Add Help for Your Program
This example shows how to provide help for the programs you write. Help text appears in the
Command Window when you use the help function.
Create help text by inserting comments at the beginning of your program. If your program includes a
function, position the help text immediately below the function definition line (the line with the
function keyword). If the function contains an arguments block, you also can position the help text
immediately below the arguments block.
For example, create a function in a file named addme.m that includes help text:
function c = addme(a,b)
% ADDME Add two values together.
%
C = ADDME(A) adds A to itself.
%
%
C = ADDME(A,B) adds A and B together.
%
%
See also SUM, PLUS.
switch nargin
case 2
c = a + b;
case 1
c = a + a;
otherwise
c = 0;
end
When you type help addme at the command line, the help text displays in the Command Window:
addme Add two values together.
C = addme(A) adds A to itself.
C = addme(A,B) adds A and B together.
See also sum, plus.
The first help text line, often called the H1 line, typically includes the program name and a brief
description. The Current Folder browser and the help and lookfor functions use the H1 line to
display information about the program.
Create See also links by including function names at the end of your help text on a line that begins
with % See also. If the function exists on the search path or in the current folder, the help
command displays each of these function names as a hyperlink to its help. Otherwise, help prints the
function names as they appear in the help text.
You can include hyperlinks (in the form of URLs) to Web sites in your help text. Create hyperlinks by
including an HTML anchor element. Within the anchor, use a matlab: statement to
execute a web command. For example:
% For more information, see the MathWorks Web site.
End your help text with a blank line (without a %). The help system ignores any comment lines that
appear after the help text block.
Add Help for Your Program
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