MTH643 Handouts

If you intend to run MATLAB on a PC, particularly the Student Version, it is quite possible that you will have to install it yourself. The following points can be beneficial for installation of the MATLAB The task can be easily accomplished using the product CDs. Follow the installation instructions as you would with any new software installation. During the installation you may be asked which toolboxes you wish to install. We suggest that you install any that seem of interest to you or that you think you might use at some point in the future. But for the purpose of this course , you should be sure to include the Symbolic Math Toolbox. You start MATLAB as you would any other software application: On a PC you access it via the Start menu, in the programs folder under MATLAB R2010a or MATLAB 7.0. Alternatively you may have a desktop icon that enables you to start MATLAB with a simple-double click As you start of MATLAB, you will briefly see a window that displays the MATLAB logo alongwith some MATLAB product information, like version of MATLAB etc. Then a MATLAB desktop window will launch. That window will contain a title bar, a menu bar, a tool bar, and four and embedded windows, one of which is hidden. The largest and most important window is the Command Window on the left. Later we will go into more detail on the use and manipulation of the other three windows: the Workspace Browser, the Command History Window, and the Current Directory Browser. Now, we focus on Command Window in order to get you started issuing MATLAB commands. At the top of Command Window, you may see some general information about MATLAB, the most important of all, you will see a command prompt (»). If the Command Window is active, its title bar will be dark, and the prompt will be followed by a cursor (a blinking vertical line). That is the place where you will enter your MATLAB Commands.