Why do I receive errors when using ''nftool" or calling other MathWorks functions when I have the PLS Toolbox installed?

I receive errors when calling MathWorks functions when I have the PLS Toolbox from Eigenvector Research installed.

For example, I get below error when using "nftool" from Deep Learning Toolbox in R2019b, or when I directly try to construct a neural network at the command line:

>> net = fitnet;
Error using  *
Incorrect dimensions for matrix multiplication. Check that the number of columns in the first matrix matches the
number of rows in the second matrix. To perform elementwise multiplication, use '.*'.

Error in minmax

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

This issue you are facing is due to functions from the PLS Toolbox shadowing functions from other MathWorks toolboxes. For the example above, the error is caused by PLS Toolbox shadowing the "minmax" function from Deep Learning Toolbox:

>> which minmax -all
C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2019b\toolbox\PLS_Toolbox_871\utilities\minmax.p
C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2019b\toolbox\PLS_Toolbox_871\utilities\minmax.m  % Shadowed
C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2019b\toolbox\nnet\nnet\nndatafun\minmax.m        % Shadowed

To work around the issue, the PLS Toolbox contains a function to place all of it's functions at the bottom of the MATLAB search path to prevent them from shadowing MATLAB functions from MathWorks products. In your command window, please enter this command:

>> evrimovepath('bottom')

If you wish to move the PLS Toolbox functions back to the top of the MATLAB path, you can enter the following command from the PLS Toolbox, which will move the functions from the PLS Toolbox back onto the top of the search path.

>> evrimovepath('top') 

Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience this workflow may cause you.

As these are functions from a third-party tool, we cannot offer extensive support on this issue. Eigenvector Research are aware of some incompatibilities with their tool and MathWorks Toolboxes and this is their recommended workflow to work around these issues. For more information on this, please see their Wikipedia post below:https://wiki.eigenvector.com/index.php?title=Faq_any_PLS_Toolbox_functions_conflict_with_the_Mathworks_Toolboxes

Please consider contacting the support team for the PLS Toolbox from Eigenvector Research, so that they are aware of this compatibility issue. They may consider addressing this in their toolbox, or may suggest a different workaround for you.