another way to break without using the command 'break'

Hi all,

In this code i want to know another way to break the code withoug using the 'break command': This break should happen when the remaining liquid in a silo is less than the volume of a container

function [FullContainers,RemainingLiquid] = myFunction(VolumeOfSilo)
% myFunction generates the number of containers that are filled by the
% liquid in a silo of a given volume and the Liters remaining in the silo
% after all the containers have been filled
% >> syntax >> [NoContainer,RemainingLiquid] = myFunction(volumeOfSilo)

 c = 0 ; % initially we dont have any containers
 vol = zeros() ; % preallocate for speed
 
 while c >= 0 
     c = c + 1; % keep bringing containers
     vol(c) = 280 + 150*rand ;  % determine the volume of the container
     
     if VolumeOfSilo >= vol(c)
     RemainingLiquid = VolumeOfSilo - vol(c) ; % remaining liters after pouring
     VolumeOfSilo = RemainingLiquid; % update the liters remaining in silo
     FullContainers = c ;
     elseif VolumeOfSilo < vol(c) % 
     FullContainers = 0 ;
     RemainingLiquid = VolumeOfSilo ;
     end
     
     if VolumeOfSilo < vol(c)
        break
     end
 end
 
end

Answer 1

[Allen]

To stop the while loop you need to make sure that none of the conditions are met, else it will keep running. By changing || to && you are saying that both conditions need to be met in order to continue looping.

 term_while = true;     % flag variable
 c = 0 ; % initially we dont have any containers
 vol = zeros() ; % preallocate for speed
%  while c >= 0 || term_while
 while c >= 0 && term_while
     ...
     if VolumeOfSilo < vol(c)   % help me to avoid using break
         % break
         term_while = false;    % set flag variable to false so the loop stops
     end
 end
 

Alternatively, you can use your orginal code but replace break with c = -1. This will prevent the condition for continuing the while-loop from being met.

 c = 0 ; % initially we dont have any containers
 vol = zeros() ; % preallocate for speed
 
 while c >= 0 
     c = c + 1; % keep bringing containers
     ...
     if VolumeOfSilo < vol(c)
        c = -1;
     end
 end

However, looking over the intention of your function, you might consider using the following instead.

function [FullContainers,RemainingLiquid] = myFunction(VolumeOfSilo)
% myFunction generates the number of containers that are filled by the
% liquid in a silo of a given volume and the Liters remaining in the silo
% after all the containers have been filled
% >> syntax >> [NoContainer,RemainingLiquid] = myFunction(volumeOfSilo)
i = 0; % loop counter
vol = 0; % preallocate for speed

% While-loop creates a random number of volumes until the total volume is
% greater than the Volume of the Silo. Also assigned a max number of
% iterations to allow the while-loop to run as a safety measure.
while sum(vol)<=VolumeOfSilo && i<1e5
    i = i+1; % increment loop counter
    vol(i) = 280+150*rand ; % determine the volume of the container
end

% Counter the number of elements in the vol variable and determine the
% amount of remaining fluid. Since we set the while-loop to end after the
% silo volume is exceeded, we need to ignore the last container volume
% in the remaining steps.
FullContainers = numel(vol)-1;
RemainingLiquid = VolumeOfSilo-sum(vol(1:end-1));

end

[suleiman abdullahi]

ingenious solution, Thanks a lot

Answer 2

[Bhaskar R]

You can set a flag variable to terminate while loop without using break keyword

 term_while = true;     % flag variable
 c = 0 ; % initially we dont have any containers
 vol = zeros() ; % preallocate for speed
 while c >= 0 || term_while
     c = c + 1; % keep bringing containers
     vol(c) = 280 + 150*rand ;  % determine the volume of the container
     
     if VolumeOfSilo >= vol(c)
     RemainingLiquid = VolumeOfSilo - vol(c) ; % remaining liters after pouring
     VolumeOfSilo = RemainingLiquid; % update the liters remaining in silo
     FullContainers = c ;
     end
     
     if VolumeOfSilo < vol(c)   % help me to avoid using break
         % break
         term_while = false;    % set flag variable to false so the loop stops
     end
 end
 
end

[suleiman abdullahi]

it does not work