CODEWITHSUNDEEP
matlabdocumentationoverriding
patrik
patrik

Reputation: 4558

How to override the help a function in matlab?

I have noticed that when a function is overridden the help fcn is not. I created a custom function using the same name as a built in function. Trying:

which fcn

Yields the right\function.m, but when I use the help function

help fcn

I get the help for the built in function. However, if I instead type

help fcn.m

I get the correct help. This is ambiguous and disturbing and may lead to confusion about which file is the used one. That is why I wonder: is it possible to override the help as well?.

I know that many does not recommend overriding in matlab, but there are times when it may be worth. For this occation it means that I does not need to change all legacy code where the function is used and also it is not good to have too many version of a function (mycdfplot is already taken and some may have local versions as well).

Upvotes: 4

Views: 215

Answers (1)

Hoki
Hoki

Reputation: 11802

Short answer: NO.
(sorry)

To develop a bit: If you overload your own function, you can force the help to point to a specific function by playing with the function precedence order and the order of the path. But for Matlab built-in function, they always take precedence over your custom functions.

The only way for the help to reach your custom function is how you described, by specifying .m

From Matlab (2013b) help:

Note: When multiple programs have the same name, the help command determines which help text to display by applying the rules described in Function Precedence Order. However, if a program has the same name as a MathWorks function, the Help on Selection option in context menus always displays documentation for the MathWorks function.

Upvotes: 1

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