unix

Execute UNIX command and return output

For platform-independent code, use the system command.

Syntax

[status,cmdout] = unix(command)

Description

[status,cmdout] = unix(command) calls the operating system to execute the specified command and returns the standard output of the command to cmdout.

MATLAB^® uses a shell program to execute the given command. It determines which shell program to use by checking environment variables on your system. MATLAB first checks the MATLAB_SHELL variable, and if either empty or not defined, then checks SHELL. If SHELL is also empty or not defined, MATLAB uses /bin/sh.

For tips and information about limitations, see system.

Examples

Display Operating System Command Status and Output

Display the current folder using the cd command. A status of zero indicates that the command completed successfully. MATLAB returns a character vector containing the current folder in cmdout.

command = 'cd';
[status,cmdout] = unix(command)

Input Arguments

command — UNIX^® command

character vector

UNIX command, specified as a character vector. The command executes in a UNIX shell, which might not be the shell from which you started MATLAB.

Example: 'ls'

Output Arguments

status — Command exit status

0 | nonzero integer

Command exit status, returned as either 0 or a nonzero integer. When the command is successful, status is 0. Otherwise, status is a nonzero integer.

• If command includes the ampersand character (&), then status is the exit status when command starts

• If command does not include the ampersand character (&), then status is the exit status upon command completion.

cmdout — Output of operating system command

character vector

Output of the operating system command, returned as a character vector. The system shell might not properly represent non-Unicode^® characters.

Extended Capabilities

C/C++ Code Generation

Generate C and C++ code using MATLAB® Coder™. (since R2024b)

Usage notes and limitations:

• stdin of the calling process is inherited on Windows^® and UNIX.

• On UNIX, if a second output is requested, stdout is redirected to a pipe. Otherwise, stdout is inherited from the calling process.

• On Windows, the nargout determines whether the output read from the pipe is stored in a variable or sent to stdout of the calling process. If the number of arguments is 1, the output from the pipe is sent to stdout. Otherwise, it is stored in a variable.

Version History

Introduced before R2006a