Running functions from initial working function when in another subfolder?

Hi there,

I noticed that under preferences--> general the user can set the initial working folder for matlab. My friend's computer is set to "based on startup rules" and my is set to a syncd gDrive folder for convenience between my workstations. On my friend's computer he is able to store functions in his startup (initial working) folder i.e.user/docs/MATLAB and RUN THEM from any subfolder of that root. I on the other hand receive an error when I try to do this same thing user a another specified folder selected in the general preferences area.

I would like to have the same flexibility with my function placement as my friend but use the gDrive folder instead of the default user/doc/MATLAB. This allows function calls by just "function name (xx,xxx,..)" instead of specifying the full path each time.

Does anyone know a way I can make this work?

Thanks for your help!!! It is much appreciated!

Answer 1

[Image Analyst]

Why not just put this in your startup.m file:

addpath('g:\folder');
savepath;

[Noel Puldon]

Thank you! That worked perfectly :) I had never heard of a startup.m file before and did not have one in place. Is there other stuff that can add to my convenience by utilizing this .m file?

[Image Analyst]

You might put a

cd('c:\some starting folder');
filebrowser;  % Won't work with compiled programs.

in there if you want to start in a certain folder with the Current Folder panel listing all the files showing. If you have the compiler toolbox though you'll have to check "isdeployed" because startup.m gets run by the compiled app and filebrowser will throw an exception if it's called by compiled apps. If you don't have the compiler toolbox, it's okay to have in there.

[Steven Lord]

You can put whatever you want in your startup.m file. A mildly annoying April Fools' joke would be to modify someone's startup.m to include the command " quit force " so MATLAB shuts down on startup. [You'd have to edit startup.m in a text editor to remove the offending command.]

As listed in the See Also section of the startup.m documentation page, the finish.m file is the equivalent of startup.m for doing something when MATLAB exits rather than when MATLAB starts.

[Bora Eryilmaz]

It is enough to run the accepted answer once since it will save the specified folder on your MATLAB path. You don't need to rerun it from startup.m every time you start MATLAB.

You friend can run his code from anywhere because the folder "user/docs/MATLAB" is automatically on the MATLAB path, whereas yours was not.