The following table contains a listing of commands that you use relatively often in MATLAB. You won't find every command listed — that would require a book in itself. However, these commands are usually used several times each session.
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
| cla | Clears the current plot |
| clc | Clears the Command window |
| clear variable name> | Removes a specific variable from the Workspace window (as specified by variable name>) |
| clear all | Removes all of the variables from the Workspace window |
| close figure name> | Closes a specific figure (as specified by figure name>) |
| close all | Closes all of the current figures |
| diary filename> | Specifies the name of the file to use for the Diary feature |
| diary off | Stops saving the Command window text to a file |
| diary on | Starts saving the Command window text to a file |
| exist keyword> | Checks whether a keyword or file is in use |
| format compact | Removes extraneous spaces from the Command window |
| gca | Obtains a handle to the current axes |
| gcf | Obtains a handle to the current figure |
| gco | Obtains a handle to the current object |
| get(handle>, property>) | Obtains the property> found in the object pointed at by handle> |
| help command or file> | Displays help documentation for the command> or comments in files you've created |
| iskeyword | Displays a list of all the MATLAB keywords |
| iskeyword name> | Determines whether name> is a keyword |
| load filename> | Loads the file containing variables to the Workspace window |
| more off | Displays output using standard scrolling so that all of the output appears at one time |
| more on | Tells MATLAB to display output one screen at a time |
| save filename> | Saves the variables shown in the Workspace window to the specified file |
| set(handle>, property>, value>) | Sets the property> found in the object pointed at by handle> to the specified value> |
