Matlab files

The files that contain Matlab/Octave code are plain text files (as those produced e.g. by Notepad; Word is not good).
These files should have the ending .m (and are called M-files).
See Basics and the corresponding sections in Octave's manual (at least checking 11.10 Script Files and 11.9 Function Files).
Editing M-files:
- Matlab/Octave come with their own editors, see below.
- One improvisation to write/read them on non-Linux systems is to select Notepad (or a similar program that DOES NOT ADD ANY FORMATING ETC. TO THE FILE) when you are asked what program to use for opening the file (and set this editor as the default for .m files).
Here are a few more advanced editors that do this:
- Matlab comes with an editor accessible from its Desktop.
- Octave's editor, (depending on the OS can be Emacs, Notepad++, etc.), is invoked with the command edit <FILEAME> issued at the Octave prompt (if you want to open a function in the load path of Octave, it is enough to give the name, need not give the full path).
  - On Windows, for a new file, it will open, say, a Notepad++ window (or a tab in the one already open) with the file containing commands as if you are preparing to create a new function.
  - If you only want to enter commands, can delete all this initial content.
  - When you save the file, do not do it in Octave's folder (something like C:\Octave\ ....) but in a place that is "at hand".
  - See below how to have Matlab/Octave know where are the files you want to execute.
- My preferred editor is Emacs, an extensible, customizable, self-documenting real-time display editor.
  - XEmacs is its more display-oriented version.
  - It is also available for Windows.
  - One Mac version is Aquamacs.
  - Emacs is very powerful, but takes a while to get used to.
    See these notes for more about it.
- Here are other editors:
  - Notepad++: http://notepad-plus-plus.org/
    This editor can handle numerous languages (look under the "Language" tab).
    That is, highlights and corrects the syntax, marks blocks (for example, one can close an if–end block for a better overview of the code), and probably interacts well with the debuggers.
  - Devzoo: http://www.devzoo.com//index.php?tooltype=WindowsEditor
  - Code Blocks: http://www.codeblocks.org/
Once the M-file is written, it is more convenient if it is in a place where Matlab/Octave look for such files: the search/load path and the current directory.
- recommended: arrange for Matlab/Octave to start in a directory of your choice; in Windows open with the right mouse the "Properties" of the shortcut and edit the corresponding field.
- one can change directory with
```
	  cd <new-directory>
	
```
  (cd comes from Change Directory; directory is the same as folder)
  
  One can get the current directory with
```
	  pwd
	
```
  (pwd = print name of current/working directory)
  
  To see the content of the current directory use ls or dir (ls = list).
  
  To see the content of another directory do ls <directory>.
Once the file is in the path where Matlab/Octave looks for M-files, can just enter at the prompt the filename,
```
      
	octave:> FILENAME
        
```
to execute the file FILENAME.m.
This is how all the commands are "stored". For example,
```
      
	octave:2> which plot
	`plot' is a function from the file /usr/share/octave/3.2.4/m/plot/plot.m
	octave:3> 
    
```
says that the command plot is in the above file (the location depends on your installation).
You can open it with an editor as discussed above. If you use Octave's editor, it is enough to do edit plot because plot.m is in the load path.
To see the load path, do path; this can also be used to change the path.
Unfortunately .m is the extension for certain Mathematica files too.
Moreover, the extension .m corresponds to the MIME type application/vnd.wolfram.mathematica.package
It is possible that on a machine that has Mathematica installed such files are considered Mathematica files, even if they contain Matlab/Octave code.
What can be done is to add another option for opening these files: Notepad or preferrably Notepad++ (whose executable, notepad++.exe, is in the Octave folder, in the subfolder tools).