How can I tell MATLAB that 'ne' is a variable name and should not be treated as the ne function?

Question

I have a huge bunch of data where ne is a variable. When I load it into MATLAB 2013b, and try to use it, I get

Error using ne.
Not enough input arguments.

Changing all the ne to some other name would be laborious. Any hacks?

This is a short code snippet:

function test(lambda, range)
% lambda is a number, range is a vector passed like 1:10 %

    for i = range
        load ('data.mat');    % data.mat contains a variable called 'ne' among others. %
        T = exp(-ne);

    ...

When calling the function, there's the error saying that ne has not been provided with enough input args.

No, my variable is just named 'ne' in a mat file. The mat files have other vars too. — user2354033, Feb 20 '14 at 05:58
It's in a function. It is loaded, because I see it when I type whos. — user2354033, Feb 20 '14 at 06:00
This means you loaded it inside the workspace but not inside the function. That's why the variabe `ne` is not visible. You could load it inside the function or pass it as an argument. — s.bandara, Feb 20 '14 at 06:00
Yup, I load the mat file within the function. Like so: function X; load('data.mat'); %this loads the mat file with a bunch of vars%; T = exp(-ne); — user2354033, Feb 20 '14 at 06:02
It would be helpful if you could edit your question to include all relevant code. — s.bandara, Feb 20 '14 at 06:06

score 1 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:57

1

You need to tell matlab ne is a variable BEFORE you load it:

ne = []; % this will tell matlab ne is a variable
for ii = range
     load('data.mat'); % loading ne
     T = exp(-ne); % should work just fine now...

PS,
It is best not to use i as a variable name in Matlab.

edited May 23 '17 at 11:57

Community

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answered Feb 20 '14 at 06:21

Shai

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@user2354033 - glad I could help. If this solution worked for you, please consider "accepting" it by clicking the "V" icon beside it. – Shai Feb 20 '14 at 06:25

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 20 '14 at 09:23

1

Another (better?) way is to avoid loading 'data.mat' directly into the global workspace. If you write:

testData = load('data.mat');

then your variable will be testData.ne, which does not clash with the built-in ne. This technique also avoids accidentally overwriting variables in your workspace which happen to have the same name as a variable in the .mat file.

answered Feb 20 '14 at 09:23

Max

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That's a cleaner way. Thanks! – user2354033 Feb 20 '14 at 20:39

How can I tell MATLAB that 'ne' is a variable name and should not be treated as the ne function?

2 Answers2