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ISBN: 0132270285. 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

APPENDIX

MathScript Basics

B.1 INTRODUCTION
LabVIEW is short for Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench. It is
a flexible graphical development environment from National Instruments, Inc. Engineers and scientists in research, development, production, test, and service industries as diverse as automotive, semiconductor, aerospace, electronics, chemical,
telecommunications, and pharmaceutical use LabVIEW, especially in the area of
testing and measurements, industrial automation, and data analysis. Users of LabVIEW are familiar with the use of the graphical programming language to create
programs relying on graphic symbols to describe programming actions.An important
new development introduced in LabVIEW 8.0 or higher is the MathScript environment. LabVIEW MathScript is a text-based command line environment using m-files
and command line prompts. It is assumed here that the reader has LabVIEW 8 installed and knows how to access the LabVIEW Getting Started window. This appendix only provides an introduction to MathScript. Readers should refer to Learning
with LabVIEW1 for a more complete introduction to LabVIEW and MathScript.
In this appendix, we discuss the MathScript Interactive Window. The essentials
of creating user-defined functions and scripts, of saving and loading data files, and of
using the MathScript Node are presented. With the MathScript Interactive Window,
students will be able to interact with LabVIEW through a command prompt.

B.2 WHAT IS MATHSCRIPT?

MathScript is a high-level, text-based programming language with an easily accessible syntax and ample functionality to address programming tasks related to
signal processing, analysis, and mathematics. MathScript includes more than 500
built-in functions. There are linear algebra functions, curve fitting function, digital filters, functions for solving differential equations, and probability and statistics functions. And since MathScript employs a commonly used syntax, it follows
that you can work with many of your previously developed mathematical computation scripts, or any of those openly available in engineering textbooks or on the
Internet.

Bishop, R. H., Learning with LabVIEW, Prentice Hall Publishing, 2007.

971
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972

Appendix B MathScript Basics

The fundamental math-oriented data types in MathScript are matrices with

built-in operators for generating data and accessing elements. You can extend MathScript by defining your own custom functions. You can find more information on
MathScript at http://ni.com/mathscript including lists of built-in MathScript functions and links to online examples.

B.3 ACCESSING THE MATHSCRIPT INTERACTIVE WINDOW

The interactive interface is provided by the MathScript Interactive Window. You can
access the interactive window from the Getting Started window or any VI by selecting
ToolsMathScript Window, as illustrated in Figure B.1. The MathScript Interactive
Window is a user interface comprised of a Command Window (the user command inputs), an Output Window echoing the inputs and showing the resulting outputs, a Script
Editor window (for loading, saving, compiling, and running scripts), a Variables window
(showing variables, dimensions, and type), and a Command History window providing
a historical account of commands and interactions with MathScript. A new MathScript
Interactive Window is shown in Figure B.2 with the various components highlighted.
As you work, the Output Window updates to show your inputs and the subsequent results. The Command History window tracks your commands. The history
view is very useful because there you can access and reuse your previously executed
commands by double clicking a previous command to execute it again. You can also
navigate up and down through the previous commands (which will appear in the
Command Window) by using the q and p keys. In the Script Editor window, you
can enter and execute groups of commands and then save the commands in a file
(called a script) for use in a later LabVIEW session.
Select MathScript Window

(b)

( )

FIGURE B.1 Accessing the MathScript Interactive Window from (a) the Getting Started window, or (b) the Tools
pull-down menu on the front panel or block diagram.

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973

Section B.3 Accessing the Mathscript Interactive Window

MathScript Interactive
Window

Variables

Script Editor

Command History

Output
Window

FIGURE B.2
The basic
components of the
MathScript
Interactive Window.

Preview
Pane
Command
Window

Clearing the Command History Window

The commands entered in previous sessions using the MathScript Interactive Window will reappear in subsequent sessions. In the Command History window you will
find a header that shows the day and time that you entered the commands. This feature allows you to easily discern when the commands were entered. If the Command History window gets too full and you want to clear it out, you can right-click
the Command History window and select Clear History from the shortcut menu.
This process is illustrated in Figure B.3.

Clearing the Output Window

In a manner similar to the clearing the Command History window, you can clear the
Output Window. To accomplish this task, right-click the Output Window and select
Clear from the shortcut menu, as shown in Figure B.3. You also can use the MathScript function clc to clear the Output Window by typing in clc in the Command
Window.

Copying Output Window Data

You can copy data from the Output Window and paste it in the Script Editor window or a text editor. Right-click the Output Window and select Copy Data from the
shortcut menu to copy the contents of the Output Window to the clipboard. You
also can highlight text in the Output Window and select EditCopy or press the
6Ctrl-C7 keys to copy the selected text to the clipboard.

Viewing Data in a Variety of Formats

In the MathScript Interactive Window you can view the variables in a variety of formats, as shown in Figure B.4. Depending on the variable type, the available formats

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974

Appendix B MathScript Basics

Right-click on
Output Window
and select
Clear

Right-click on
Command History
and select
Clear History

Use the clc

function in the
Command Window

FIGURE B.3 Clearing the Command History and the Output Window.

Select y
Define time
interval and
compute
y sin(t)

In pull-down
menu choose
variable type

FIGURE B.4
Showing the data
type in various
formats.

Graph of
the data in
variable y

include: numeric, string, graph, XY graph, sound, surface, and picture. You can edit
a variable in the Preview Pane when the display type is Numeric or String. Selecting
Sound plays the data as a sound, but works for one-dimensional variables only. The
remaining display types show the data as graphs of one sort or another: Graph displays the data on a waveform graph, XY Graph displays the data on an XY graph,
Surface displays the data on a 3D surface graph, and Picture displays the data on an
intensity graph.
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Section B.3 Accessing the Mathscript Interactive Window

975

Open a new MathScript Interactive Window from the Getting Started window
by selecting ToolsMathScript Window, as illustrated in Figure B.1. In the Command Window input the time from t = 0 seconds to t = 10 seconds in increments of
0.1 seconds, as follows:
t = [0 : 0.1 : 10];
Then, compute the y = cos(t)as follows:
y = cos(t);
Notice that in the Variables window the two variables t and y appear, as illustrated in
Figure B.5a. Select the variable y and note that in the Preview Pane the variable appears in the numeric format. Now, in the pull-down menu above the Preview Pane, select Graph.The data will now be shown in graphical form, as illustrated in Figure B.5b.
The graph can be undocked from the Preview Pane for re-sizing and customization.To
undock the graph, right-click on the graph and select Undock Window. The window
can now be re-sized and the plot can be customized interactively and printed.
As an alternative to using the Preview Pane, you can also obtain a plot of the y
versus t programmatically using the plot command:
plot(t,y)

Select the variable y

Select the Numeric to show data

values in numeric format
(a)
Select the Graph to show data in graph format
(b)

FIGURE B.5 (a) Entering the time, computing y = cos(t) and viewing the variable y in numerical form.
(b) Viewing the variable y in graphical form.
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976

Appendix B MathScript Basics

Plot window
appears with
y cos(t)

FIGURE B.6
Obtaining a plot of
the cosine function
using the plot
command.

Using the plot command

The process is illustrated in Figure B.6. A new window appears that presents the
graph of y versus t. Following the same procedure, see if you can obtain a plot of
y = cos(vt) where v = 4 rad/sec.

B.4 MATHSCRIPT HELP

You can display several types of help content for MathScript by calling different
help commands from the Command Window. Table B.1 lists the help commands you
can call and the type of help these commands display in the Output Window.
As illustrated in Figure B.7, entering help classes in the Command Window
launches the LabVIEW Help showing all classes of functions and commands that MathScript supports. Examples of the classes of functions are basic and matrixops. Entering
help basic in the Command Window results in a list of the members of the basic
Table B.1 Help Commands for MathScript
Command

Description of Help Provided

help
help classes

Provides an overview of the MathScript window.

Provides a list of all classes of MathScript functions and topics as well as a
short description of each class.
Provides a list of the additional classes of functions that are installed with the
LabVIEW Control Design Toolkit.
Provides a list of the names and short descriptions of all functions in a particular MathScript class.
Example: help basic
Provides reference help for a particular MathScript function or topic, in
cluding its name, syntax, description, inputs and outputs, examples to type in
the Command Window, and related functions or topics.
Example: help abs

help cdt
classes
help class
help
function

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977

Section B.5 Syntax

Functions of
particular
interest to
students
studying
controls.

FIGURE B.7 Accessing the help for MathScript classes, members, and functions.

class, including abs (i.e., the absolute value), conj (i.e., the complex conjugate function), and exp (i.e., the exponential function). Then, entering help abs in the Command Window will result in an output that contains a description of the abs
function, including examples of its usage and related topics.

B.5 SYNTAX
The syntax associated with MathScript is straightforward. Most students with some
experience programming a text-based language will be comfortable with the programming constructs in MathScript. If you need help getting started with MathScript, you can access help by selecting Help Search the LabVIEW Help from the
MathScript Interactive Window and typing mathscript in the search window.
Eleven basic MathScript syntax guidelines are:
1. Scalar operations: MathScript is ideally suited for quick mathematical operations,
such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. For example, consider the
addition of two scalar numbers, 16 and 3. This is a simple operation that you might
perform on a calculator. This can be accomplished using the MathScript command:
>>16+3
ans=

Output Window display

19

In MathScript, if you perform any calculation or function without assigning the result
to a variable, the default variable ans is used. If you want to assign the value of the
addition of two scalars to the variable x, enter the following command:
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978

Appendix B MathScript Basics

>>x=16+3
x=
19
In the same manner, you can add two scalar variables y and z by entering the following commands:
>>y=16;
>>z=3;
>>y+z
ans=
19

Semicolon eliminates output display

>>disp(y);
16

Using disp leads to output even with the semicolon

No semicolon leads to output display

Notice that in the previous example a semicolon was used for the first two lines, and
no output was displayed. In MathScript, if you end a command line with a semicolon,
the MathScript Interactive Window does not display the output for that command.
Some functions display output even if you end the command line with a semicolon.
For example, the disp function displays an output even if followed by a semicolon.
You use the symbol - for subtraction, the symbol / for division, and the symbol
* for multiplication, as illustrated below:
>>16-3
ans=
13

Subtraction

>>16/3
ans=
5.3333

Division

>>16*3
ans=
48

Multiplication

2. Creating matrices and vectors: To create row or column vectors and matrices, use
white space or commas to separate elements, and use semicolons to separate rows.
Consider for example, the matrix A (a column vector),
1
A = C 2 S.
3
In MathScript syntax, you would form the matrix as
A = [1; 2; 3]
Consider for example, the matrix B (a row vector)
B = [1

-2

7].

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979

Section B.5 Syntax

In MathScript syntax, you would form the matrix as
B = [1, -2, 7] or B = [1 -2 7]
As a final example, consider the matrix C (a 3 * 3 matrix)
-1
C = C 4
1

2
10
0

0
-2 S .
6

In MathScript syntax, you would form the matrix as

C = [- 1 2 0; 4 10 -2; 1 0 6] or C = [-1, 2, 0; 4, 10, - 2; 1, 0, 6]
3. Creating vectors using the colon operator: There are several ways to create a onedimensional array of equally spaced elements. For example, you will often need to create a vector of elements representing time. To create a one-dimensional array equally
spaced and incremented by 1, use the MathScript syntax
W t = 1 : 10
t =
1

10

To create a one-dimensional array equally spaced and incremented by 0.5, use the
MathScript syntax
W t = 1 : 0.5 : 10
t =
1
1.5 2
6 6.5 7
7.5

2.5
8

3
8.5

3.5
9

4
9.5

4.5
10

5.5

4. Accessing individual elements of a vector or matrix: You may want to access specific
elements or subsets of a vector or matrix. Consider the 3 * 3 matrix C:
-1
C = C 4
1

2
10
0

0
-2 S.
6

In MathScript syntax, you can access the element in the second row and third column
of the matrix C, as follows:

>>C = [-1 2 0;4 10 -2;1 0 6]

C=
-1
2
0
4 10 -2
1
0
6
>>C(2,3)
ans=

C(2,3) denotes the second row of

the third column

-2

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980

Appendix B MathScript Basics

You can assign this value to a new variable by entering the following command:
>>F=C(2,3)
F=
-2
You can also access an entire row or an entire column of a matrix using the colon operator. In MathScript syntax, if you want to access the entire second row of matrix C,
enter the following command:

>>C(2,:)
ans=

The second row of C

10

-2

In the same way, if you wish to access the entire third column of matrix C, enter the
following command:

>>C(:,3)
ans=

The third row of C

0
-2
6

Suppose you want to extract the 2 * 2 submatrix from C consisting of rows 2 and 3 and
columns 1 and 2. You use brackets to specify groups of rows and columns to access a
subset of data as follows:

>>C([2 3], [1 2])

ans=
4
1

A submatrix of C

10
0

5. Calling functions in MathScript: You can call MathScript functions from the Command Window. Consider the creation of a vector of a certain number of elements that
are equally distributed in a given interval. To accomplish this in MathScript syntax, you
can use the built-in function linspace. Using the command help linspace you find that
this function uses the syntax
linspace(a, b, n)
where a specifies the start of the interval, b specifies the end of the interval, and n
identifies the number of elements. Thus, to create a vector of n = 13 numbers equally
distributed between a = 1 and b = 10, use the following command:

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981

Section B.5 Syntax

>>G = linspace (1, 10, 13)
G=
1
1.75
2.5
3.25
7.75

8.5

9.25

4.75

5.5

6.25

10

If you do not specify a value for n, the linspace command will automatically return a vector of 100 elements. To select a subset of G that consists of all elements after a specified
index location, you can use the syntax described in guideline 4 and the end function to
specify the end of the vector. For example, the following command will return all elements
of G from the fifth element to the final element:
>>H=G(5: end(G))
H=
4
4.75
5.5

6.25

7.75

8.5

9.25

10

The function linspace is an example of a built-in MathScript function. Calling user-defined

functions are discussed further in Section B.4.1.
6. Assigning data types to variables: MathScript variables adapt to data types. For
example, if
a = sin(3 * pi/2)
then a is a double-precision floating-point number. If
a = temperature
then a is a string.
7. Using complex numbers: You can use either i or j to represent the imaginary unit equal
to the square root of - 1. If you assign values to either i or j in your scripts, then those
variable names are no longer complex numbers. For example, if you let y = 4 + j, then
y is a complex number with real part equal to 4 and imaginary part equal to + j. If however, you assign j = 3, and then compute y = 4 + j, the result is y = 7, a real number.
8. Matrix operations: Many of the same mathematical functions used on scalars can also
be applied to matrices and vectors. Consider adding two matrices K and L, where
-1
K = C 4
1

2
10
0

0
1
- 2 S and L = C 0
6
0

0
1
0

0
0 S.
1

To add the two matrices K and L, element by element, enter the following MathScript
command:
>>K+L
ans =
0
2
4
11
1

0
-2
7

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982

Appendix B MathScript Basics

In a similar fashion, you can also multiply two matrices K and L, as follows:
>>K*L
ans =
-1
4

2
10

0
-2

Consider the 3 * 1 matrix M (column vector) and the 1 * 3 matrix N (row vector)
1
M = C 2 S and N = [0
3

2].

Then, the product M * N is the 3 * 3 matrix

>>M*N
ans =
0
1
0
2
0
3

2
4
6

and the product N * M is a scalar

>>N*M
ans =
8
To multiply two matrices, they must be of compatible dimensions. For example, suppose
a matrix M is of dimension m * n, and a second matrix N is of dimension n * p. Then
you can multiply M * N resulting in an m * p matrix. In the example above, the 3 * 1
matrix M (column vector) was multiplied with the 1 * 3 matrix N (row vector) resulting in a 3 * 3 matrix. You cannot multiply N * M unless m = p. In the example
above, the 1 * 3 matrix N (row vector) was multiplied with the 3 * 1 matrix M
(column vector) resulting in a 1 * 1 matrix (a scalar), so in this case, m = p = 1.
When working with vectors and matrices in MathScript, it is often useful to perform mathematical operations element-wise. For example, consider the two vectors
-1
2
M = C 4 S and N = C - 2 S.
0
1
In light of our previous discussion, it is not possible to compute M * N since the dimensions are not compatible. However, you can multiply the vectors element-wise using the
syntax .* for the multiplication operator, as follows:
-1*2
-2
M. * N = C 4 * ( -2) S = C - 8 S .
0*1
0
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983

Section B.5 Syntax

By definition, matrix addition and subtraction occurs element-wise. However, it is also

possible to perform division element-wise. For M and N as above, we find that elementwise division yields
- 1/2
- 0.5
M./N = C 4/( -2) S = C - 2 S.
0/1
0
Element-wise operations are useful in plotting functions. For example, suppose that
you wanted to plot y = t sin(t) for t = [0 : 0.1 : 10]. This would be achieved via the
commands
t=[0:0.1:10];
y=t .* sin(t);
plot(t,y)

Element-wise multiplication using .*

9. Logical expressions: MathScript can evaluate logical expressions such as EQUAL,

NOT EQUAL, AND, and OR. To perform an equality comparison, use the statement
a == b
If a is equal to b, MathScript will return a 1 (indicating True); if a and b are not equal,
MathScript will return a 0 (indicating False). To perform an inequality comparison, use
the statement
a '= b
If a is not equal to b, MathScript will return a 1 (indicating True); if a and b are equal,
MathScript will return a 0 (indicating False).
In other scenarios, you may want to use MathScript to evaluate compound logical
expressions, such as when at least one expression of many is True (OR), or when all of
your expressions are True (AND). The compound logical expression AND is executed
using the & command. The compound logical expression OR is executed using the
command.
10. Control flow constructs: Table B.2 provides the MathScript syntax for commonly used
programming constructs.
11. Adding comments: To add comments to your scripts, precede each line of documentation with a % character. For example, consider a script that has two inputs, x and y, and
computes the addition of x and y as the output variable z.
% In this script, the inputs are x and y
% and the output is z.
% z is the addition of x and y
z = x + y;

r Comments

The script shown above has three comments, all preceded by the % character. In the
next section, we will discuss more details on how to use comments to provide help documentation.

Some considerations that have a bearing on your usage of MathScript follow:

1. You cannot define variables that begin with an underscore, white space, or digit. For
example, you can name a variable time, but you cannot name a variable 4time or _time.
2. MathScript variables are case sensitive. The variables X and x are not the same variables.
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984

Appendix B MathScript Basics

Table B.2 MathScript syntax for commonly used constructs

Construct

Grammar

Example

switch
expression
case expression
statement-list
[case
expression
statement-list]

[otherwise
statement-list]
end

switch mode
case start
a = 0;
case end
a = - 1;
otherwise
a = a + 1;
end
When a case in a case-switch statement executes, LabVIEW does not
select the next case automatically.Therefore, you do not need to
use break statements as in C.

For Loop

for expression
statement-list
end

for k = 1 : 10
a = sin(2 * pi * k/10)
end

If-Else
Statement

if expression
statement-list
[elseif
expression
statement-list]

[else
statement-list]
end

if b = = 1
c = 3
else
c = 4
end

Range

start:[step:]end

While Loop

while
expression
statement-list
end

t = 0 : 0.1 : 10 or t = [0 : 0.1 : 10]

t returns an array of numbers 0 t 10 with a step size of 0.1
If you do not specify a step size, LabVIEW uses a step size of 1.
while k 6 10
a = cos(2 * pi * k/10)
k = k + 1;
end

Case-Switch
Statement

Key MathScript Functions

MathScript offers more than 500 textual functions for math, signal processing,
and analysis. These are in addition to the more than 600 graphical functions for
signal processing, analysis, and math that are available as VIs within LabVIEW.
Table B.3 lists many of the key areas with supporting MathScript functions. For
a comprehensive function list, visit the National Instruments website at
http://www.ni.com/mathscript or see the online help.

B.6 DEFINING FUNCTIONS AND CREATING SCRIPTS

You can define functions and create scripts to use in the MathScript Interactive Window. Functions and scripts can be created in the Script Editor window on the MathScript Interactive Window (see Figure B.2). You can also use your favorite text editor
to create functions and scripts. Once your function or script is complete, you should
save it for use later. The filename for a function must be the same as the name of the
function and must have a lowercase .m extension. For example, the filename for a
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Table B.3 MathScript Function Classes

Function Classes

Brief Description

Control Design and Analysis

Classical and state-space control design and analysis functions. Dynamic

characteristics, root locus, frequency response, Bode, Nyquist, Nichols, model
contstruction, connection, reduction and more.

Plots
(2D and 3D)

Standard x-y plot; mesh plot; 3D plot; surface plot; subplots; stairstep plot;
logarithmic plots; stem plot and more.

Digital Signal Processing

(DSP)

Signal synthesis; Butterworth, Chebyshev, Parks-McClellan, windowed FIR,

elliptic (Cauer), lattice and other filter designs; FFT (1D/2D); inverse FFT
(1D/2D); Hilbert transform; Hamming, Hanning, Kaiser-Bessel and other
windows; pole/zero plotting and others.

Approximation
(Curve Fitting & Interpolation)

Cubic spline, cubic Hermite and linear interpolation; exponential, linear and
power fit; rational approximation and others.

Ordinary Differential Equation

(ODE) Solvers

Adams-Moulton, Runge-Kutta, Rosenbrock and other continuous ordinary

differential equation (ODE) solvers.

Polynomial Operations

Convolution; deconvolution; polynomial fit; piecewise polynomial; partial

fraction expansion and others.

Linear Algebra

LU, QR, QZ, Cholesky, Schur decomposition; SVD; determinant; inverse;

transpose; orthogonalization; solutions to special matrices; Taylor series; real
and complex eigenvalues and eigenvectors; polynomial eigenvalue and more.

Matrix Operations

Hankel, Hilbert, Rosser, Vandermonde special matrices; inverse;

multiplication; division; unary operations and others.

Vector Operations

Cross product; curl and angular velocity; gradient; Kronecker tensor product
and more.

Probability and Statistics

Mean; median; Poisson, Rayleigh, chi-squared, Weibull, T, gamma

distributions; covariance; variance; standard deviation; cross correlation;
histogram; numerous types of white noise distributions and other functions.

Optimization

Quasi-Newton, quadratic, Simplex methods and more.

Advanced Functions

Bessel, spherical Bessel, Psi, Airy, Legendre, Jacobi functions; trapezoidal,

elliptic exponential integral functions and more.

Basic

Absolute value; Cartesian to polar and spherical and other coordinate

conversions; least common multiple; modulo; exponentials; logarithmic
functions; complex conjugates and more.

Trigonometric

Standard cosine, sine and tangent; inverse hyperbolic cosine, cotangent,

cosecant, secant, sine and tangent; hyperbolic cosine cotangent, cosecant,
secant, sine and tangent; exponential; natural logarithm and more.

Boolean and Bit Operations

AND, OR, NOT and other logic operations; bitwise shift, bitwise OR and
other bitwise operations.

Data Acquisition/Generation

Perform analog and digital I/O using National Instruments devices.

Other

Programming primitives such as if, for and while loops; unsigned and signed
datatype conversions; file I/O; benchmarking and other timing functions;
various set and string operations and more.

user-defined starlight2 function must be starlight.m. Use unique names for all functions and scripts and save them in a directory that you specified in the Path section of
the FileMathScript Preferences dialog box.
2

The name starlight does not represent a real function. It is used here for illustrative purposes only.

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986

Appendix B MathScript Basics

User-Defined Functions
MathScript offers more than 500 textual functions for math, signal processing, and
analysis. But what if you have a special purpose function that you want to add to
your personal library? This function may be particular to your area of study or research, and is one that you need to call as part of a larger program. With MathScript
it is simple to create a function once you understand the basic syntax.
A MathScript function definition must use the following syntax:
function outputs = function_name(inputs)
% documentation
script
An example of a user-defined function definition utilizing the proper syntax is
function ave = compute_average(x, y)
% compute_average determines the average of the two inputs x and y.
ave = (x + y)/2;
Begin each function definition with the term function. The outputs lists the output
variables of the function. If the function has more than one output variable, enclose
the variables in square brackets and separate the variables with white space or commas. The function_name is the name of the function you want to define and is the
name that you use when calling the function. The inputs lists the input variables to the
function. Use commas to separate the input variables. The documentation is the set of
comments that you want MathScript to return for the function when you execute the
help command. Comments are preceded with a % character.You can place comments
anywhere in the function; however, LabVIEW returns only the first comment block in
the Output Window to provide the help to the user. All other comment blocks are for
internal documentation. The script defines the executable body of the function.
Checking the help on the function compute_average.m and then executing the
function with x = 2 and y = 4 as inputs yields
help compute_average
compute_average determines the average of the two inputs x and y.
x = 2; y = 4; compute_average(x, y)
ans =
3
Note that there is a MathScript function named mean that can also be used to compute the average of two inputs, as follows:
mean([2 4])
ans =
3
Functions can be edited in the Script Editor window and saved for later use. In Figure
B.8, the buttons Load Script, Save Script As, Save & Compile Script As and Run
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Section B.6 Defining Functions and Creating Scripts

987

Script are shown. You can compile a function when you save it to decrease the runtime compilation time. Selecting Load Script will open a window to browse for the
desired function (or script) to load into MathScript. Similarly, selecting Save Script
As will open a browser to navigate to the desired folder to save the function.
In Figure B.8, the function compute_average is used to compute the average
of two arrays. Notice that the function computes the average element-wise. If
compute_average had inadvertently been named mean, then LabVIEW would execute the user-defined function instead of the built-in function. Generally it is not a
good idea to redefine LabVIEW functions, and students should avoid doing so. If
you define a function with the same name as a built-in MathScript function, LabVIEW executes the function you defined instead of the original MathScript function. When you execute the help command, LabVIEW returns help content for the
function you defined and not the help content for the original MathScript function.
Other examples of valid function syntax for the starlight function include:
function starlight
function a = starlight
function [a b] = starlight
function starlight (g)
function a = starlight (g)
function [a b] = starlight (g)
function starlight (g, h)
function a = starlight (g, h)
function [a b] = starlight (g, h)

% No inputs and no outputs

% No inputs and one output
% No inputs and two outputs
% One input and no outputs
% One input and one output
% One input and two outputs
% No inputs and two outputs
% One input and two outputs
% Two inputs and two outputs

There are several restrictions on the use of functions. First, if you define multiple
functions in one MathScript file, all functions following the first are subfunctions
and are accessible only to the main function. A function can call only those functions that you define below it. Second, you cannot call functions recursively. For example, the function starlight cannot call starlight. And third, LabVIEW also does
not allow circular recursive function calls. For example, the function starlight cannot
call the function bar if bar calls starlight.

Scripts
A script is a sequence of MathScript commands that you want to perform to accomplish a task. For convenience and reusability, once you have created a script, you can
save it and load it into another session of LabVIEW at a later time. Also, often you
can use a script designed for a different task as a starting point for the development
of a new script. Since the scripts themselves are saved as common ascii text and editable with any text editor (including the one found in the MathScript Interactive
Window), it is easy to do this. The MathScript functions as well as the user-defined
functions can be employed in scripts.
Continuing the example above, suppose that we used a script to compute the
average of two numbers. The compute_average function could be used within the
script. Once saved, the script can subsequently be loaded into MathScript for use in
another session. A script using the compute_average function is shown in Figure B.9.

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Appendix B MathScript Basics

Select Load to browse for a
function to load in MathScript

Select Save to browse for a

directory to save the function

Running the function

for x [1 4] and y [2 6]
yields the average [1.5 5]

Script Editor

The function
compute_average.m

FIGURE B.8 Loading and saving functions.

B.7 SAVING AND LOADING DATA FILES AND SCRIPTS

In MathScript you can save and load data files in the MathScript Interactive Window. A data file contains numerical values for variables. Being able to save and load
djata gives you the flexibility to save important data output from a MathScript session for use in external programs. There are two ways to save data files. The first
Select Run

Results of
executing script
are displayed

Script that uses the

compute_average
function

FIGURE B.9 Editing, saving, and running a script to compute the average of two arrays element-wise.

This material is protected by Copyright and written permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a
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Section B.7 Saving, and Loading Data Files and Scripts

989

method saves the data for all the variables in the workspace, and the second method
allows you to select the variables to save to a file.
To save all the variables in the workspace, select FileSave Data in the MathScript Interactive Window. You also can right-click the Variable List on the Variables window and select Save Data from the shortcut menu. In the file dialog box,
navigate to the directory in which you want to save the data file. Enter a name for
the data file in the File name field and click the OK button to save the data file.
The second method allows you to select the variables to save. In this case, in the
Command Window, enter the command save filename var1, var2, ., varn, where
filename is the name of the file to store the data and var1, var2, varn are the variables that you want to save. In this case, the data will be saved in filename in the
LabVIEW Data directory in the path specified in FileMathScript Preferences .
In Figure B.10 the process of saving data is illustrated. In Figure B.10a, all the variables are saved in the file save_all.mlv after navigating to the folder LabVIEW Data.
In Figure B.10b, the variable x is saved in the file save_x.mlv.
You also can load existing data files into your MathScript session. In the MathScript Interactive Window, select FileLoad Data or right-click the Variable List on

Select Save Data to save all variables

Navigate to desired folder

(a)

Location of
saved data

Select OK when done

Enter desired file name

(b)

Save select variables

In this case, save the
variable x in the file
save_x.mlv

FIGURE B.10 Saving data files. (a) Saving all the variables in the workspace. (b) Saving select variables.

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990

Appendix B MathScript Basics

FIGURE B.11 Loading data from a previous MathScript session.

the Variables window and select Load Data from the shortcut menu to load the data
file you want, as illustrated in Figure B.11. Note that you must save data files before
you can load them into the MathScript Interactive Window.
Being able to save scripts is an important feature giving you the capability to develop a library of scripts that you can readily access in future MathScript sessions. To
save a script that you have created in the Script Editor window, select
FileSave Script As, as illustrated in Figure B.12a. You can also save your script by
clicking the Save button on the Script Editor window of the MathScript Interactive
Window, as illustrated in Figure B.12b. In both cases, a file dialog box will appear for
you to navigate to the directory in which you want to save the script. Enter a name
for the script in the File name field. The name must have a lowercase .m extension if
you want LabVIEW to run the script (in this example, we use the name average_
example.m). Click the OK button to save the script.
You can compile a script by selecting FileSave & Compile Script or by clicking
on the Save & Compile Script As button in the MathScript Interactive Window.This will
save and compile the script to decrease the run-time compilation time.You can load existing scripts into the MathScript Interactive Window.This will be useful upon returning
to a MathScript session or if you want to use a script in the current session that was developed in a previous session.To load an existing script, select FileLoad Script or click
the Load button on the Script page on the MathScript Interactive Window.
Figure B.13 illustrates the process of loading scripts. In the example, the script
compute_average.m is loaded into a MathScript session, and then using the Run
Script As button, the script is executed.

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Section B.7 Saving, Loading, and Exporting Data Files and Scripts
Select Save Script
Navigate to desired folder

Select OK
when done

Name file
to save
script

(a)

(b)

FIGURE B.12 (a) Saving a script using the FileSave Script As pull-down menu. (b) Saving a
script using the Save Script As button on the MathScript Interactive Window.

(a)
Select
Load
Script

Select Load

(b)

FIGURE B.13
(a) Loading a script
using the
FileLoad Script
pull-down menu.
(b) Loading a script
using the Load
Script button on
the MathScript
Select desired file
Interactive Window.
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992

Appendix B MathScript Basics

MATHSCRIPT BASICS: PROBLEMS

Is it possible to perform the following math operations on the matrices? If so, what is the result?
(a) A * B
(b) B * A
(c) A + B
(d) A + B (where B is the transpose of B)
(e) A./ B

B.1 Write a script to generate a 3 * 2 matrix M of random numbers using the rand function. Use the help
command for syntax help on the rand function. Verify
that each time you run the script the matrix M changes.
B.2

In the MathScript Interactive Window, create a script

that generates a time vector over the interval 0 to 10
with a step size of 0.5 and creates a second vector, y,
according to the equation

B.5

Using MathScript, generate a plot of a sine wave of

frequency v = 10 rad/sec. Use the linspace function
to generate the time vector starting at t = 0 and ending at t = 10. Label the x-axis as Time (sec). Label the
y-axis as sin(w * t). Add the following title to the plot:
Sine wave with frequency w
10 rad/sec.

B.6

The rand function generates uniformly distributed

random numbers between 0 and 1. This means that the
average of all of the random values generated by the
rand function should approach 0.5 as the number of
random numbers increases. Using the rand function,
generate random vectors of length 5, 100, 500, and 1000.
Confirm that as the number of elements increases, the
average of the random numbers approaches 0.5. Generate a plot of the average of the random numbers as a
function of the number of random numbers. Use both
rand and mean functions in your script.

y = e -t(0.5 sin 0.1t - 0.25 cos 0.2t).

Add the plot function to generate a graph of y versus t.
Type the script in the Script Editor window and, when
done, use the Save button in the Script Editor to save
the script. Clear the script from the Script Editor window, and then Load the script back into the Script Editor and select Run.
Create a plot of the cosine function, y = cos(t),
where t varies from 0 to p, with an increment of p/20.
B.4 Open the MathScript Interactive Window. In the
Command Window, create the matrices A and B:
B.3

A = C

1
0
-1

-2
1
3 S and B = B
2
5

-1
0

7
R.
-2

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