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> |