(1,10));
end
I'm trying to generate .bmp graphics in MATLAB and I'm having trouble summing functions together. I'm designing my function such that given an arbitrary set of inputs, my function will add an arbitrary number of functions together and output a function handle. The inputs are coefficients to my general function so I can specify any number of functions (that only differ due to their coefficients) and then add them together into a function handle. What I've tried to do is create each function as a string and then concatenate them and then write them as a function handle. The main problem is that because x and y aren't defined (because I'm trying to create a function handle) MATLAB can't add them regularly. My current attempt:
function HGHG = anyHGadd(multi) %my array of inputs
m=length(multi);
for k=3:3:m;
m1=multi(k-2); %these three are the coefficients that I'd like to specify
n1=multi(k-1);
w1=multi(k);
HGarrm1=hermite(m1); %these generate arrays
HGarrn1=hermite(n1);
arrm1=[length(HGarrm1)-1:-1:0];%these generate arrays with the same length
arrn1=[length(HGarrn1)-1:-1:0];%the function below is the general form of my equation
t{k/3}=num2str(((sum(((sqrt(2)*x/w1).^arrm1).*HGarrm1))*(sum(((sqrt(2)*y/w1).^arrn1).*HGarrn1))*exp(-(x^2+y^2)/(w1^2))));
end
a=cell2mat(t(1:length(t)));
str2func(x,y)(a);
Any help would be much appreciated. I haven't seen much on here about this, and I'm not even sure this is entirely possible. If my question isn't clear, please say so and I'll try again.
Edit: The fourth from last line shouldn't produce a number because x and y aren't defined. They can't be because I need them to be preserved as a part of my function handle. As for a stripped down version of my code, hopefully this gets the point across:
function HGHG = anyHGadd(multi) %my array of inputs
m=length(multi);
for k=3:3:m;
m1=multi(k-2); %these three are the coefficients that I'd like to specify
n1=multi(k-1);
w1=multi(k);
t{k/3}=num2str(genericfunction(x,y,n1,m1,n1,w1); %where x and y are unspecified
end
a=cell2mat(t(1:length(t)));
str2func(x,y)(a);
Edit I am expecting this to output a single function handle that is the sum of an arbitrary number of my functions. However, I'm not sure if using strings would be the best method or not.
Your question is not very clear to me, but I think you are trying to create a function that generate output functions parametrized by some input.
One way is to use closures (nested function that access its parent function workspace). Let me illustrate with an example:
function fh = combineFunctions(funcHandles)
%# return a function handle
fh = #myGeneralFunction;
%# nested function. Implements the formula:
%# f(x) = cos( f1(x) + f2(x) + ... + fN(x) )
%# where f1,..,fN are the passed function handles
function y = myGeneralFunction(x)
%# evaluate all functions on the input x
y = cellfun(#(fcn) fcn(x), funcHandles);
%# apply cos(.) to the sum of all the previous results
%# (you can make this any formula you want)
y = cos( sum(y) );
end
end
Now say we wanted to create the function #(x) cos(sin(x)+sin(2x)+sin(5x)), we would call the above generator function, and give it three function handles as follows:
f = combineFunctions({#(x) sin(x), #(x) sin(2*x), #(x) sin(5*x)});
Now we can evaluate this created function given any input:
>> f(2*pi/5) %# evaluate f(x) at x=2*pi/5
ans =
0.031949
Note: The function returned will work on scalars and return a scalar value. If you want it vectorized (so that you can apply it on whole vector at once f(1:100)), you'll have to set UniformOutput to false in cellfun, then combine the vectors into a matrix, sum them along the correct dimension, and apply your formula to get a vector result.
If your goal is to create a function handle that sums the output of an arbitrary number functions, you can do the following:
n = 3; %# number of function handles
parameters = [1 2 4];
store = cell(2,3);
for i=1:n
store{1,i} = sprintf('sin(t/%i)',parameters(i));
store{2,i} = '+'; %# operator
end
%# combine such that we get
%# sin(t)+sin(t/2)+sin(t/4)
funStr = ['#(t)',store{1:end-1}]; %# ignore last operator
functionHandle = str2func(funStr)
functionHandle =
#(t)sin(t/1)+sin(t/2)+sin(t/4)
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.