Dr.

E
Dr.E
W
W

Johnny
JohnnyHeikell
Heikell

Scilab for Real

Dummies,

Introducing an Open-Source
Alternative to Matlab
v1.0 / Scilab 5.3.2 (5.3.3)

Johnny Heikell
"It is a mistake often made in this country to measure things by the amount of money they
cost." Albert Einstein

About this
presentation
I compiled this presentation while familiarizing myself with
Scilab for basic engineering applications. The exercise taught
that a reason to the limited spread of Scilab is lack of good
tutorials in English, which makes learning Scilab a frustrating
experience for programming newbies. Its a pity because Scilab
deserves better recognition. Hopefully this presentation can be
of use to at least some Scilab aspirants.
The text no doubt has shortcomings and errors. I hope to come
up with an improved version in a not too distant future (with
Scilab 6). Please post comments & suggestions at:
Espoo in August 2011

Johnny Heikell
www.heikell.f
LinkedIn

Copyleft: This material is released under the only

condition that you do not put restrictions or a price
tag on your redistributionsmodified or notand
add this requirement to child copies.
Otherwise J. Heikell 2011

Tribute to old gods

The best Scilab tutorials are non-English. The following are the
ones that I have consulted most for this work:
Timo Mkels Scilab/Xcos tutorials (3 parts) in Finnish

<http://sites.
google.com/site/tjmakela/home>. Heavy on mathematical
formalism,
standard dull LaTeX typesetting, but the best one I know
Jean-Marie Zoggs Arbeiten mit Scilab und Scicos in German
<http://www.fhhtwchur.ch/uploads/media/Arbeiten_mit_Scilab_und_
Scicos_v1_01.pdf>. Its good and informal, and contains details
that
Mkel has omitted. Needs updating
Wolfgang Kubitzkis mixed tutorials in German that can be found
atTo copy from one is plagiarism, to copy from many is research. Unknown
<http://www.mst.fh-kl.de/~kubitzki/>. Quite good, a lot of
details, few
practical examples (scripts in separate .zip fles)

Why I did it
the way I did
it
As a grad student at KU in 1990-91, I needed to quickly learn

MathCAD or Matlab. A fellow student showed me MathCAD

basics in 15 minutes with the use of a sine function. The
lecture went something like this:
First you declare the variables that you need
Then you define the function that you want to plot
After that you write the plot commands

With that teaching I got started and was able to use MathCAD
for my MS thesis.
Lessons learned: Show examples and skip the academic trivia.
I am deeply grateful to Jim for his lesson. Well repeat it as
soon as Scilab is installed and opened.

Why PowerPoint?

Why do I release this tutorial as a PowerPoint* presentation

when there is enough material for a 400-page book? There are
several reasons:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

These were originally personal notes, I recognized only later

that they may be of use to others
It is easy to edit PPT material slide by slide
You get a quick overview of the discussion at hand by shifting
between PPTs Normal and Slide Sorter views
PPT has an advantage over PDF in allowing the reader to
modify the work the way (s)he likes
You can copy-paste the provided scripts into Scilabs Editor
without having to rewrite them, only minor editing is needed
And fnally, I have seen too many depressing LaTeX documents

*) .ppt documents do not require MS software. LibreOffice works as well (at

least up to PPT 2003) but some editing may be needed. Oracle threw in the
towel on OpenOffice in April 2011, but it lives on in the Apache Incubator.

Why simulate?

British physicist and engineer Lord Kelvin

(William Thomson) is known to have said:
When
you can measure what you

are speaking about and express it in

numbers, you know something about
it.

His words can be paraphrased in

computer-age terms:
When
you can simulate what you are

speaking about and present it visually,

you know something about it.

Lord Kelvin 1827-1904

Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Introduction
A frst peek at Scilab
The Console & Editor
Examples, Set 1
Matrices, functions & ope
rators
Examples, Set 2
Graphics & plotting
Examples, Set 3
Converting Matlab fles
Subroutines

11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

Flow control
Examples, Set 4
Doing math on Scilab
Examples, Set 5
Working with GUIs
File handling
Animation
Miscellaneous
Examples, Set 6
Adieu

HOW TO HYPERLINK IN POWERPOINT: 1) Slide Show mode: By

clicking on the underlined text. 2) Norman View mode: Put cursor on the
underlined text right-click Click: Open Hyperlink. (There is a bug in
PowerPoint, hyperlinking to certain slides is impossible, e.g. to Chapter 19.)

Dr.E
Dr.E
W
W

Johnny
JohnnyHeikell
Heikell

1. Introduction
What is and why use Scilab?

Return to Contents

What Scilab is (1/2)

A software package for scientifc and engineering

computing, quite similar to Matlab
Scilab is a tool for numeric computing, as are Excel, GNU
Octave, Matlab, etc. The alternative is symbolic
computing, to which belong Maple, MathCad,
Mathematica, and others
Developed by Consortium Scilab (DIGITEO), behind which
are a number of French institutions and companies
Included in the Scilab package is Xcos, a graphic modeling
and simulation tool. However, it is not compatible with
Simulink. Xcos 1.0 came with Scilab 5.2, before there was
Scicos. The confusion is complete with a rival called
Scicoslab
Scilab is free and can be downloaded at www.scilab.org

What Scilab is (2/2)

Scilab is matrix-oriented, just like Matlab

It allows matrix manipulations, 2D/3D plotting, animation,
etc.
It is an open programming environment that allows users
to create their own functions and libraries
Its editor has a built-in, though elementary, debugger
Main components of Scilab are:

An interpreter
Libraries of functions (procedures, macros)
Interfaces for Fortran, Tcl/Tk, C, C++, Java, Modelica, and
LabVIEWbut not for Python and/or Ruby

Which is better, Matlab or Scilab?

Matlab outperforms Scilab in many respects, but Scilab is
catching up. The use of Matlab is motivated only in special
circumstances due to its high cost

Why use Scilab

personal reasons

Matlab 6.5 (R13) was not compatible with my new Windows Vista
laptop. MatWorks, Inc., recommended to buy a new version
I refused to pay another license fee for Matlab and went looking
for open-source alternatives:

Sage felt bulky, immature, and focused on pure mathematics

Python is not optimized for scientifc and engineering tasks
Python(x,y) messed up my PC when I installed it. Maybe I should
I have tried SciPy instead?
I grew tired of GNU Octave before I fgured out how to download
and install it (I want a tool to use, not to fght against)
Scilab was the ffth alternative that I looked at. It gave no
immediate problems, so I stuck to it. Later I have come across
bugs and crashes/lockupsand become frustrated with its poor
documentation

Would I still select Scilab? Yes, I am impressed by Scilab and believe that the
competitors cause you gray hair as wellone way or another.

Why people dont use

Scilab
The following are some comments about Scilab and opensource software in general that I have come across:
Scilab? Never heard of it
Octave is closer to Matlab
As a company we have to use software that will be
supported ten
years from now
It doesnt have the toolboxes that we need
There is a cost involved in shifting to a new software tool,
even if
the tool is gratis
Training and documentation support is poor
There are no interfaces for other software tools that we
use
Conclusion: Scilab, like other open-source programs, lacks
credibility
It seemsintothe
be eyes
rather
ofslow
usersparticularly professional
users. The situation is similar with various excellent Linux
distros and the LibreOffice office package. Users trust
products that have to be paid for

Scilab advantages

Numeric computing is better suited for complex tasks than

symbolic computing
Not all mathematical problems have closed form solutions,
numeric computing will therefore always be needed
Scilab is similar to Matlab and keeps developing even closer. It is
quite easy to step from one to the other
Scilab requires less disk space than Matlab and GNU Octave
It includes a Matlab-to-Scilab translator (.m fles to .sci fles)
Data plotting is said to be simpler than with GNU Octave (but
the trend is toward more complex handle structures)
The Xcos toolbox installs automatically with Scilab, be it, that
Xcos is not compatible with Simulink
Scilab installs without immediate problems on Windows
computers
Scilab is freeif your wasted time and frustrations are worth
nothing. The fght for a limited number of expensive licenses
(Matlab, Mathematica, etc.) is not an issue in professional life

Scilab disadvantages

Numeric computing introduces rounding errors, contrary to

symbolic computing
The learning effort required by numeric computing is higher
than for symbolic computing
Scilab lacks a unifed tutorial and/or users manual. You try
and cry and waste time searching for information on its use*
In some cases Scilab executes much slower than Matlab and
GNU Octave (improvements are said to be under way)
Scilabs tools for creating GUIs are poor compared with Matlab
The Help Browser is very formal and of little use to newbies
Scilab has bugs and tends to crash/lockup (it happens to Bill
Gates as well. Often)
On-line support from Equalis costs $495 or more per annum
(the French prefer $ to )

*) Scilab is not alone. The open-source community has a poor track record in
documentation because paperwork does not bring recognition.

Terminology:
function
The C programming language brought confusion with its
unrestricted use of the term function and this is repeated
in Scilab. The term refers to (at least):
Mathematical functions in general
Scilabs built-in functions
User defned functions (UDF)

I would prefer the terms function, macro (or procedure),

and subroutine respectively (protests form dogmatic
programmers are overruled). Sometimes I talk about
subroutine, but it is not always possible. For instance,
function is the term that must be used to defne a UDF in
Scilab. And there is also the risk of adding to the
bewilderment by applying own terminology. The confusion
remains...

Intro to problems
(1/3): crashes &
lockups
Processor loads of this
magnitude are normal
during computer startup.
However, this is the
situation after Scilab had
crashed and I had closed it.
WScilex.exe had another
of its lockups and required
to be closed with the Task
Manager (or by rebooting
the computer).

The Scilab teams standard

answer to problems like this
is to make sure that the
computers drivers are upto-date. It has not worked
for my Windows Vista PC.

Intro to problems
(2/3): new releases*

With Scilab 5.2 came a problem that I did not experience with
version 5.1.1: Copy-pasting from Scilabs Editor to PowerPoint
frequently caused the latter to crash. The bug has been fxed
With Scilab 5.3.0 I found that the paths File/Open file in... and
File/Save file in... on the Editor were unresponsive
Some scripts that I originally wrote using Scilab 5.1.1 did not work
with Scilab 5.3.0, and GUIs on 5.3.2 are a real pain down there
Typically larger updates come with bugs and are quickly followed
by minor bug fx updates (a.k.a. patches). Scilab 5.3.1 emerged
within three months of 5.3.0. This is universal in the software
business
It is wise to keep an old Scilab version until you know that the
new release can be trusted (I was happy I had kept version 5.1.1
when GUIs on 5.3.1 & 5.3.2 gave me problems)

*) Various Scilab versions are mentioned. I have worked with Scilab 5.1.1 5.3.2. Scilab 5.3.3 came too late to be considered.

Intro to problems
(3/3): ATOMS and
nerds

ATOMS is Scilabs system for downloading

and installing user-developed toolboxes.
It has given me real gray hair

I installed two toolboxes and Scilab plots

became a mess. Here you can see what
the later discussed rotation surface
looked like with toolboxes installed

I found what caused it after reinstalling

Windows and the toolboxes. It took me
days to get all programs running

The idea of user contributions is basically

sound, but there is a risk with nerds that
have more zeal than ability and tenacity
to properly test their programs

Embedded information

Scilab comes with some built-in information structures. The

major ones are:
The Help Browser that can be accessed from various windows.
Its utility improved with Scilab 5.3.1 when demonstrations were
included, but the Help Browser is still a hard nut for newbies. It
confuses by sometimes referring to obsolete functions
Demonstrations that can be accessed from the Console. Not
really tutorials and some of them act funny, some may cause
Scilab to crash, and others still ask for a C compiler
Error messages displayed on the Console. Quite basic messages,
sometimes confusing, sometimes too brief

What is really missing is an embedded tutorial (or even a

users manual of the Matlab style) that is updated with each
Scilab release

Information on the
Web (1/2)

The main portal is Wiki Scilab,

<http://wiki.scilab.org/Tutorials>, were most of the
accessible tutorials are listed
Scilabs forge <http://forge.scilab.org/> is a repository of
work in progress, many of which exist only in name. Its set
of draft documents is valuable
Wiki Scilabs HowTo page <http://wiki.scilab.org/howto> has
some articles of interest
Free sites:

Scilab File Exchange website <http://fleexchange.scilab.org/>. A

new discussion forum managed by the Scilab team and
dedicated to easily exchange fles, script, data, experiences,
etc.
Google discussion group at <http://groups.google.com/group/
comp.soft-sys.math.scilab/topics>
MathKB <http://www.mathkb.com/>. Contains, among other
things, a Scilab discussion forum. Mostly advanced questions
spoken-tutorial <http://spoken-tutorial.org/Study_Plans_Scilab/>.
Screencasts under construction by IIT Bombay. Scilab basics

Information on the
Web (2/2)
YouTube has some video clips on Scilab, but nothing really valuable
Equalis <http://www.equalis.com>. By registering you gain free
access to the discussion forum
<http://usingscilab.blogspot.com/> used to be a very good blog but
is now terminally ill. Worth checking the material that is still there
Scilab India <http://scilab.in/> is basically a mirror of Scilab Wiki,
with added obsolete material and a less active discussion forum

If you know German:

German technical colleges produce helpful basic tutorials on Scilab
(better than their French counterparts). Search the Internet e.g.
using the terms Scilab + Einfhrung and limit the language
option to German

Conclusion: A lot of resources have gone into producing the

existing scattered documentation, but they have been
uncoordinated and have produced little relative the input
effort. Lousy management!

Books

There is not a single good textbook in English on Scilab like you

fnd in abundance on Matlab. These are the books that I am
familiar with:
Beater, P.: Regelungstechnik und Simulationstechnik mit Scilab
und
Modelica, Books on Demand GmbH, 2010. Basic control systems
for
mechanical engineers. Scilab plays only a minor role in the book
Das, V.V.: Programming in Scilab 4.1, New Age International,
2008.
Reference manual with uninviting layout, obsolete functions, and
no
practical examples. Useless
Chancelier, J.-P. et al.: Introduction Scilab, Deuxime dition,
Springer,
2007. An intermediate/advanced textbook with some
engineering
applications. Approaching obsolescence

On updates &
literature
Scilab evolves rapidly and one frequently encounters
obsolete features. Functions are often declared obsolete,
although Scilab still may support them, and other functions
are removed altogether. There is obviously no collection of
obsolete/removed functions and their current equivalents (if
any).
The Scilab team is slow with information on major updates.
For instance, the GUI interface is said to have been
completely renewed with version 5.x, but so far the only
(poor) GUI description that I have seen is for version 4.x. Its
almost three years now...
Rapid development is a reason to why the limited literature
on Scilab is mostly obsolete, sometimes outright misleading.
I got a hands-on experience with all the changes that had to
be made to 5.1.1 scripts before they agreed to run on
version 5.3.x (and not all do)

Scilab learning
obstacles
Learning Scilab can be frustrating to a person with limited
previous programming experience. The biggest hurdles are:

Lack of hands-on tutorials for English-speaking newbies. The

situation is better, though not good, with some other languages
Excessive number of Scilab functions. There are some two
thousand of them. There are often numerous options to select
between; some of which work, some dont, some of which you
know, most you dont
Unhelpful Help Browser. Even when you have a hunch of which
function to use, you cannot get it right because of the Help
Browsers cryptic explanation
Basic programming errors. Creating infnite loops, dividing by
zero, using * instead of .* , etc. We all make them, there is no way
around them than by practicing. bung macht den Meister!

On the bright side...

Scilab works! Despite my complaints it mainly does a fne job

It is a great thing that it is given away for free to all of us who
cannot afford expensive commercial simulation tools
It is a great thing that it is give away for free to all commercial
and non-commercial institutions that care about costeffectiveness
It is a free gift (though with restrictions*) to science and
engineering and deserves support of us who happily download
whatever comes gratis on the Web
It deserves support because Scilab, like other open-source IT
solutions, faces an uphill struggle against vast commercial
interests and skeptical individuals
Long live the free and open-source/access community!

*) Scilab is released under the French CeCILL license. The question is, is it
really a Free and Open-Source license that allows you to release a Scilab copy
under a new name, the way OpenOffice was turned into LibreOffice?

Dr.E
Dr.E
W
W

Johnny
JohnnyHeikell
Heikell

2. A first peek at
Scilab
What you face when trying to
get startedincluding Scilab
in 15 minutes
Return to Contents

Windows installation
(1/3)
1. Download Scilab
from www.scilab.org
(Windows on the top,
other OSs below)

2. The right operating system

should be on top. Save the
fle, typically it goes to your
own Downloads folder

Windows installation
(2/3)
Inside the
Downloads
fle

3. Scan the
downloaded fle for
viruses

4. Double-click on
the fle to install
Scilab, follow the
prompts

Windows installation
(3/3)
5. Scilab suggests
that it should install
all toolboxes
(modules). Go for it
unless you are really
short of memory
6. Accept Scilab
license terms (you
have no option so
why do they ask?).
Click Next as many
times as needed
7. Youre all set to
use Scilab (no need
to reboot the
computer)

Linux installation
This discussion is valid for
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS with the
GNOME desktop*

Click: Applications/Ubuntu
Software Center/Science &
Engineering and scroll down to
Scilab; then just Click Install

Only Scilab 5.3.0 beta-2 is

available at the repository

For the latest version you

must go to Scilab's web site
and download Linux binaries.
The installation, however, is a
trickier question and I do not
cover it here (have not tried it)

*) Ubuntu 11.04 with Unity has been

released, but I have not gone for it

The Console
Click on Scilabs
shortcut icon to open
the Console (Command
Window in Matlab*):
Menu bar
Toolbar
Command prompt
If no shortcut icon has been
created: Click: Start\All
Programs\scilab\scilab
(do not select Scilab
Console)
*) The Console has other names as well: Workspace, Startup/Main Window, etc.

Folks:

Here it comes, the lesson on

MathCad that Jim gave me back
in 1991, transformed to Scilab.
A lecture worth gold in three
slides

Scilab in 15 minutes
(1/3): write a script
Recall how Jim taught me MathCAD in 15 minutes? Now well
repeat that lesson in Scilab. We do it by using the Editor
(SciNotes):
Step 1: On the Console,
Click the leftmost icon on
the toolbar. The Editor pops
up
Step 2: Defne whatever
variables your function
needs (row 1). Note
comment (// )
Step 3: Next, defne the
(sine) function in case (row
2)
Step 4: Finally, write the
plot command (row 3)

Scilab in 15 minutes
(2/3): save and plot
Step 5: Save the script
by Clicking on the Save
icon and name it e.g.
foo.sce
Step 6: Finish by running
(executing) the script by
a Click the Execute icon
(a second one came with
5.3.2)
Step 7: Up pops the
Graphics Window with
the a plot of the defned
equation
Did you have problems or get an
error message on the Console?
Dont worry, well return to
everything later. Jump to
Examples 1-1 & 1-2 if you are in
a hurry.

Scilab in 15 minutes
(3/3): discussion
This exercise showed the essentials of Scilab in
engineering applications:

Scilabs user interface consists of three main windows:

The Console, which pops up when Scilab is opened and on

which it outputs textual data (numeric answers, error
messages, etc.)
The Editor (SciNotes), which is the main tool for writing,
saving, and executing scripts (programs)
The Graphics Window, on which Scilab presents plots

The recipe for using Scilab is the one that Jim taught me:
First you declare the variables that are needed
Then you defne the function that you want to plot
And fnally, plug in the plot instruction

That was Scilab

Lets go pizza

The Consoles menu

bar (1/6): File
Among the functions under
the File drop-down menu
that you will quickly
encounter are:
Execute...: From here you
can run Scilab scripts (or
from the Editor, as seen
later)
Open: Similar to the
Open command in MS
Office programs
Change current
directory, Display
current directory: Pay
attention to those two, they
will be needed to tell Scilab
where to look for a script

The Consoles menu

bar (2/6): Edit
The functions under the Edit
drop-down menu are selfexplanatory.
The Cut, Copy, and Paste
commands have their own
icons in the toolbar. You also
fnd them by right-clicking on
the PC mouse
Be careful with Empty clipboard.
You may not be able to use
Copy after clicking it!
(Happened to me)
I have used Select all a lot
to copy-paste the demos in this
presentation

The Consoles menu

bar (3/6): Preferences
The functions under the
Preferences drop-down
menu are quite similar to
what you can fnd on a PC
I can only guess that Clear
History is similar to Clear
Private Data in Firefox,
but there is no Show
History alternative and
Help is not helpful
Clear Console empties
the console. You achieve
the same by pressing F2

Change visual
appearance of the
Console

The Consoles menu

bar (4/6): Control
I did not need the Control
drop-down menu a single
time while doing this
presentation, so obviously
it is not very useful
My guess would be that the
Resume , Abort, and
Interrupt alternatives
give the user a way to
interfere with the execution
of a program

The Help Browser is

not very helpful and it
does not even
recognize the
Interrupt command

The Consoles menu

bar (5/6): Applications
SciNotes: Opens Scilabs
Text Editor (same as
Launch SciNotes in the
toolbar)
Xcos: Opens Xcos
Matlab to Scilab
translator: Used to
translate a Matlab .m-fle to
a Scilab .sci fle
Atoms: Opens the online
module manager
Variable Browser: Opens
a list with variables (same
as the browsevar;

Command History: Opens a

list with commands used

The Consoles menu

bar (6/6): Help
alternatives

Scilab Help: Same as

the question mark icon
in the toolbar

Scilab
Web
Scilab Demonstrations: Shows resources
demos with few comments (same
command as the cogwheel in the
toolbar). At least the GUI/Uicontrols 2
demo causes Scilab to crash

The Consoles toolbar

Launch Editor: Opens
Scilabs Editor (SciNotes,
another part of its
Integrated Development
Environment (IDE). Basic
tutorials seldom stress the
fact that normally we work
with (write, edit, save, run)
executable Scilab scripts on
the Editor, not on the
Console. The Editor is
presented a few slides
below

The Atoms, Xcos, and

Demonstrations icons came with
Scilab 5.2

Change Current
Directory: It can also be
found under File in the
menu bar. You need it to
point out from which
directory (folder) Scilab
should search for a script
that you want to execute
(run)

The Help Browser (1/3)

In the Console, Click
on the Help Browser
icon to open it
Help discussions
become more
readable if you print
them as PDF fles
The Help Browser is a
brief encyclopedia of
Scilabs main features
and functions.
Explanations of
functions are
augmented by
examples (see next
slide for a demo), but
this does not

The Help Browser (2/3)

2. The Graphics
Window with the
plot pops up (in this
cases it briefly
flashes the frst plot)
1. In the script box with
examples, Click on the
Execute icon to see how the
scripts executes (not all
work)

3. Click on the Editor icon

and the script is
transferred to Scilabs
text Editor where you can
play with it (must be
saved before it can be

The Help Browser

(3/3):
To fnd the proper
help
function_name
use of any function
assuming that the
name is knownthe
Help Browser can
be opened from the
Console by entering
the command help
function_name
command, in the
shown case help
det() (the brackets
can be omitted).
The alternative is to
open the Browser
with the Help icon

The Editor (SciNotes)

The (Text) Editor is where

executable Scilab scripts
are written, maintained &
run
Open the Editor by clicking
on the Launch SciNotes
icon in the Console, or by
clicking:
Applications\SciNotes
A Scilab script is a text fle
with a name of the type
*.sce (the alternative
*.sci is also used but
*.sce is the default)
It is good practice to use
scripts also for small tasks.
Then all projects are
saved and commented,
ready for reuse

Save & execute

Execute

But dont forget to

create a properly
organized archive for
your programs!

Editor menu bar (1/5):

File
File commands that you are most
likely to run into:

Recent files gives quick access

to recently edited scripts
New opens a second tab for a
new script to be edited
Open opens a saved script into
the Editor
Open file in... and Save file in... do
not work in Scilab 5.3
Print is an ordinary print
command
Close closes the fle in case

Editor menu bar (2/5):

Edit

Commands under Edit are

mostly self-explanatory.
Note however the following
four:
Shift Right/Left:
Indent/unindent a row by
one step (this pair should
be on the toolbar)
Comment/Uncomment
Selection: Add/delete a
comment

Editor menu bar (3/5):

Preferences

The Preferences drop-down

menu allows you adjust
Editor settings to your
liking
I had difficulties reading
scripts on the Editor (poor
contrast with default
settings) and used Set
Colors... and Set Font
to change from default
values

Editor menu bar (4/5):

Preferences, comment
Users can send bug reports to Scilabs development team
(link at <www.scilab.org>). I fled the following report (Bug
8802):
Default color settings on the Editor produce poor contrast ... Changing
font colors is tedious due to the excessive number of options under
Preferences\Set colors... (an overkill, you could say). I would suggest
default settings with just four colors (red, green, blue and black).
To which I got this answer:
You can modify more easily the colors configuration in modifying the
file: C:\Documents and Settings\Johnny\Application Data\Scilab\
scilab-5.3\scinotesConfiguration.xml (or a path which is similar)
I found scinotesConfiguration.xml under C:\Program Files\
scilab-5.3\modules\scinotes\etc\. XML color codes must
be changed in this fle. I wish you good luck

Editor menu bar (5/5):

Execute
The Execute drop-down
window contains three
options:
... file with no echo: A
simple execute command
(same as clicking the
Execute icon on the
toolbar)
... file with echo:
Executes the script and
echoes it (shows it) on the
Console
... until the caret, with

The Execute commands

used to be simpler. I have
no idea why they changed
them this way. My
recommendation is to use
the Execute icon on the
toolbar (see next slide)

Editor toolbar
New... Opens a
second tab for a new
script to be edited
(the same command
can be found under
File)
The Save icon looks like
the Dutch tricolor, but
youll get used to it. The
next one is Save as...
The Undo/Redo
arrows are quite
normal
The Paste icon is a
bit unusual
(French?)

The Execute (or

Save & execute)
icon is what you
normally use to
run a script

Ready to go
Console (command window)
Your desktop
should now
look something
like the one
here. As we
have seen,
both the Editor
and the
Console are
needed since
when the
scripts
created on the
Editorare
executed
numeric
outputs is

Editor (SciNotes)

One more thing (1/2):

docking windows

It is possible to dock Scilab windows; i.e., to form a unifed

workspace similar to the one in Matlab. Here is how to do it:

le
o
s
n
o
C

Press the left

mouse button
on the
darkened bar
of an active
window, drag
over another
window and
release. The
next page
shows one
case

r
Edito

One more thing (2/2):

docking windows

le
o
s
n
o
C

ser
w
o
r
B
Help

r
Edito

dow
n
i
W
s
c
i
h
p
Gra

Each
window
part has
an arrow
in the
upper
righthand
corner, by
which you
can
release it
from
docking

On scripts and
functions

Scilab has two command types:

Scripts. A set of commands used to automate computing.
Script commands are normally returned to the Console, but
plots are returned to the Graphics Window
Functions (macros). Short programs that interface with the
environment through input and output variables. A list of
common built-in functions is given on the next slide.
Functions defned by the user can either be local (integrated
in a script) or global (stored as a separate fle and accessible
to any script)
I may use the term code to make general references to
either scripts or functions

As was already saidand will repeatedone should rather

create scripts and functions on the (Text) Editor (SciNotes)

Built-in functions
Below is a list of common math functions in Scilab. A full list of
built-in functions can be found under Help\Elementary
Functions, which also explains requirements on arguments
(there are both mandatory and optional arguments).
sin(), cos(), tan(), cotg()

Trigonometric functions, e.g. sin(.2*%pi)

asin(), acos(), atan()

Arc functions

sinh(), cosh(), tanh(), coth()

Hyperbolic functions

asinh(), acosh(), atanh()

Inverse hyperbolic functions

sqrt(), exp()

Square root, e.g. sqrt(2) / exponent

sum()

Sum

min(), max()

Minimum / maximum value

abs(), sign()

Absolute value, e.g. abs(sinc(x)) / sign

real(f), imag(f)

Real & imaginary parts of a complex f

Predefined variables &

constants
Main predefned and write-protected variables/constants are:
%i

i = -1

Imaginary unit

%pi

= 3.1415927.

Pi

%e

e = 2.7182818.

Napiers constant e

%eps

= 2.22 10-16

Precision (machine dependent)

%inf

Infinite (not mathematically infinite)

%nan

Not a Number

%s

Polynomial variable

%z

Polynomial variable

%t, %T

true

Boolean variable

%f, %F

false

Boolean variable

Scilab operators (1/2)

The list contains the majority of operators used in Scilab.
Many will be explained in detail later.
;
,

End of expression, row separator

Instruction, argument or column separator

'

Conjugate (matrix) transpose, string delimiter*

.'

Non-conjugate transpose

[] , [] '
()
+, * , .*

Vector or matrix definition concatenation, transposed matrix

The pair of left/ right parenthesis is used for various
purposes
Addition, subtraction
Multiplication, element-by-element multiplication

*) Both simple (') and double (") quotes are allowed to define character strings

Scilab operators (2/2)

/ , ./

Right division, element-by-element right division

\ , .\

Left division, element-by element left division

^ or ** , .^

Power (exponent), element-by-element power

Kronecker product

.*.
./. , .\.
|

Kronecker right and left division

Logical OR

&

Logical AND

Logical NOT

==, >=, <=, >, <,

< >, ~=

Equal to, equal or greater than, equal or less than, greater

than, less than, not equal to (two alternatives)

Computing
terminology: a brief
introduction

Arguments: Values provided as inputs to a command (input

arguments) or returned by the command (output arguments)
Command: A user-written statement that provides instructions
to the computer (statement is an often used alternative)
Default: Action taken or value chosen if none has been provided
Display: To output a listing of text information on the computer
screen
Echo: To display commands or other input typed by the user
Execute: To run a program or carry out the instructions
specifed in a command
Print: To output information on a computer printer (often
confused with display)
Returns: Results provided by the computer in response to a
command

On handles
You will often see Scilabs Help Browser refer to a
handle, but Help does not provide a helpful explanation
of the term. Here is a brief account:

In graphics software the word handle refers

to the points placed around a fgure or plot
that allow you to manipulate the object
(see fgure)
A Matlab tutorial gives the following explanation that is also
valid for Scilab: Whenever Matlab creates a graphics object, it
assigns an identifer (called handle) to it. You can use this
handle to access the objects properties.
You need handles to edit graphical plots beyond the means
offered by basic plot functions (plot2d(), plot3d(), etc.)
Well return handles when discussing graphics & plotting (Ch. 7)

Check handles
with gcf()

-->x = linspace(0,4*%pi,100); plot2d(x,0.5*cos(x))

-->f = gcf()

The function plot2d()

produces the plot below
The command gcf() gives
the list to the right
The list is the handle for
the defned function (Scilab
literature also refers to
individual rows in the list
by the term handle)

f =
Handle of type "Figure" with properties:
========================================
children: "Axes
figure_position = [567,485]
figure_size = [628,592]
axes_size = [610,460]
auto_resize = "on
viewport = [0,0]
figure_name = "Graphic window number %d
figure_id = 0
info_message = "
color_map= matrix 32x3
pixmap = "off
pixel_drawing_mode = "copy
anti_aliasing = "off
immediate_drawing = "on
background = -2
visible = "on
rotation_style = "unary
event_handler = "
event_handler_enable = "off
user_data = []
tag = ""

foo

The term foo is used in many tutorials. It may be

confusing if you are not intimately familiar with
programming
Simply stated, foo can be interpreted as something
comes here. The professional expression is placeholder
name, also referred to as metasyntactic variable
Example:
for k = 1:2:n
foo;
end

Alternative placeholder names that you may come

across are foobar, bar, and baz. I prefer to use dots (....)

Dr.E
Dr.E
W
W

Johnny
JohnnyHeikell
Heikell

3. Playing with the

Console & Editor
Those awkward frst steps; a
bit about what Scilab does

Return to Contents

Console keyboard
shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts
allow speedier
execution of
commands, but require
frequent use to stay
memorized
In the Help Browser,
Click: Console/console
for a list of keyboard
shortcuts
The simplest ones to
memorize are:
F1 = Open Help Browser
F2 = Clear Console

Simple calculations

The Console can be used as a

calculator by writing arithmetic
expressions after the command
prompt and pressing Enter
If no variable name is given,
Scilab uses the inbuilt variable
ans
When a variable name is given
(here alpha) it will be used
instead. is an inbuilt variable
(constant) represented by %pi
Expressions can be written on
the same line by separating
them with a comma (the
warning can be ignored)
Scilab displays an executed
command unless it ends with a
semicolon (;)

List of variables (1/2)

The command
who (+ Enter)
produces a list
of some Scilab
variables. At
least on my
Windows Vista
laptop the
columns are
right aligned
(French logic or
a bug?). Note
that variables
from the
previous
example are
displayed

List of variables (2/2)

The command browsevar

opens the Variable Browser
window (it used to be
called Browser Variables,
thus the command
browsevar)

The list that pops up gives

information about the type
and size of each variable

Recall that the Variable

Browser also can be called
via the menu bar:
Applications/Variable
Browser

Entering numbers

Scilab allows numbers to be

entered in different ways, as
shown in this example
Some expressions have
alternate forms. For instance,
there are three power
expressions (^), (**) and (.^),
but Scilab picks them in that
calling order
Note that e and are given
with seven decimals, which
puts limits to the achievable
accuracy (a function for
double precision does exist)
Consult Help if you need to
change the display format
Note: From now on Ill show
only the contents of the
Console (on light yellow
background)

Computing precision
(1/2)
Look at the two examples to
the left. In both cases we are
computing 1-5*0.2, but in two
different ways
In the frst case the answer is
correct (0)
In the second case the answer
is 5.55*10-17, which quite
obviously is incorrect

5.551D-17
b =
-->b = 1 - .2 - .2 - .2

The reason is that numeric

computing has fnite precision
(rounding errors)
We must take this limitation
into account in Scilab
simulations

Computing precision
(2/2)
Here are two more cases where fnite
precision shows up. The answers should
be 0 (zero) and T (True) respectively (Note
that 1.225D-15, 1.225e-16, 1.225*10^-16
and 1.225*10-16 express the same thing)
Assume that the mentioned variable a is
part of a script with an if...then...else...end
structure (conditional branching will be
covered in Chapter 11). The result is that
alternative 1 is never executed because a is
never exactly zero
We must test a with some fnite bounds,
e.g.:
if abs (a ) < 1e- 6 then
......

|a| < 10-6

F
foo
if a == 0 then
alternative 1
ans
else =
alternative
2
-->0.1
== 1.0
end
0.9

1.225D-16

Displaying graphics

The Console can also be

used to give commands for
plotting graphics:

The graphical picture is

-plotted
in the Graphics
>plot3d(x,y,sinh(x')*co
Window that pops up
s(y))
automatically
(
more in Ex. 1)
-->y
= linspace(-%pi,
The
meaning
of the
entered
code will become
%pi,40);
clear as we proceed

-->x = linspace(-%pi,

Command line editing

Suppose we make a mistake

when entering the command
line and Scilab returns an error
message
Instead of retyping the whole
^
|
line, we can press the up arrow
( ) on the keyboard to return
the line and correct the mistake
In the shown example the
function for the square root,
sqrt(), was frst erroneously
typed sqt()
Note that this is just one of
several alternatives for
command line editing

^
|
-->a = 2; b = sqt(a)

Press up
arrow
Correct

1.4142136
b =
-->a = 2; b = sqrt(a)

Editing demo

Evaluate the function

log(s2 2scos(/5) + 1)
for s = 0.5, 0.95, and 1

Do not rewrite the function,

use instead the up arrow to
edit previous commands!

-->s=.5; log(s^2-2*s*cos(%pi/5)+1)
ans =
- 0.8187489
-->s=.95; log(s^2-2*s*cos(%pi/5)+1)
ans =
- 1.006851
-->s=1; log(s^2-2*s*cos(%pi/5)+1)
ans =
- 0.9624237

Complex numbers

Scilab handles complex

numbers as easily as real
numbers

The variable %i stands for -1

The frst example shows how

Scilab evaluates some
functions with the complex
argument x = 2 + 3i

An imaginary sin() argument

produces a result!

The second example shows

how Scilab does arithmetic
operations with two complex
equations, x and y

-->x = 2 + 3*%i; y = 1 - 1*%i;

-->z1 = x y
z1 =
1. + 4.i
-->z2 = x * y
z2 =
5. + i
-->z3 = x / y
z3 =
- 0.5 + 2.5i

Vectorized functions

Scilab functions are vectorized, meaning

that functions can be called with vectorial
arguments

In the shown example, frst a column

vector called t is created

Next the vector is used as argument in

the sin() function, in the expression for y

If the values of t are of no interest, the

printout can be avoided by putting a
semicolon after the expression for t:
t = [0:5]; y = sin(0.2*t)

Vectors will be discussed in connection

with matrices in Chapter 5

0.8414710

Long command lines

Long command expressions

can be divided among two
or more lines

-->p=1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12+...
-->13+14+15+16+17+18+18+19+21+22+23+24+25
p =

One tool for that purpose is

two or three periods (..) to
indicate that the statement
continues

-->q = 1/2 + 1/3 + 1/4 + 1/5 + 1/6 + ...

-->1/7 + 1/8 + 1/9 + 1/10 + 1/11 + 1/12
q =

323.

2.1032107

Long matrix expressions can

be written on separate lines
by omitting the semicolon
that normally ends a row
(bottom)

11.
6.

12.
7.

13.
8.

14.
9.

15
10

Polynomials

You run into polynomials e.g. if

you use frequency domain (statespace) analysis in control
engineering
Here s = %s is the seed that
defnes the polynomial of s. An
alternative, often used form of the
seed defnition is s = (0,s)
The polynomials can be defned
through their root vectors
Scilab translates the roots to their
respective polynomials
When we divide the num
polynomial by the den polynomial,
Scilab presents the full polynomial
expression

-->s=%s;
-->num = poly([0,-1,-2],'s')
num =
2 3
2s + 3s + s
-->den=poly([-.5,-1.5,-2.5,-3.5],'s')
den =
2 3 4
6.5625 + 22s + 21.5s + 8s + s
-->fr=num/den
fr =
2 3
2s + 3s + s
---------------------------------------2
3 4
6.5625 + 22s + 21.5s + 8s + s

Roots of polynomials

Determining roots (zeros) of

polynomials can be a
tedious undertaking
However, Scilab has a handy
tool for the task in the form
of the roots() function
To the right the polynomials
on the previous slide have
been determined
Note that the seed s=%s has
to be defned here as well

- 2.
- 1.
0

x =
-->x=roots(2*s+3*s^2+s^
- 3.5
- 2.5

-->s=%s;

Poles and zeros: plzr()

The plzr() function

plots the poles and
zeros of a
polynomial
The syslin() function
used here will be
discussed later
When pressing Enter
after the plzr(sys)
command, the
Graphics Window
opens and displays
the plot (The
Graphics Window
will be discussed in
Example 1-1)

-->s=%s;
-->sys=syslin('c',((1+2*s)*(1+3*s))/(s*(s*s+s+1)));
-->plzr(sys)

Gadgets (1/2):
calendar
Among Scilabs built-in
gadgets is a calendar. The
command

-->calendar(2013,6)
ans =
ans(1)
Jun 2013

calendar()
returns the calendar for the
present month, the
command
calendar(y,m)
returns the calendar for the
year and month in case
(shown for June 2013)

ans(2)
M

Tu

Th

Sat

Sun

ans(3)
0.
3.
10.
17.
24.
0.

0.
4.
11.
18.
25.
0.

0.
5.
12.
19.
26.
0.

0.
6.
13.
20.
27.
0.

0.
1.
7.
8.
14. 15.
21. 22.
28. 29.
0.
0.

2.
9.
16.
23.
30.
0.

Gadgets (2/2): puzzle

Another gadget is a puzzle
that can be found under
Demonstrations\Tcl/Tk\P
uzzle

Scilab the spy:

historymanager
Software that we install on
our computers tend to spy on
us by collecting information
on what we do. Have you ever
cared to fgure out how much
data e.g. Windows index.dat
has stored about your
computer & surfng behavior?
Scilab spies with (at least) its
history manager. You can
access this data by entering
displayhistory() on the Console.
The fle can be cleaned via
Preferences\Clear History

Sorry,
I could not copy-paste an extract because
PowerPoint crashed repeatedly (it
happens to Bill Gates as well Often.)

Dr.E
Dr.E
W
W

Johnny
JohnnyHeikell
Heikell

4. Examples, Set 1
Demonstration of basic
Scilab programs

Return to Contents

Example 1-1: script for

a simple plot

Lets elaborate on the

example from Scilab in
15 minutes
We work with the Editor
using the same script as
before, but with added
comments
Save the function when it
has been typed in. I call it
plot1.sce and have saved
it on my USB thumb
drive, you can save it
wherever you like
To run the script, Click on
the Editors Execute icon
What happens is shown
on the next slide

// plot1.sce
//
//
//
//

A simple 2D plot of a sine function

with the abscissa x = 0 ... 10,
and amplitude A = increases with x
The function itself is y(x)

x = [0:.1:10];
A = 0.5*x;
y = A.*sin(2*x);
plot(y)

/
/
/
/

// The abscissa x is a row vector

// Modulated amplitude, row vector
// Element-by-element multiplication
// Plot command

Note: Comments begin with a

double slash (//). Scilab disregards
everything behind the // when it
executes the code

Ex 1-1: the Graphics

Window
As seen
before, Scilab
uses a third
window, the
Graphics
Window, to
present the
plot
Information
on the
executed
script is
echoed to the
Console. Error
messages are
also

These three are the windows that we mainly

work with, but there are more. You have
already seen a few like the Help Browser and
Variable Browser

Ex 1-1: using the

Console

The script could also be

executed from the Console
After the command prompt,
type
exec plot1.sce

And the result is an error

message
The reason? Scilab looks for
plot1.sce in the wrong place
To see where Scilab was
looking, Click:
File\Display current
directory
The answer is shown in the
lower window: It looks in
Scilabs program fle, which
is not where I put it

Ex 1-1: change
directory

Click on the icon Change

current directory...

A new window pops up

Defne the right fle with
the drop-down menu
Click: Open

You can then return to

the Console and type in
the command
exec plot1.sce

And it works, as seen on

the next slide

Note: The command

chdir() allows the
directory to be changed
on the run

Ex 1-1: plot and echo

Up pops the
Graphics
Window with
a plot of the
defned
function...
while the
script is
echoed to the
Command
Window
(Console)

Ex 1-1: comments
(1/4), command details
Editor contents will
from now on be shown
on light green
background

The vector defnition

x=[0:0.1:10] can be
interpreted as from 0 to
10 in steps of 0.1
Multiplication by the Dot
Operator (.*) is necessary
to tell Scilab it should
multiply the vectors
element-by-element.
Change to ordinary
multiplication (*) and
youll get this error
message on the Console

// plot1.sce
//
//
//
//

A simple 2D plot of a sine function

with the abscissa x = 0 ... 10,
and amplitude A = increases with x
The function itself is y(x)

x = [0:.1:10];
A = 0.5*x;
y = A.*sin(2*x);
plot(y)

/
/
/
/

// The abscissa x is a row vector

// Modulated amplitude, row vector
// Element-by-element multiplication
// Plot command

-->exec('H:\Dr.EW\Writings\Scilab examples\plot1.sce', -1)

y = A*sin(2*x); // Element-by-element multiplication
!--error 10
Inconsistent multiplication.
at line
10 of exec file called by :
exec('H:\Dr.EW\Writings\Scilab examples\plot1.sce', -1)
-->

Ex 1-1: comments
(2/3), the plot
The plot is very basic as it
has no title, axis labels, or
grid. Well return to them
in the next example
The abscissa scale may
seem strange, the
maximum value for x was
10 but the scale goes to
100. The fgure 100 is
actually the number of
calculations, since they
were made in steps of 0.1
up to 10. Try to change t to
x=[0:0.2:10]; and youll
see that the scale ends at
50 (the modifed script
must be saved before it
can be run)

Ex 1-1: comments
(3/4), clf
Assume that we make a
change to the script, e.g.
increase the frequency to
sin(5*s), save it, and
execute it immediately
after a previous run
As a result Scilab plots the
new graph on top of the
previous one. To avoid this
we must either
Close the Graphics Window

manually after each run, or

Add the function clf (clear
fgure) to the script to make
Scilab clean the window

clf;
x = [0:.1:10];
A = 0.5*x;
y = A.*sin(5*x);
plot(y)

Ex 1-1: comments
(4/4), cleaning trash
Some programmers prefer
to safeguard against
different forms of old junk
that may interfere with the
execution of the script. To
do this, three commands
are added at the beginning
of the script:

// plot1.sce
//
//
//
//

A simple 2D plot of a sine function

with the abscissa x = 0 ... 10,
and amplitude A = increases with x
The function itself is y(x)

clear, clc, clf;

x = [0:.1:10];
A = 0.5*x;
y = A.*sin(2*x);
plot(y)

/
/
/
/

// The abscissa x is a row vector

// Modulated amplitude, row vector
// Element-by-element multiplication
// Plot command

clear, removes items from

the workspace and frees
memory*
Thus our fnal script looks like this.
clc, cleans the Console;
Pay attention to the semicolon (;) at
the
the end of each expression apart
echo signal is mainly
from the last
erased
*)clf,
Careful
with
it may cause havoc in some cases (there will be a demo on
wipes
anclear,
open
this later)
Graphics
Window

Example 1-2: the task,

a decaying linear chirp

Write the script for a linearly frequency modulated

sinusoidal signal s(t), i.e. a linear chirp of the type
s(t) = A(t) sin {[2(f0 + k(t)t] + }

where k is the rate of frequency change, or chirp rate

Use 2.5 periods of the basic frequency
The amplitude should decay exponentially, A(t) = 2e-t/3
The initial phase shift shall be /4
Plot and print the result with a plotting method that
differs from the previous one
The plot shall have grid, title, and axis labels
Plug in the commands plot(), histplot(), surf(), and
plot3d() on the Console to view examples of Scilab plots.
See also Chapter 7.

Ex 1-2: first iteration

The linspace() function creates a

linearly space plotting vector
with the arguments from, to,
number of points. The default
value is 100 points, but more
are needed here
Here is the Dot Operator (.*)
again
The plot2d() produces the 2D
plot. The arguments t and s
stands for the x and y-axes,
the number 5 produces a red
graph

// f-modulation1.sce
/
// Plots a sinusoidal function of the type
/
// s = A(t)(sin(wt+x(t)+phi)), where w =
angular /
// velocity, x(t) = frequency modulation, phi =
/
// phase shift, and A(t) = amplitude
/
clear, clc, clf;
f = 1;
// Frequency
w = 2*%pi*f;
phi = %pi/4;
// Initial phase shift
fn = (4*%pi)/w;
// End of plot
t = linspace(0,fn,1000);
A = 2*exp(-t);
s
= A.*sin(w*t
10*t^2 as
+ phi);
Note:
fin is+ used
the end of
plot2d(t,s,5)

plot variable name because end

is reserved (Scilab keyword)

Ex 1-2: plot
The plot looks as
expected
including the
initial phase shift
but it lacks a
grid, title, and
axis labels
plot2d() is a
more versatile
function than
plot(), which is
similar to the
plot function in
Matlab

Ex 1-2: improved plot

Here I have
added code
to plot the
grid, xgrid(),
title, xtitle(),
and x and y
labels,
xlabel(),
ylabel().
Crude, but
it works

// f-modulation2.sce
//
//
//
//

Plots a sinusoidal function of the type

/
s = A(t)(sin(wt+x(t)+phi)), where w = angular /
velocity, x(t) = frequency modulation, phi =
/
phase shift, and A(t) = amplitude
/

clear, clc, clf;

f = 1;
// Frequency
w = 2*%pi*f;
phi = %pi/4
// Initial phase shift
fn = (4*%pi)/w;
// End of plot
t = linspace(0,fn,1000);
A = 2*exp(-t);
s = A.*sin(w*t + 10*t^2 + phi);
plot2d(t,s,5)
xgrid()
xtitle('SINUSOIDAL PLOT')
xlabel('t')
ylabel('Amplitude')

Ex 1-2:
printing

Scilabs windows (Console, Editor,

Graphics Window) all have both
normal and advanced print
functions
One way of getting a coherent
printable document is to copy the
contents of the windows and
paste them into a word processing
page (Scilab supports LaTeX)
The image shown here was done
on MS Word (OOo Writer did not
recognize Scilabs fle type). It was
then printed as .PDF, saved as a
.PNG fle, and fnally cropped with
MS Picture Manager
Thats a tedious method. Consult
Help for advanced print features

Ex 1-2: checking
// f-modulation3.sce

To show that the frequency

is linearly modulated, we
can add frequency as a
function of t to the plot
For that we add the function
f_mom to the script
The plot command must
also be modifed. We
shift back to the plot()
command and include both
parameters, together with
color information (r, b)
fuse x-label t as an
argument of xtitle()
swap y-label for legend();
the argument 2 refers to
the upper left hand corner

// Plots a sinusoidal function of the type

/
// s = A(t)(sin(wt+x(t)+phi)), where w = angular
/
// velocity, x(t) = frequency modulation, phi =
/
// phase shift, and A(t) = amplitude. Second
/
// plot for momentary frequency
values
/
clear, clc, clf;
f = 1;
// Frequency
w = 2*%pi*f;
phi = %pi/4;
// Initial phase shift
fn = (4*%pi)/w;
// End of plot
t = linspace(0,fn,1000);
A = 2*exp(-t);
s = A.*sin(w*t + 10*t^2 + phi);
f_mom = f + 10*t;
// Momentary
frequency
plot(t,s,'r',t,f_mom,'b')
xgrid()
xtitle('SINUSOIDAL PLOT','t')
legend('s','f_mom',2)

Ex 1-2: final plot

Pay
attention to
the legend
OK, not an
optimal plot but
the information
is there.
With the big
differences in
vertical scales,
we should either
use logarithmic y
axis or separate
the two into
subplotsbut
that comes later

Ex 1-2: discussion

As was said earlier, Scilab evolves with time and

approaches Matlab with each release
As an example in case, Scilabs Help Browser recognizes
the xlabel() and ylabel() that I used in the improved plot
as Matlab functions and also refers to them as Scilab
functions
However, there are plenty of obsolete Scilab functions
and you fnd them all over if you rely on old tutorials.
Even Scilabs Help Browser may refer to them
Be careful, particularly if a function name begins with
x- (cf. note in Chapter 7 )
You may have noticed that I begin the script with a
comment stating the name of the script (e.g. // fmodulation3.sce /). I do this to help identify the script
when I am looking at a printout

Example 1-3: Lotto,

the task
The frst part of this example
is borrowed from Mkels
tutorial
Task 1: Create a user defned
function (UDF) that draws a
row of Lotto numbers.
Assume that the Lotto row
contains 7 numbers, 1-39
Task 2: Write a script that
calls the previous function (or
a modifcation of it, if
necessary) and produces a
plot of it to visually indicate if
the function produces
random numbers. Generate
10,000 draws for the task

Ex 1-3: task 1, script

Function ID, not a comment

dt=getdate() returns
function lotto
dd-mm-yyyy
rand(seed,n) sets
//-----------------------------------------------------------------/
// The function draws 7 Lotto numbers [1,39] by frst /
the random gene// creating a seed using current date and time
/
rator seed to n
// (second, millisecond) information
/
//----------------------------------------------------------------/
dt(9) returns a
number between
dt=getdate();
// Pick current date
rand('seed',1000*dt(9)+dt(10));
// Initialize random generato
00 and 59, dt(10)
numbers=floor(1+39*rand(1,7));
// Draw Lotto row
returns
while(length(unique(numbers))<7) // If number repeats in row,
numbers=floor(1+39*rand(1,7)); // then drawn a new row
milliseconds 000
end
999
numbers=gsort(numbers); // Sort numbers in decreasing orde
The while...end
disp(numbers(7:-1:1));
// Display in increasing order
endfunction
construct will be
covered under the
discussion below
Why the hassle with the seed? Without it Scilab generates the same sequence for
each session. The 1000*t(9)+ dt(10) argument improves randomness.

Ex 1-3: task 1, saving

This script
(function) differs
a bit from the
earlier ones, so
lets go through
the save
operation:
Save the script
as lotto.sci in
your preferred
fle
Next, Click on
the Execute icon
of the Editor to
load the saved
fle into Scilab
Continues on
next slide

Ex 1-3: task 1, running

If the Console shows a
warning, check with
Help what it means. It
can be ignored or the
funcprot(0) command
can be added to the
script to avoid the
warning. You can also
jump to Chapter 18 for a
brief explanation
Execute (run) the
loaded function by
entering the
function name on
the Console

. Use funcprot(0) to avoid this message

-->

. Use funcprot(0) to avoid this message

Warning : redefining function: lotto

-->exec('H:\Dr.EW\Writings\Scilab examples\lotto

3.

5. 13. 15. 33.

And the
winning
-->lotto
numbers are...

37.

39.

Ex 1-3: task 1,
discussion

This is already an intermediate

level programming exercise.
Dont worry if it gives you
problems. Most of its details will
be repeated later
The flowchart of the while...end
construct is shown to the right.
Pay attention to the elegant
solution for testing uniqueness
of the numbers:
length(unique(numbers)) < 7

However, in theory it could

become an almost infnite loop
Well return to while ... end loops
in Chapter 11

Draw Lotto row

Draw new row

All numbers
unique?
Y
Sort numbers

Ex 1-3: task 2, script

(1/2)
The previous UDF
must be modifed if
it is called by a
separate code: 1)
Delete sorting and
display and 2)
redefne the function
ID to allow calling
In the latter case it
has one or more
input arguments (in)
that are given to it
by the calling
command and
output arguments
[out] by which it
returns the result of
its calculations to

// lotto2.sce
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------/
// The script asks for the number of Lotto draws that we /
// wish to do, using a separate dialog box. It then calls
/
// the local UDF lottodraw()) that generates a row of N
/
// random Lotto numbers in the range [1,39]. It sorts the /
// numbers into a vector by adding one (1) to the relevant /
// vector element for each corresponding hit. The result
/
// is plotted after the entered number of draws.
/
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------/
clear,clc,clf;
// (SUBROUTINE) function lottodraw():
//----------------------------------------------------// The function draws N Lotto numbers [1,39], with
// N being defned through the input argument in.
// It delivers the drawn row to the calling script
// command through the output argument out. The
// randomness of the drawn numbers is improved by
// frst creating a seed using current date and
// time (second, millisecond) information.

/
/
/
/
/
/
/

Ex 1-3: task 2, script

(2/2)
Redefned function
(subroutine)
The number of Lotto
draws that we are
looking for is
entered via a
separate dialog box
x_dialog()
The drawn Lotto
numbers are
collected in the
columns vector inside
the for ... end loop
The result is plotted
as step functions

function out=lottodraw(in)
dt=getdate(); // Pick current date
rand('seed',1000*dt(9)+dt(10)); // Initialize random
generator
out = floor(1+39*rand(1,in));
// Draw Lotto row (out
variable)
while(length(unique(out))<in) // If number repeats in
row,
out = floor(1+39*rand(1,in)); // then a new row is drawn
end
endfunction
// (MAIN) Call subroutine, update histogram, plot:
//------------------------------------------------------------------M = evstr(x_dialog('Enter # of...
// Open dialog box
lotto draws ',''));
N = 7;
// Lotto numbers to draw
columns = zeros(1,39);
// Initiate collecting vector
for k = 1:M
numbers = lottodraw(N);
// Call to subroutine
columns(numbers)=columns(numbers)+1;
// Add 1 for drawn number
end
x = linspace(1,39,39);
// Define x axis
plot2d2(x,columns,style=2)
// Plot as step functions
xtitle('RESULT OF LOTTO DRAWS') // Add title & labels
xlabel('Lotto numbers [1,39]')
ylabel('Hits')

Ex 1-3: task 2,
execution & plot
The dialog box pops up when
executing the script. Enter the
wanted number of Lotto draws
and Click OK

The result is plotted

on the Graphics
Window. It is not too
bad, considering that
the average of 10,000
draws is 7x10,000/39
= 1,795
It takes my 1.6 GHz
dual core processor
about 10 seconds to
compute 10,000 draws

Ex 1-3: comments (1/3)

This was not exactly an engineering problem, but it

showed many features of Scilab
The UDF in Task 1 is unusual in being closed, having no
input or output argumentsyou just use it as it is. The
local UDF demonstrated in Task 2 is the normal case
In addition to rand(), Task 1 brings in several useful
functions: getdate(), floor(), unique(), and gsort()
The script in Task 2 is commented at length. Adding
headings and comments takes time and they require
space, but comments are absolutely necessary to
understand the program at a later date
Task 2 introduces the dialog box, a GUI (graphical user
interface) feature to which we shall return in
Chapter 15

Ex 1-3: comments (2/3)

In addition to the plot() and plot2d() commands that we

used, Scilab has numerous other ways of creating plots,
together with options for adding clarifying text strings to the
plots. Plotting will be covered in more detail in Chapter 7

Flow controlin this case the term refers to the use of

conditional branch structureswill be discussed in
Chapter 11

Examples 1-1 1-3 were also intended to stress the fact that
we are forced to think matrix-wise when working with
Scilab. For instance, Scilab immediately generates an error
message if we attempt to do ordinary multiplication (*) when
a parameter is in matrix form and requires Dot multiplication
(.*) (Recall Example 1-1?)

Ex 1-3: comments
(3/3), rounding
functions
The rounding function floor() is
one of four rounding functions
in Scilab: round(), fix() (or int()),
floor(), and ceil()

Pay attention to the difference

between the frst and the two
last ones
round()

rounds to nearest integer

fix() or
int()

returns integer part

floor()

rounds down

ceil()

rounds up

-->round(-2.7), round(2.7)
ans =
- 3.
ans =
3.
-->fix(-2.7), fix(2.7)
ans =
- 2.
ans =
2.

-->floor(-2.7), floor(2.7)
ans =
- 3.
ans =
2.
-->ceil(-2.7), ceil(2.7)
ans =
- 2.
ans =
3.

Dr.E
Dr.E
W
W

Johnny
JohnnyHeikell
Heikell

5. Matrices, functions
& operators
An overview of basic
matrix operations,
functions, and operators
Return to Contents

Introduction

As Scilab is built around matrices we are forced to use them

Scilab stores numbers (and characters) in matrices
A matrix can be seen as a table, consisting of m rows and n
columns (mxn matrices, also denoted ixj matrices)
Scalar variables do not exist per se, they are treated as 1x1
matrices
The general form of a Scilab matrix (here 3x3 matrix) is
A = [11 12 13; 21 22 23; 31 32 33]
Row elements can also be separated by commas:
A = [11, 12, 13; 21, 22, 23; 31, 32, 33]

In both cases semicolons separate rows

The next page shows both alternatives for the 3x3 matrix
[The vector] has never been of the slightest use to any creature.
Attributed to Lord Kelvin

The 3x3 matrix

Both alternatives for
expressing matrices are
interpreted in the same
way by Scilab. Pick
whichever you like

Note: Scilab may cause a copied screen

text (as seen here) to be underlined
when pasted to another document. If
so, put the cursor at the end of the text
and press Backspace ()

31.
21.
11.

32.
22.
12.

33.
23.
13.

A =
-->A = [11 12 13; 21 22 23; 31 32
31.
21.
11.

32.
22.
12.

33.
23.
13.

Row and column

vectors
Task 1: Create a row vector
with frst element 0, last
element 1 and increment (step
size) 0.2. Note the order and
colons that divide elements
Task 2: Create a similar
column vector. Note the
asterisk that signifes the
matrix transpose
In case the Console window is
set too small and all elements
do not ft in, Scilab interrupts
plotting and asks if it should
continue

0.

0.2

0.4

-->column=[0:0.2:1]'
column =

row =
0.
-->row=[0:0.2:1]
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.

0.6

0.8

Some special matrices

3x3 identity
matrix

The function rand(m,n) creates

a uniformly distributed mxn
matrix. Adding the argument
normal creates a normal
distributed
matrix
-->rand(4,4)
ans =

3x2 matrix
of ones

2x3 zero
matrix

0.2312237
0.2164633
0.8833888
0.6525135

0.3076091 0.3616361 0.3321719

0.9329616 0.2922267 0.5935095
0.2146008 0.5664249 0.5015342
0.312642 0.4826472 0.4368588

-->rand(4,4,'normal')
ans =
- 1.3772844
0.7915156
- 0.1728369
0.7629083

- 0.6019869 - 0.3888655 - 0.7004486

- 0.0239455 - 0.6594738 0.3353388
- 1.5619521 0.6543045 - 0.8262233
- 0.5637165 - 0.6773066 0.4694334

Matrices are defned

brackets, [], while parentheses,
0. with
0. square
0.
(), are used to cluster
0. function
0. 0. arguments

Basic matrix
calculations

Addition
8. 10. 12.
2. 4. 6.

Multiplication (note transpose!)

32. 77.
14. 32.

C =
1.
1.518D-16
-->A
= [1 2 1.
3; 4 5 6]; B = A; C = A + B
3.795D-15

C =
-->A = [1 2 3; 4 5 6]; B = A'; C = A * B

-->A=[1 2 3; 4 5 6]; B=[A]; C=A/B

C =

Division (note rounding errors)

Inverse matrix
2. - 1.
- 2.5
1.5
Note 1: Rules for matrix operations must
of course
be
observed!
Note 2: Scilab returns D, not e, for the Hexponent
(1.518D-16);
=
the exact value is 0 but here we have-->A
a case
= [2of
3; limited
4 5]; H = inv(A)

Drers magic square

German Renaissance artist and

amateur matematician
Albrecht Drers magic
square is a popular example in
linear algebra
In the window of Drers
engraving the sum of any row,
column, or diagonal yield the
same result (34)
We shall use the magic square
to investigate some aspects of
matrix operations
The magic square will be
denoted M to set it apart
from other matrices
Note that many matrix
operations are defned only for
square matrices

sum(), transpose, and

diag()

The magic square is entered in

the Consoles command line

The statement sum(M)

produces the sum of all
elements. This differs from
Matlab, where the same
statement returns the sum of
the four columns, i.e.,
sum(M) = 34. 34. 34. 34.

The transpose statement M

flips the matrix about its main
diagonal
The statement diag(M),
fnally, returns the main
diagonal as a column vector

-->M = [16 3 2 13; 5 10 11 8

-->9 6 7 12; 4 15 14 1]
M =
16. 3.
5. 10.
9. 6.
4. 15.
-->sum(M)
ans =
136.

2. 13.
11. 8.
7. 12.
14. 1.

-->M
ans =
16. 5.
3. 10.
2. 11.
13. 8.
-->diag(M)
ans =
16.
10.
7.
1.

9. 4.
6. 15.
7. 14.
12. 1.

Sum of rows and

columns: sum()

Scilab returns the sums of rows

and columns of a matrix A with
the commands sum(A,c) and
sum(A,r) respectively

At frst sight the use of c and

r arguments feels odd. The logic
is that r returns the sums of
matrix columns giving a row
vector, while c returns the sums
of matrix rows, a column vector

Alternative statements are:

sum(A,r) = sum(A,1) and sum(A,c)
= sum(A,2)

24.
15.

prod()
-->A=[1 2 3; 4 5 6; 7 8 9]
A =

The product of rows and

columns can be formed in a
similar way as sums
prod(A, r) returns the product of
each column as a row vector
prod(A, c) returns the product of
each row as a column vector
prod(A) returns the product of all
matrix elements

1.
4.
7.

2.
5.
8.

3.
6.
9.

-->prod(A, 'r')
ans =
28.

80.

-->prod(A, 'c')
ans =
6.
120.
504.
-->prod(A)
ans =
362880.

162.

min(), max()

-->A=[3 0 1; 2 2 7; 5 9 4]
A =
3.
2.
5.

The same logic continues with

the min() and max() functions

0.
2.
9.

1.
7.
4.

-->min(A)
ans =
0.

min(A) picks out the smallest

element in the matrix and max(A)
the biggest

-->max(A)
ans =
9.

min(A, r) returns a row vector

consisting of the smallest
elements in each column

-->min(A, 'r')
ans =

max(A, c) returns a column

vector containing the biggest
elements in each row

-->max(A, 'c')
ans =

2.

3.
7.
9.

0.

1.

Min/max position &

value

A variation of the min() and max()

functions allow us to determine the
position and value of the smallest
alt. largest matrix element

[min_value min_pos] = min(A) picks out

the position and value (in this
order!) of the smallest element in
the matrix, [max_val max_pos] = max(A)
the largest

Note 1: The designation of vector

elements (here min_val etc.) is
irrelevant

Note 2: If the matrix contains

multiple min/max values only the
position of the first is returned

6.
max_val =

mean()

And the previously mentioned logic

a fnal time with the mean()
function

mean(A) returns the mean value of

all matrix elements

mean(A, r) returns a row vector

consisting of the mean of each
column

mean(A, c) returns a column vector

containing the mean of each row

5.

size()

The function size() can be used

to fnd out the size of a matrix

The answer is given as the

number of rows and columns
(in that order)

When row and column

variables are named, the
answer is given in alphabetic
order (here columns frst)
Matrices with string elements
(strings were used in the
dialog box in Ex 1-3 and will
be discussed in detail later)
are treated the same way

2.
4.

1.

4.

ans =
-->size(A)

ans =
-->A = [1 2 3 4; 5
-->size(v2)
6 7 8];
2.
1. 4.
ans =
-->size(v1)

n =
3.

length()

The function length() is

related to size(). For a matrix
with numeric elements
length() returns the number
of elements

For a matrix with string

elements length() returns the
number of characters in
each element

Note that matrices with

mixed numeric and string
elements are not allowed

3.
ans =
-->length([1.23;
456,7890; 9])
5. 4.
11. 6.
ans =
-->length(['Hello world' 'SCILAB';

find(condition)

The function find() identifes and

returns the row locations of those
matrix elements that satisfy the
Boolean condition stated in the
argument

-->X = [9 1 8; 2 7 3; 6 3 5];

An empty matrix ([]) is returned in

case no element satisfes the given
condition

-->find(X==3)
ans =

The statement X=3 is not a valid

Boolean condition. Although a
numeric answer is returned, it is
not legitimate
Later we shall se that find() can also
be used with strings

-->find(X<5)
ans =
2.

6.

4.

6.

8.

8.

-->find(X=3)
ans =
1.
-->find(X~=3)
ans =
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

7.

9.

gsort()

Scilab does not recognize

Matlabs sort() function (it used to
before version 5.3). Instead we
must use gsort(), which is different
but serves the same purpose
As shown to the right, gsort() picks
out matrix elements in decreasing
order and returns them column by
column
We achieve Matlab-like sorting by
adding the arguments r (row)
and i (increase) to gsort()
Check with Help for details on
arguments

-->matr = [-1 4 -2 2; 1 0 -3 3; -4 5 0 -5]

matr =
- 1.
1.
- 4.

4. - 2. 2.
0. - 3. 3.
5. 0. - 5.

-->s_matr = gsort(matr)
s_matr =
5.
4.
3.

2. 0. - 3.
1. - 1. - 4.
0. - 2. - 5.

-->matr = [-1 4 -2 2; 1 0 -3 3; -4 5 0 -5];

-->Mtlb_sort = gsort(matr, 'r', 'i')
Mtlb_sort =

testmatrix()

Magic squares of different sizes

can be produced with the
testmatrix(magi,n) function. It is
the same as the magic(n) function
in Matlab
Additional matrices that can be
produced by the testmatrix()
function is testmatrix(frk,n)
which returns the Franck matrix,
and testmatrix(hilb,n) that is the
inverse of the nxn Hilbert matrix.
Check with Help for details

-->testmatrix('magi',4)
ans =
16.
5.
9.
4.

2.
11.
7.
14.

3.
10.
6.
15.

13.
8.
12.
1.

-->testmatrix('magi',5)
ans =
17.
23.
4.
10.
11.

24. 1.
5. 7.
6. 13.
12. 19.
18. 25.

8. 15.
14. 16.
20. 22.
21. 3.
2.
9.

det(M) & rounding

errors

Practical problems often require the

determinant of a (square) matrix to
be calculated
The command det() returns the
determinant
The determinant of Drers magic
square is zero (the matrix is
singular), but as shown, the
rounding error prevents Scilab from
returning the exact answer (recall
that we encountered this problem
before)
To get rid of the rounding error we
can use the clean() function. It
returns zero for values below 1e-10

0.

Deleting rows and

columns

Rows and columns can be deleted by

using a pair of square brackets

We start with the 4x4 magic square,

denoted m because we shall distort it

We frst delete the third column. The

Colon Operator argument is used to
retain all rows, the argument 3 points
to the third column. The result is a 3x4
matrix
In the second instance we delete the
second row, to end with a 3x3 matrix

-->m = [16 3 2 13; 5 10 11 8

--> 9 6 7 12; 4 15 14 1]
m =
16.
3.
2. 13.
5. 10. 11. 8.
9.
6.
7. 12.
4. 15. 14. 1.
-->m(:,3) = []
m =
16.
3.
5. 10.
9.
6.
4. 15.

delete
13.
8.
12.
1.

-->m(2,:) = []
m =
16. 3. 13.
9.
6. 12.
4. 15. 1.

delete

Changing rows and

columns

The logic on the previous slide can be

used to changing rows and columns
We start from the previous 3x3 matrix

First change elements in the second

row to zeros

Then we change the last column to

ones (note transpose)

These operations can also be seen as

inserting a defned row/column vector
in place of an existing row or column

m =
16.
9.
4.

3.
6.
15.

13.
12.
1.

-->m(2,:)=[0 0 0]
m =
16. 3. 13.
0. 0.
0.
4. 15. 1.
-->m(:,3)=[1 1 1]'
m =
16. 3.
1.
0. 0.
1.
4. 15. 1.

Addressing matrix
elements by linear
indexing
9.

7.

4.
-->M(14)

14.
5. 11.
16. 2.

6.

Scilab regards matrices as column vectors.

This allows us to address matrix elements
in a simplifed way

We start from the 4x4 magic square

Then we pick out the element (2,4), which

is number 14 if you count along the
columns

Next pick out elements of the main

diagonal

Finally, change the

elements of the
second diagonal
to zeros

12.

15.
10.
3.

1.
8.
13.

8. =
M
-->M=testmatrix('magi',4)
ans
=
1.
6.

0.

14.

15.

Concatenation (1/2)

Concatenation is the process of joining

small matrices to make bigger ones

In fact, even the simplest matrix is

formed by concatenating its individual
elements

The pair of square brackets, [], is the

concatenation operator

The examples illustrate two basic

cases of concatenation (the only
difference are the transposed
matrices in the second case)

Note that if a semicolon (;) is placed

after a command the result is
suppressed, but with a comma (,) it is
displayed (top case)

1.

2.

3.

C =
4. 5.

6.

4.

5.

6.

B =
-->A = [1 2 3]; B = [4 5 6], C = [
3. 6.
2. 5.
1. 4.

Concatenation (2/2)

In this example a 4x4 matrix has

been created by concatenating four
2x2 matrices

-->A = [11 12; 21 22];

-->B = [13 14; 23 24];

Lines have been overlaid to highlight

the fused parts
Alternatively, we could have
concatenated four row or column
vectors, a 3x3 matrix plus a row and
column vector, etc.
E can be treated as a normal 4x4
matrix. For instance, the command A
= E(2:3, 2:3) picks out the submatrix

22 23
32 33

-->C = [31 32; 41 42];

-->D = [33 34; 43 44];
-->E = [A B; C D]

E =
11.
21.

12.
22.

13.
23.

14.
24.

31.
41.

32.
42.

33.
43.

34.
44.

Operators (1/4):
the Colon Operator (:)

The Colon Operator, (:),

emerged in the earlier
examples
It is one of the most important
operators in Scilab
A typically use is in the form:
0:%pi/36:%pi

Meaning: Starting at 0, step

by /36 up to
The frst example shows that
the truncated form 1:8
produces a row vector with
increment 1. The second
shows how to refer to rows 3-4,
column 2, of the magic square

1.

2.

ans =
-->1:8

14.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Operators (2/4):
more examples with (:)

The second example on the previous slide was a case of subscript

manipulation of the type M(i:j,k), where i:j refers to the i:th to j:th rows
and k to the k:th column
There is often need to address part of a matrix. The idea should be
understood well. Below are three more examples
Note that the Colon Operator alone refers to the entire row or column

7. 6.
11. 10.

15.
6.

4.
9.

14. 15. 1.
7. 6. 12.

Operators (3/4):
the $ Operator

The $ Operator refers to the last

value, $-1 to the value next to the
last, etc.
The example to the right shows some
uses of the $ Operator
The $ Operator can be used to flip the
order of elements in a vector, as
shown below (an alternative method
was demonstrated in Ex 1-3, Task 1)

-->M = testmatrix('magi',4)
M =
16. 2.
5. 11.
9. 7.
4. 14.
-->M($)
ans =
1.
-->M(1:$-1,$)
ans =
13.
8.
12.

9.

8.

7.

6.

5.

4.

3.

3. 13.
10. 8.
6. 12.
15. 1.

Operators (4/4): the

Backslash Operator (\)

Backslash (\) denotes left matrix division. x=A\b is a solution

to A*x=b , which is important e.g. in control engineering

If A is square and nonsingular, x=A\b is equivalent to

x=inv(A)*b but the computation burden is smaller and the
result is more accurate

Here you can see the

warning given when
Scilab sees singularity
in left division.
In this case Matlab
produces a different
answer than Scilab
(Example from book by
Hunt et al.)

- 0.3846154

Duplicating an mx1
vector to an mxn
matrix

The Colon Operator allows us to

duplicate vectors to form a matrix
Assume that we have the column
vector m = (2:2:6); meaning that
it has three rows
We want to form a 3x4 matrix
where each column consists of
the vector m

-->m = (2:2:6)';
-->n = 4;
-->A = m(:, ones(n,1))
A =
2.
4.
6.

2.
4.
6.

2.
4.
6.

2.
4.
6.

Pay attention to the command m(:, ones(n,1). Verbally it can be

interpreted as: Form a matrix with the number of rows
defned by the column vector m and the number of columns
defned by the variable n. Fill the matrix with ones and
multiply each row by the corresponding value of m. Repeat
just once.

Singularities and left

division

The terms singular and nonsingular emerged on the

previous slide
A requirement of nonsingular square matrices is that the
determinant is nonzero. Consider the following cases:

6 2
= 63 25 = 8 , it is therefore nonsingular
5 3
6 3
= 61 32 = 0 , meaning that it is singular
2 1

Earlier we found that Drers magic square is singular, so is

e.g the matrix A = [1 2 3; 4 5 6; 7 8 9]
Before performing left division with square matrices one
should check that the determinant of the coefficient matrix
is nonzero, e.g. by testing that clean(det(A)) ~= 0

Strings (1/6): they are

matrices too

Character (letters, text, special characters) strings can be

created by using single or double quotes:
This is a &#ck2 string, and so is this

Typical use of strings is in plot commands, to defne the title

and x and y-labels. Other uses are interactive inputs and
outputs (input(), disp(), etc.), and write commands
(write(%io(2),.....))
Strings are considered as 1x1 matrices (scalars) in Scilab, but
mixed character/numeric strings are typically 1x3 matrices. It is
shown on the next slid with the command
disp(['Was it ' string(a) 'that you said?'])
Elements:

Example 2-4 shows an additional application of strings

Strings (2/6): disp(),

string()

The most usual string display

command is disp(), where the
text has to be in quotation
marks: disp(text) or disp([text])
Numeric data can be added to
disp([]), but has to be
converted to strings using the
function string()
Scilab knows Matlabs
conversion command num2str(),
but in the form mtlb_num2str()
Leave out the square brackets
and the elements are
displayed as a column, starting
with the last (Last In First Out)
Commas are optional with
square brackets, but not with
brackets only

!Was it 125 that you said? !

-->disp(['Was it ' string(a) 'that
you said?'])
!No,
I said 521 ! !
-->a
= 125;
-->disp(['No, I said '
mtlb_num2str(b) '!'])
-->b = 521;
in action

Strings (3/6): disp() vs.

mprintf()

As seen on the previous slide,

disp() gives LIFO output with an
empty line between the elements

To avoid the empty line, we can

use the mprintf() function with the
line declaration \n . In this case
the output is First In First Out.
Note that the argument is a
single string

Check with the Help Browser for

other applications of mprintf()

in action
LIFO
This is
in
action action', 'LIFO', 'This
-->disp('in
FIFO
is')
This is
-->mprintf(\nThis is \nFIFO

Strings (4/6): write(),

input()
// strings.sce

String arguments in the

write() and input()
functions allow us to build
interactive codes
In the shown example
write() is frst used to
give general information to
the user, after which
input() prompts for data
required in the calculation
The %io(2) argument of
the write() function tells
that the target is the
Console. All actions after
the script is loaded into
Scilab take place on the
Console

// Demo of write() and input() functions /

clear,clc;
write(%io(2),'This is an interactive demo.');
write(%io(2),'You will be asked to give the base length')
write(%io(2),'and height of a triangle. Scilab then');
write(%io(2),'computes the area.');
write(%io(2),' ');
// Empty row
b = input('Give length of triangle base: ');
h = input('Give height of triangle: ');
write(%io(2),' ');
// Empty row
disp(['triangle_area = ' string(b*h/2)])
This is an interactive demo.

Strings(5/6): other
useful commands
Some of the functions discussed earlier in this chapter can
have string matrices (below S) as arguments:
prod(), min(),
max(), mean()
size(S)
length(S)

Not defined for strings

Returns the number of rows and columns in S
Returns the number of characters in each string element

find(condition) Returns the columnwise location of a string element in the

matrix*
gsort(S)

Returns S with elements rearranged column-by-column in

alphanumerically descending order*

*) See demo on the next slide

Strings(6/6): demo
with find() & gsort()

To the right is a 3x2 matrix

called cars
The function find() identifes
and returns the location of a
specifed string within the
matrix
In case there is no match,
an empty matrix is returned
The function sort() orders
string elements column-bycolumn in alphanumerically
descending order (note that
the number 343 is accepted
without being declared
string)

-->cars = ['Audi' 'BMW' 'Fiat'; '343' 'Saab' 'Xantia']

cars =
!Audi BMW Fiat !
!
!
!343 Saab Xantia !
-->find(cars=='Saab')
ans =
4.
-->find(cars=='Volvo')
ans =
[]
-->gsort(cars)
ans =
!Xantia Fiat Audi !
!
!
!Saab BMW 343 !

Symbolic computing

Matrices of character strings are

constructed as ordinary matrices, e.g.
using square brackets
A very important feature of matrices of
character strings is the capacity to
manipulate and create functions
Symbolic manipulation of
mathematical objects can be
performed using matrices of character
strings
In the shown cases the function
trianfml() performs symbolic
triangularization of the matrix sc, and
the function evstr() evaluates the
expression tsc

-->sc = ['x' 'y'; 'z' 'v+w']

sc =
!x
!
!z

!
!
v+w !

-->tsc = trianfml(sc)
tsc =
!z
!
!0

v+w

!
!
z*y-x*(v+w) !

-->x=1; y=2; z=3; v=5; w=4;

-->evstr(tsc)
ans =
3. 9.
0. - 3.

Arrays: general

The term array refers to any

systematic arrangement of
objects, usually in rows and
columns (numeric arrays, diode
arrays, antenna arrays, etc.)

addition

subtraction

Arrays have some important

uses, e.g. for building tables

.*

multiplication

./

right division

Arithmetic operations on arrays

are done element-by-element,
meaning that addition and
subtraction are the same for
arrays and matrices

.\

left division

.^

power

unconjugated array transpose

Scilab uses the Dot Operator (.)

for array operations

The table to the right is a list of

array operators

Arrays: building a
table

Assume that we have a

column vector n=(0 9)
We can then build a table
with a simple functionin
the shown case with
columns for n, n^2 and
2^n
This type of tables are
useful e.g. when
processing measurement
data
The second example
shows that Scilab treats
the created table as a
normal matrix

-->n = (0:9)';
-->powers = [n n.^2 2.^n]
powers =
0.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

0.
1.
4.
9.
16.
25.
36.
49.
64.
81.

1.
2.
4.
8.
16.
32.
64.
128.
256.
512.

-->p = powers(4:5,1:2)
p =
3.
4.

9.
16.

-->q = powers(3,2)*powers(4,3)
q =
32.

Element-by-element
multiplication and
division

Element-by-element
multiplication with the use of
the Dot Operator can also be
performed on two-dimensional
matrices

-->A = [1 2; 3 4]; B = [5 6; 7 8]; C = A.*B

C =
5. 12.
21. 32.

In the frst example we

multiply, element-by-element,
two 2x2 matrices to form a 2x2
product matrix C

-->D = A*B
D =

Note the different result with

ordinary matrix multiplication

-->E = A./B
E =

And here we divide the same

matrices element-by-element to
form a 2x2 matrix of quotients

19.
43.

22.
50.

0.2
0.3333333
0.4285714 0.5

Right and left division

As shown in the table above,

Scilab allows left and right
element-by-element division (.\
and ./ respectively)
The difference between the two is
which of the two division
elements is the numerator and
which the denominator
As shown by the examples, left
division means that the element
in the left matrix becomes the
denominator, with right division it
is the nominator
The exponent function exp() is a
special case in being defned as
an element-by-element
operation

-->A = [1 2; 3 4]
A =
1.
3.

2.
4.

-->B = [5 6; 2 -3]
B =
5. 6.
2. - 3.
-->A.\B
ans =
5.
3.
0.6666667 - 0.75
-->A./B
ans =
0.2
0.3333333
1.5 - 1.3333333

Dot Operator pitfalls

-->A = [1 2 3 4];

In practical simulations Scilab often

flashes error messages due to wrong
use of the Dot Operatoror the
absence of it
A particular problem is division with an
integer in the nominator. As shown to
the here, the frst case is interpreted by
Scilab as B = (1.0)/A and the second as
C = (1.0)./A
Try to remember!
Those with experience of Matlab should
be aware that the priority of the Dot
Operator is different in Scilab
This is not an issue with multiplication

-->B = 1./A
B =
0.0333333
0.0666667
0.1
0.1333333
-->C = (1)./A
C =
1.

0.5

0.3333333

-->D = 2.*A
D =
2.

4.

6.

8.

-->E = (2).*A
E =
2.

4.

6.

8.

0.25

A few more functions

(1/5): modulo()

Then command modulo(n,m)

computes the reminder of n
divided by m (where n and m
are integers)
With matrices modulo()
computes the reminder
element-by-element

modulo() comes handy e.g.

when we need to check if a
number is even or odd (the ifthen-else-end construct will be
discussed in Chapter 11)

There is a related function

pmodulo(). Check with Help

-->modulo(3,2)

-->n=[1,2; 10,15]; m=[2,2; 3,5];

1.
ans =
1.

0.

x=input('Give a number :');

1. then
0.
if modulo(x,2)==0
disp('Number is even');
else
ans is=odd');
disp('Number
end
-->modulo(n,m)

A few more functions

(2/5): getdate()

We saw getdate() in action

already in Example 1-3,
where it was used to
improve randomness

-->xp=getdate();
-->xp(1),xp(2),xp(3),xp(4),xp(5),xp(6),xp(7)
ans =
2011.
ans =

(1) present year

3.
ans =

(2) present month

getdate() has numerous

alternative arguments. In
addition to those used in Ex.
1-3 there are e.g. the ones
shown to the right. Check
with Help for details

12.
ans =

(3) present week

83.
ans =

(4) day of the year

5.
ans =

(5) weekday (Thu)

The starting point of the

clock of getdate() is UTC
00:00 on 1 January 1970

24.
ans =

(6) day of the month

Another use of getdate() is to

put a date stamp on the
printout of a simulation

11.

(7) hour of the day

A few more functions

(3/5): unique()

Recall that unique() was used in

Ex. 1-3 in the condition
length(unique(numbers))<7 to
ascertain that the lotto row
contained only unique numbers

Here unique() is used to identify

generated integers in the
range [1,5]

In the second case unique()

picks out unique rows in a
matrix. Change r to c to fnd
unique columns

A = [0 0 1 1;
0 1 1 1;
ans20 02=12 1;
2;
-->unique(M)
2 0 1 1;
0 0 1 1 ];

Compare unique() with find()

that was discussed earlier

5. 2. rows
1. are:'])
5.
disp(['Unique
disp(unique(A,'r'))

round() was
up in Ex. 13
0 and 3
are absent
1.

2.

4.

5.

4.

M =

2.
0.

0.
2.

1.
2.

1.
2.

A few more functions

(4/5): rand()

We have seen the random

number generator rand()
several times already
rand() can generate two
types of numbers, either
with uniform or Gaussian
distribution. Uniform is the
default, Gaussian (normal)
is selected with the
argument normal (or n)
To the right are
histograms of 2000
random numbers
generated with uniform
and Gaussian distribution
(the latter with mean 0,
variance 1)

// rand_demo1.sce
clear,clc,clf;
u_fun=rand(1,2000);
subplot(121);
histplot([-4:0.1:4],u_fun,2,'073',' ',[-4,0,4,1.2],
[3,3,2,3]);
xtitle('Uniform')
G_fun=rand(1,2000,'n');
subplot(122);
histplot([-4:0.1:4],G_fun,2,'073',' ',[-4,0,4,1.2],
[3,3,2,3]);
xtitle('Gaussian')

A few more functions

(5/5): grand()
// grand_demo.sce
// Plot histograms of Chi-square, exponential, /
// and Poisson distributions with 10^5 draws /
clear,clc,clf;
Chi=grand(100,1000,'chi',3) // Chi, 3 deg freedom
Exp=grand(100,1000,'exp',3) // Exponential, mean 3
Poi=grand(100,1000,'poi',3) // Poisson, mean 3
x = [0:.1:12];
subplot(131);
histplot(x,Chi,2)
legend(['Chi-square'])
subplot(132);
histplot(x,Exp,5)
legend(['Exponential'])
subplot(133);
histplot(x,Poi,13)
legend(['Poisson'])

The function grand() is more

versatile than rand(). It
allows most existing
distributions to be
generated. Shown here is
an example with Chisquare, exponential, and
Poisson distribution
histograms

Dr.E
Dr.E
W
W

Johnny
JohnnyHeikell
Heikell

6. Examples, Set 2
Adds to what we have
learned so far

Return to Contents

Example 2-1: solving

an equation system

The task is to solve the following system of equations:

x1 + 2x2 x3 = 1
-2x1 6x2 + 4x3 = -2
-x1 3x2 + 3x3 = 1

We can write it in the matrix form Ax = b, where:

A =

1
-2
-1

2
6
3

1
4
3

b =

1
-2
1

Next we set up the equations in Scilab to fnd the solution x:

Ex 2-1: script &

solution
The code for the
// algebra1.sce
equation
// Find the solution to x
system as
in /
entered in
// Ax = b
/
Editor and
A = [1 2 -1; -2 -6 4; -1 -3
named
3];
b = [1; -2; 1];
algebra1.sce.
x = A\b
Note the
Backslash
Operator (\)
The solution:
x1
x2
x3

-1
= 2
2

algebra1.sce has to be
run from the Console
since the script
contains no disp()
command
-->exec algebra1.sce
-->// algebra1.sce
/
-->//
-->// Find the solution x in /
-->// Ax = b
/
-->//
-->A = [1 2 -1; -2 -6 4; -1 -3 3];
-->b = [1; -2; 1];
-->x = A\b
x =
- 1.
2.
2.

Ex 2-1: checking the

result
// algebra1.sce

It is good practice to check

ones solutions

// Find the solution x in /

// Ax = b
/

In this case it can be done by

making sure that the residual
B Ax is exactly zero

A = [1 2 -1; -2 -6 4; -1 -3 3];
b = [1; -2; 1];
x = A\b

The altered code is renamed

algebra1_check.sce and saved
before being executed

// algebra1_check.sce
/
// Make sure that b - Ax = 0 /

x =

residual = b - A*x

The result is 0, as hoped for

(note that there is no rounding
error here; the result is exactly
zero)

0.

Ex 2-1: what should

have been done before

In line with what has been said

earlier, we should start by
checking that the determinant
of the coefficient matrix A is
nonsingular (ok, Scilab would
have yelled if that had been
the case)

We can test it in hindsight and

see that this is not the case

When writing a program for

practical applications we must
include the zero check in the
script. This, however, requires
flow control (conditional
branching) that will be
discussed in Chapter 11

Problem: The
determinant of the
coefficient matrix A
must be non-zero

- 2.
ans =
-->det(A)

Example 2-2: solving

currents in a DC circuit
Task: Determine the
four currents i1, i2, i3,
and i4 for the shown DC
circuit
As drawn, the fgure
allows Kirchhoffs
voltage law to be
applied. However, the
method leads to a nonsquare matrix and tools
like the Backslash
Operator (\) and
multiplication with
inverse matrices cannot
be applied

Ex 2-2: mesh-currents
Instead, superposition
of currents with meshcurrent equations can
be used. Along the
current loops the
diagonal term
resistances are:
R11 = 10
R22 = 12
R33 = 18
The common (offdiagonal) resistances
are:
R12 = -8 , R13 = -2 , R21 = -8 , R23 = -4 , R31 =
-2 , R32 = -4 (You should be able to figure out the
logic)

Ex 2-2: solution
These values allow us to write
the following mesh-current
equations:
10 -8
-2
i_1
-8
12 -4
i_2 =
-2
-4
18
i_3
We execute the script in the
Console and compute manually
the current values that we are
looking for:
i1
i2
i3
i4

=
=
=
=

// circuit1.sce

5
3
4

// Mesh-current solution for Example

4/
R = [10 -8 -2; -8 12 -4; -2 -4 18];
u = [5 3 4]';
i_n = R\u
residual = clean(u - R*i_n) //
Check
i_n =

i_1 i_3 = 1.5 A

i_2 i_3 = 1.25 A
i_3
= 1 A
i_1 i_2 = 0.25 A
0.

Ex 2-2: comments

The example shows that we have to fnd the right method

to be able to use matrix operations
Is there reason to use matrices, which are the
alternatives?
The frst alternative would be to proceed from the initial
diagram and apply Kirchhoffs voltage law, and solve the
problem manually. It is a quite tedious task
Another alternative is to start manual calculations from
the set of mesh-current equations by using Cramers rule.
However, it also requires a good dose of algebra since we
have to compute determinants for several equations
before we can divide the results to fnd the solutions
In short, using Scilab to manipulate matrices simplifes
the undertaking. With more complicated circuits the
difference is even more pronounced

Example 2-3:
continuous-time statespace model

The fgure shows a typical a

continuous-time state-space
model, defned by the
matrix equations
x= Ax + Bu
y = Cx + Du

where
A = system matrix
B = input matrix
C = output matrix
D = feedforward matrix
x = state vector
x= dx/dt
u = input vector
y = output vector

Ex 2-3: the task

Assume a system given by:

A =

0
-1

C =

1
0.5
0

B =

D =

The input u is constant at 0.5

The initial state vector x0 = [0 0], i.e., x = 0 at t = 0
The task is to plot the output y and state variable
responses (x, x) for t = 0 30

Ex 2-3: script
// state_space.sce

First the statespace model is

defned
Note the syslin()
function that
defnes a linear
system
Next, the
responses due to
initial state and
external input
signal u are
simulated using
csim()
To fnish, the
responses at
output y and
state variables x
and xare plotted
in separate
windows

// Simulates a continuous-time state-space /

// system model
/
clear,clc;
A=[0,1;-1,-0.5];
// System matrices
B=[0;1];
C=[1,0];
D=[0];
x0=[0;0];
// Initial state
sys=syslin('c',A,B,C,D,x0); // Create cont.-time ('c') system
model
t=[0:0.1:30];
// Time vector
u=0.5*ones(1,length(t)); // Create constant input signal
[y,x]=csim(u,t,sys); // Compute with u=input, y=output,
x=states
scf(1); clf;
// Open and clear figure 1
plot(t,y);
// Plot response in y
xtitle('RESPONSE AT OUTPUT y','t');
ax1=gca(); ax1.grid=[2,5];
// Handle: add grid to y-plot
scf(2); clf;
// Open and clear figure 2
plot(t,x);
// Plot response in x
xtitle('RESPONSE OF STATE VARIABLES','t');
legend('x','dx/dt',1);
// Add legend to x-plot
ax1=gca(); ax1.grid=[2,5]; // Handle: add grid to x-plot

Ex 2-3: plots

Note the use of the function scf(number) (set current fgure) to

produce two plots

Ex 2-3: comments (1/3)

Apart from demonstrating matrix operations, this example

introduced a number of new concepts:

defnition of a linear system with the syslin() function, in which

the string c as input argument denotes continuous. The
initial state x0=[0;0] is not needed since x0=0 is the default
value, but it is there if we want to make changes
Scilab lacks a unit step function; the constant input signal is
constructed with a unit vector (using ones()) of length = t
simulation of the defned system was done by the csim()
function, with u, t, and sys as input arguments
csim() produces the output arguments y and x, which are used
by the plotting commands. Check Help for a detailed
explanation
two plots are created since, with this particular system, x and
y would otherwise overlap. x and x are plotted automatically
the ax1=gca() and ax1.grid=[2,5] pair of commands tells that we
want a grid with blue vertical and red horizontal lines

Ex 2-3: comments (2/3)

For a linear system, we can use either a transfer function or
state-space representation. Their differences:
Transfer function

State-space

External description

Internal description

Input/Output descriptions

State descriptions

Frequency response method

Time response method

Laplace transform

Matrix

Some internal couplings are hidden

State variables are shown

System representation becomes more

compact with fewer parameters

Representation with more

parameters

Single input / Single output

Multiple input / Multiple output

In common are block diagrams and their manipulations, poles and zer

Ex 2-3: comments (3/3)

It is possible to shift between transfer functions and statespace representation:

tf2ss(), transfer function to state-space
ss2tf(), state-space to transfer function

These functions are needed e.g. when discretizing

continuous-time models, for which Scilab has the function
dscr() but which is valid only for state-space models

See tutorial by Haugen, section 9.6, for a brief discussion.

A detailed discussion is given in the obsolete Signal
Processing With Scilab, sections 1.5, 1.7, and 2.1 (you
can access both through
<http://wiki.scilab.org/Tutorials>)

Example 2-4: string

functions, script
// conv_seconds.sce

This example relates

to the discussion on
strings in Chapter 5

//
//
//
//

String as input()
argument

clear,clc;
time = input("Give time in seconds: ");
if time < 0
// Check if time >= 0
disp("ERROR, negative number")
// Display error
message
abort
// and abort
execution
else
minut = floor(time/60);
// Convert to
minutes
seconds = modulo(time,60);
// Remaining
seconds
hours = floor(minut/60);
// Convert to hours
minutes = modulo(minut,60);
// Remaining
minutes
disp(string(hours)+" hour(s) "...
// Display answer
+string(minutes)+" minute(s)
+string(seconds)+" second(s) ")
end

The if...else...end
construct will be
discussed in
Chapter 11
Note interplay
between floor() and
modulo()
Strings as disp()
arguments

The script asks for a number of seconds, /

checks that the given number is positive, /
then converts the number into hours,
/
minutes, and seconds
/

Ex 2-4: string
functions, execution &
In the script, the initial cleaning
comments
Below is the result
command is clear,clc;. If clf was
of three different
runs

included it would cause the

Graphics Window to pop up
unnecessarily (in Ex 2-3 it would
have produced an extra empty
window)
In this example we for the frst
time use a sanity check (if time <
0 ...) to make certain that the user
0 hour(s) 0 minute(s) 0
does not cause problems by
second(s)
wrong inputs
In a case like this it is irritating
Give time in seconds: 0
that the Console does not
ERROR, negative number
become active after the
execution command is given on
the Editor. You automatically
Give time in seconds: -3600
begin to type in the response
once the string command pops
2 hour(s) 4 minute(s) 25.33 second(s)
up, but the cursor is still on the

Dr.E
Dr.E
W
W

Johnny
JohnnyHeikell
Heikell

7. Graphics &
plotting
2D & 3D plots, subplots &
other types of plots; editing
plots
Return to Contents

The Graphics Window

Note: The Demonstration
feature has a good
presentation of plotting
functions, but it also
contains obsolete ones

The toolbar allows rotation and

zoom of a plot
Of real interest is Edit in the menu
bar, and the Figure properties and
Axes properties, that are shown when
clicking on Edit
However, Figure properties is
ambiguous, all options can be found
under Axes properties

getcolor()

When working with graphics

you may want to check
which colors are available in
Scilab and which their codes
or names are

Scilabs color palette can be

brought up by entering the
command getcolor() on the
Console

By clicking on a color in the

palette its number, RGB
composition, and name are
displayed at the bottom of
the window (Scilab 5.3.x
does not display the last
two, 33 green and 34
grey).*

*) I miss more light colors for use as

plot backgrounds.

Plot function demos

You get a demo of certain plot

functions by entering the
function name on the
Console. Examples:

grayplot()
errbar()
plot3d()
fplot3d1()

Axes Editor
The most useful
editing objects
are Axes() and
Polyline(). Here
the Axes window
is open
There are seven
object properties
that can be
played with, the
one for the xaxis is shown

Plot editing demo,

starting point

Lets start by plotting a

sine and cosine curve
on the same frame
The resulting plot is not
very sexy
So lets do some editing
to give it a more
attractive appearance
Start by clicking
Edit\Axes properties

-->plot2d(t,[sin(t),cos(t)])
-->t=(-2*%pi:0.01:2*%pi)';

Plot editing demo,

edited plot

To change sine and cosine

colors, Click: Figure
object\Colormap, mark a
one (1) for: 1 RED, 2 BLUE
Sine/cosine style: Axes\
Compound\Polyline, select
Line solid 3 for both
x/y axes: Axes\Text x/y
axis, File mode on, Fore
color 13, Font size 3, Axis
location middle, Grid color
13
Title: Text SINE AND
COSINE, Font size 3, Font
Color 13

Style: Font size 2 (Axes labels)

Editing the Graphics

Window

The Figure Editor allows us to give the Graphics Editor a more

colorful appearance. Play for a while with the Editors object
properties and you can fnd e.g. the following alternatives:

Graphics Window
commands

The command for

creating a new Graphics
Window for plots is:*
scf()
for figures:
show_window()
and the obsolete:**
xset()

*) Single plots can be created

without the scf() command.
**) Obsolete functions can be seen
in most Scilab tutorials, but they
should be avoided.

Windows-related clear/
delete commands are e.g.:
clf()
xdel()
delete()
obsolete are:
xclear()
xselect()
xbasc()
(Removed)

Scilab commands starting

with x are usually
associated with Graphics
Window. The history of the
x goes back to the X
window system in Unix

Why plot() and

plot2d()?

Both plot() and plot2d() create 2D plots

plot() is borrowed from Matlab. Persons with Matlab experience may
want to use it (and frankly, the benefts of plot2d() are doubtful)
Scilab has the added plot2d() function. It offers more options to
tailor the plot. Multiple plots, for instance (recall however that
multiple plots were done with plot() in Ex 1-2):

// multiple_plot.sce
// Demonstrates one alternative offered /
// by the plot2d() function
/
clear,clc,clf;
x = [0:0.01:2*%pi]';
plot2d(x,[sin(x) sin(2^x)
sin(3*x)],rect=[0,0,6,1])
legend('sin(x)','sin(2^x)','sin(3*x)')

plot2d(): syntax

Note: plot2d() h
as
also a slightly
different old sy
ntax

The plot2d() syntax can be used as a guide for some other

plot commands, e.g. for fplot2d()and histplot()
plot2d() has the following arguments:
plot2d(logflag,x,y,optional arguments)

x and y can be either vectors or matrices but with different

outcomes for the plot. logflag is used only with logarithmic
plots, well se it in a demo later
The set of optional arguments is:
style, strf, leg, rect, nax
Axes label and
tick defnitions
(vector)
Graph
Minimum bounds for
style
the plot (vector:
(numeric)
Legend (string,
[xmin, ymin, xmax,
Control of display
often seen
ymax])
captions (by default
empty (' ))
081)

plot2d(): syntax demo

// plot2d_demo.sce
clear,clc,clf;
x = 0:0.1:2*%pi;
y1 = sin(x);
y2 = cos(x);

// x axis definition
// Function 1
// Function 2

style1 = 5;
// style for sin
strf1 = '174';
// strf
rect = [0,-1.2,2*%pi,1.2];
// rect
nax = [4,%pi,4,7];
// nax
plot2d(x,y1,style1,strf1,' ',rect,nax)

linspace() is not accepted here

style = 5 produces a red graph

leg is empty (' ') in sine plot

style=-9 produces circle marks

A legend is added to the fgure with

the second plot command

style2 = -9;
// style for cos
strf2 = 000;
// No axes
changes
leg = sin@cos;
// Legend
definition
plot2d(x,y2,style2,strf2,leg)

Scilab may not accept the legend

command as it has done here
(bug?)

plot2d(): multiple plots

// plot2d_multiple.sce

The previous slide showed how

to create multiple graphs in a
single window with two
separate plot2d() commands

Multiple graphs can be declared

in a single plot2d() statement
using a vector argument

The case shown here also

differs from the previous one by
having argument declarations
in situ

Scilab does not properly adjust

the plot to the window; only the
frst legend shows

// Multiple graph declarations in a single /

// plot2d() command
/
clear,clc,clf();
x=[0:0.1:2*%pi]';
plot2d(x,[sin(x) cos(2*x) sin(3*x-%pi/2)],...
[2,13,5],...
// Graph colors
leg=sin(x)@cos(x)@sin(3x)",...
//
Legend
nax=[3,6,2,5],...
// Ticks &
marks
rect=[0,-1.5,2*%pi,1.5]); // Axes

plot2d(): style codes

We have several times come across number codes for graph colors
(style, the number after the x and y arguments in plot2d())

Color codes are those that can be found with the getcolor()
command on the Console. The most important ones are 1=black,
2=blue (9=dark blue), 3=green (13=dark green), 5=red, 8=white,
and 25=brown

On the previous slide we saw that the code -9 creates circles. Plug
in getmark() on the Console to see the whole list, including codes
for mark sizes that you can use with handle commands. There are
in all 15 of these marks (always black):
0

-1

-2

-3

-4

-5

-6

-7

-8

-9

10

11

12

13

14

plot2d(): demo with

matrices
The simple script below
demonstrates the plot2d() command
when arguments x and y are matrices,
and the style is 1 and -1
scf() is used to
open a new
Graphics
Window.
Otherwise the
+ marks of the
second plot2d()
-->scf();
command
would be on
top of the frst
one
-->plot2d(x,y,
style=-1)
The command is clearer
if arguments
are written in plain (style=-1) but, a
-->plot2d(x,y,
style=1)
shown in earlier demos,
the number
alone is enough

fplot2d()

fplot2d() is a variant of plot2d()

With fplot2d() a function and its
defnitions can be included in
the arguments
The general form of fplot2d() is:
fplot2d(x,f,opt arguments)

The demo to the right shows a

case where

x = linspace(-10,10,100)
f = Scilabs in-built sinc function
style=5 is an optional argument

There is also a 3D alternative,

fplot3d()

-->fplot2d(linspace(10,10,100),sinc,style=5)

opt arg

plot(): the beauty of

simplicity (1/2)

Matlab/Scilabs plot() function*

offers a simpler way to distinguish
between multiple plots than does
plot2d(). It is by using keyboard
characters, the way it was done
on teleprinters half a century ago

Here three graphs are plotted with

one plot() command. The style
defnitions are 'o', 'x,' and '<.'
Note that t is repeated for each
graph

It can be seen that '<' (red) gives

a triangle that points in the
direction of the path of the line

*) Scilabs plot() function does not

support all properties of its Matlab
counterpart

// plot()_demo.sce
// Demonstration of plot() syntax /
clf();
t=0:0.1:2*%pi;
plot(t,sin(t),'o',..
// Plot with 'o'
t,cos(t),'x',..
// Plot with 'x'
t,abs(sin(t+%pi/4)),'<') // Plot with
'<

plot(): the beauty of

simplicity (2/2)
The following list contains main line style codes for plot():
-

Solid line (default)

Cross

--

Dashed line

'square' or 's'

Square

Dotted line

'diamond' or 'd'

Diamond

-.

Dash-dotted line

Upward-pointing triangle

Plus sign

Downward-pointing triangle

Circle

>

Right-pointing triangle

Asterisk

<

Left-pointing triangle

Point

'pentagram'

Five-armed star

Color arguments are: k Black, w White, r - Red, g - Green, b

Blue, c Cyan, m Magenta, y Yellow (the letter should be in
front of the style code, inside single or double quotes, e.g. 'r+')

3D graphs: plot3d()

The syntax of plot3d() is quite similar to that of plot2d(). In addition

to the mandatory x,y,z arguments, the plot 3d() function can
among other possibilitieshave following arguments:
plot3d(x,y,z,theta,alpha,leg,flag,ebox)

Check with Help for an explanation

Below well plot a 3D graph of the sinc function sin(x)/x, using

some of the surface defnition capabilities of plot3d()

Scilab defnes only the 2D sinc(x) function so to shift to 3D we will

apply the expression
r = (x2 y2)

Of the above mentioned arguments well use leg=X@Y@Z to label

x,y, and z axes and flag=[mode,type,box] to defne surface color,
scaling and frame of the plot

3D graphs: plot3d(),
script & plot for 3D
sinc()
Pay
attention to [X,Y] = ndgrid(x,y)
// sinc3D.sce

& use of the Dot Operator in Z

// Plot the sinc function (sin(x)/x) using plot3d() /

// with surface defnition arguments
/
clear,clc,clf;
x = linspace(-10,10,50);
y = linspace(-10,10,50);
[X,Y] = ndgrid(x,y);
//Create array for xy
grid
Z = 50*sin(sqrt(X.^2 + Y.^2))./sqrt(X.^2 +
Y.^2);
plot3d(x,y,Z,leg=X@Y@Z",flag=[4,2,4])

Change plot3d() for plot3d1()

to get a different texture
A different approach to
this task is shown in
Example 3-5. There is a
bug in the script given in
Help/meshgrid

3D graphs: surf(),
task & script

Write a script that plots the function

z = (2*x2 y2)exp(-x2 - 0.5*y2),
where -2 x 2 and -3 y 3

The function linspace(a,b,m)

creates linearly spaced x and y
row vectors (from a to b with m
equal increments)

Using vectors x and y, the [X,Y] =

meshgrid(x,y) command creates a
2D matrix in the xy-plane

Generate Z-values for each

element of the 2D matrix

Plot the resulting 3D function

// surf_ex1.sce
// Plot the function
/
// z=(2x^2 - y^2)exp(-x^2 - 0.5y^2)
/
// for -2<x<2, -3<y<3, where <
indicates /
// "less than or equal to"
/
clear,clc,clf;
x=linspace(-2,2,30); // Linear
spacing
y=linspace(-3,3,30);
[X,Y]=meshgrid(x,y); // Surface
mesh
Z=(2*X.^2-Y.^2).*exp(-X.^2-0.5*Y.^2);
surf(X,Y,Z)
// Plot 3D

3D plots: surf(), plot

Aint that cute!
The colors may not
be all that great
but they can be
changed with
handle commands.
This will be shown
in Example 3-5
surf() has a parallel
form called mesh()
that is used in the
same way as surf()
but it lacks shading
If you click on the display button for surf() in the Help Browser,
Scilab frst displays a number of alternatives and then crashes.

Contour plots:
contour()

Lets return to the expression z = (2*x2 y2)exp(-x2 0.5*y2),

and plot its 2D contour (level/height curves)
It only requires the scripts plot command to be changed

// contour.sce
// Plot the 2D height curves for the
/
// function
/
// z=(2x^2 - y^2)exp(-x^2 - 0.5y^2)
/
// for -2<x<2, -3<y<3, where <
indicates /
// "less than or equal to"
/
clear,clc,clf;
x=linspace(-2,2,30);
y=linspace(-3,3,30);
[X,Y]=meshgrid(x,y);
Z=(2*X.^2-Y.^2).*exp(-X.^2-0.5*Y.^2);

Vector fields: champ()

The 2D vector feld for the expression z = (2*x2 y2)exp(-x2 - 0.5*y2)

can be visualized by changing the plot expression to champ(), and
adjusting the intervals in the linspace() functions:

// vector_feld.sce
// Plot the 2D vector felds for the
function /
// z=(2x^2 - y^2)exp(-x^2 - 0.5y^2)
/
// for -2<x<2, -3<y<3, where <
indicates /
// "less than or equal to"
/
clear,clc,clf;
x=linspace(-2,2,10);
y=linspace(-3,3,10);
[X,Y]=meshgrid(x,y);
Z=(2*X.^2-Y.^2).*exp(-X.^2-0.5*Y.^2);
champ(x,y,X,Y)

Mixed contours and

vector fields

Vector felds are not very informative per se, but the situation
improves when they are fused with contours
In the previous case, just insert the champ() and contour()
commands into the same script and you get them in one plot:

// contour-vector.sce
// Plot the combined contour and vector
/
// felds for the function
/
// z=(2x^2 - y^2)exp(-x^2 - 0.5y^2),
/
// for -2<=x<=2, -3<=y<=3
/
clf;
x=linspace(-2,2,15);
y=linspace(-3,3,15);
[X,Y]=meshgrid(x,y);
Z=(2*X.^2-Y.^2).*exp(-X.^2-0.5*Y.^2);

Cutting a 3D surface

We can see the outline of the 3D surface z = (2*x2 y2)exp(-x2 0.5*y2) at a certain plane by defning the plane in case
(below y = -1) and by returning to 2D plotting:

// cutting.sce
// Cut the the function
/
// z=(2*x^2 - y^2)exp(-x^2 - 0.5*y^2)
/
// along the plane y = -1
/
clf;
x=linspace(-2,2,50);
y=linspace(-1,-1,0);
[X,Y]=meshgrid(x,y);
Z=(2*X.^2-Y.^2).*exp(-X.^2-0.5*Y.^2);
plot2d(X,Z,5)

Mixed 2D/3D plots

(1/2): script
Scilab has its own ideas of what it should do if a contour()
command is added to the script of a 3D plot command
(plot3d(), surf()). Trial and error is needed
Question: Should
contour() come before or
after plot3d()?
Answer: Scilab accepts
both alternatives, but
with dramatically
different results
Only the frst flag[]
argument of contour()
has an influence on the
plot

// plot3d-contour.sce
//
//
//
//

Plot the combined 3D graph and contour /

of the function
/
z=(2x^2 - y^2)exp(-x^2 - 0.5y^2),
/
for -2<=x<=2 and -3<=y<=3
/

clear,clc,clf;
x=linspace(-2,2,30);
y=linspace(-3,3,30);
[X,Y]=meshgrid(x,y);
Z=(2*X.^2-Y.^2).*exp(-X.^2-0.5*Y.^2); // Same as
before
contour(x,y,Z,10,flag=[0,0,0]);
// First flag[]
argument
plot3d(x,y,Z,theta=60,alpha=80); // Turn 60 and 80
deg

Mixed 2D/3D plots

(2/2): plot
The surface looks
different from when it
was plotted using
surf(). The reason is
that the x and y axes
are inverted compared
with the earlier case
No point in denying,
there remains
unsolved issues
regarding the behavior
of Scilab in this case

3D plot with hole

The %nan function allows certain z values to be excluded from
a 3D plot:
// hole.sce
// 3D surface with a hole punched /
// into it with the %nan command /
// (z values not to be represented) /
clear,clc,clf;
function z = f(x, y)
z=2*x^2+y^2;
endfunction
x = linspace(-1,1,50);
y = linspace(-2,2,100);
z = (feval(x,y,f))';
// Evaluate function
z(75:90,20:35) = %nan; // Definition of hole
surf(x,y,z)
// Plot surface

There is Polish logic

behind the z arguments
that asks for trial & error
to get it right

subplot()

Subplots are a way of presenting multiple graphs on a single

frame
The function subplot(m,n,p), or (mnp), splits the Graphics
Window into m rows and n columns, and the subplot in case
occupies position p. In the case of four subwindows,
subplot(22p), the position of p is as shown:

p=1

p=2

p=3

p=4

Well do it for the z = (2*x2 y2)exp(-x2 - 0.5*y2), by fusing the four

earlier cases into a single frame

subplot(): demo script

// subplot.sce
// Presents different aspects
of
/
// the function
// z=(2x^2 - y^2)exp(-x^2 0.5y^2)
/
// in four subplots

clear,clc,clf;
x=linspace(-2,2,30);
y=linspace(-3,3,30);
[X,Y]=meshgrid(x,y);
Z=(2*X.^2-Y.^2).*exp(-X.^2-0.5*Y.^2);
subplot(221)
surf(X,Y,Z)
subplot(222)
contour(x,y,Z,10)

x=linspace(-2,2,10);
y=linspace(-3,3,10);
[X,Y]=meshgrid(x,y);
Z=(2*X.^2-Y.^2).*exp(-X.^2-0.5*Y.^2);
subplot(223)
champ(x,y,X,Y)
x=linspace(-2,2,50);
y=linspace(-1,1,0);
[X,Y]=meshgrid(x,y);
Z=(2*X.^2-Y.^2).*exp(-X.^2-0.5*Y.^2);
subplot(224)
plot2d(X,Z,5)

Note that only the plot

function has been repeated
for (222)

subplot(): demo plot

There is
another
function for
subplots:
xsetech().
Check with
Help for
details

plot2d2(), plot2d3(),
plot2d4(): demo, script
// plot2dx.sce

The plot2d() function has three

variants:

plot2d2() for step functions

plot2d3() for vertical bars

plot2d4() for arrow style lines

The effect of these plotting

commands on the sinc()
function is shown on the next
slide

// Demonstration of the basic sinc function

plotted /
// with plot2d(), plot2d2(), plot2d3(), and
plot2d4() /
clear,clc,clf;
x = linspace(-10,10,50);
subplot(221);
plot2d(x,sinc(x),style=5) // Plot continuous
line
xtitle('plot2d')
subplot(222);
plot2d2(x,sinc(x),style=2) // Plot with steps
xtitle('plot2d2')
subplot(223);
plot2d3(x,sinc(x),style=2) // Plot vertical
bars
xtitle('plot2d3')
subplot(224);

plot2d2(), plot2d3(),
plot2d4(): demo, plot
Note: You
can still see
the
obsolete
plot2d1() in
manuals.
plot2d()
should be
used
instead (In
contrast,
plot3d1() is
not
declared
obsolete)

Histograms: functions
to create them with

Histograms are graphical presentationtypically rectangles

of one-dimensional data
Scilabs main function for plotting histograms is:
histplot(x,data,opt_arguments)
Bar diagrams, a common form of histograms, are given by:
bar(x,y,width,color,style)
or, for horizontal bars:
barh(x,y,width,color,style)
3-dimensional bar diagrams can be created by the
command:
hist3d(z,opt_arguments)
and with added x and y vectors:
hist3d(list(z,x,y),opt_arguments)
Check Help for more details

Histograms: demo,
script

The script(s) below are intended to demonstrate

different types of histograms, presented as (22p)
subplots
// histogram_subplot.sce
// Demonstration of histogram types /
// using subplots
/
clear,clc,clf;
subplot(221)
data=rand(1,10000,'normal');
histplot(20,data)
// Traditional
histogram
subplot(222)
y=[1 3 5 6 8];
z=[y;4 3 2 2 1]';
// Transpose
necessary!
bar(z,0.7,'stacked') // on top of each
other

subplot(223)
hist3d(5*rand(8,4)) // 3D histogram
subplot(224)
z=10*rand(3,4);
x=[1 3 5 6];
y=[1 2 7 11 20];
hist3d(list(z,x,y))
vectors

// 3D hist, add x/y

The list() argument defnes

the distribution of random z
values over the x,y plane

Histograms: demo,
plot

Old graphics syntax

(1/2): demo, script
Scilabs graphics
syntax changed
with version 3.1.
This demo shows
the old plot2d()
syntax for a case
with three plots,
y1=f(x1), y2=f(x2)
and y3=f(x3),
in the same frame
Note the frame
defnition and
compare with the
method used in
Example 1-2

// multiple_plots2.sce
//
//
//
//

Demonstration of a method for producing /

three plots y1=f(x1), y2=f(x2),y3=f(x3) /
in the same frame. Note how the frame /
is defned
/

clear,clc,clf;
x1 = linspace(0,1,61);
x2 = linspace(0,1,31);
x3 = linspace(0.1,0.9,12);
y1 = x1.*(1-x1).*cos(2*%pi*x1);
// First graph
y2 = x2.*(1-x2);
// Second graph
y3 = x3.*(1-x3) + 0.1*(rand(x3)-0.5); // Third, as y2 with
disturbance
ymin = min([y1,y2,y3]);
// Select minimum to define frame
bottom
ymax = max([y1,y2,y3]); // Select maximum to define frame
top
dy = (ymax - ymin)*0.1;
// Border for min/max
rect = [0,ymin - dy,1,ymax+dy];
// Frame limits, start at 0
plot2d(x1,y1,5,"011"," ",rect)
definitions

// First call with frame

Old graphics syntax

(2/2): demo, plot

y3
y2
y1

Rotation surfaces
// rotation_surface.sce

The
rotation
surface is
created by
multiplyin
g the
original
function,
which is
redefned
as
2+sin(T),
by
.*sin(PHI)
and
.*cos(PHI)

// Plot the rotation surface created by /

// the function y=2+sin(x) as it rotates /
// around the x-axis
/
clear,clc,clf;
// Define function to rotate:
//-----------------------------------x=-10:.01:10;
subplot(211)
plot2d(x,2+sin(x),5,rect=[-6.5,0,9,3])
// Rotate 2+sin(x) around y-axis:
//-------------------------------------------t=linspace(-6.5,9,60);
phi=linspace(0,2*%pi,60);
[T,PHI]=meshgrid(t,phi); // Create mesh
X=T;
Y=(2+sin(T)).*sin(PHI);
Z=(2+sin(T)).*cos(PHI);
subplot(212)
surf(X,Y,Z)

Logarithmic scale:
task & script

Plot the Bode diagram for the

function

G(s) =

100
(s-10)(s-90)

where s = i and the angular

frequency = 0.1 1000

Note double dots 100../(s-10)

in the G command. First dot
is a decimal point, then
comes the Dot Operator

Put the logarithmic -axis

horizontally and the decibel
scale y=20(|G(i)|) vertically

// log_plot.sce
//
//
//
//

Plot the Bode diagram for the function

/
G(s) = 100/((s-10)(s-90)). Use the normal /
logarithmic x-axis and decibel scale on
/
the y-axis
/

clear,clc,clf;
w = logspace(-1,3,100);
// Define log scale for w
s = %i*w;
// Define imaginary s
G = 100../((s-10).*(s-90)); // Define G(s)
y = 20*log10(abs(G));
// Define dB scale for y
plot2d(w,y,5,logflag='ln') // Plot y=f(w)
xtitle("Bode plot for G(s)=100/((s-10)(s-90))","w,...
log scale","y, dB scale")
xgrid()
// Add grid

logspace(-1,3,100) = from 10-1 to

103 in 100 logarithmically spaced
increments

Logarithmic scale:
the plot
The graph has been
edited after plotting
We have not before
mentioned the
argument logflag ln in
plot2d(). Change ln to
nn (ll is not possible
here) and see how the
plot changes
(n=normal,
l=logarithmic)
Note: Scilab has a
special function for
Bode plots, bode(). See
Example 3-1

Polar coordinates
//cardioid.sce

Polar coordinates are used

frequently in some areas of
engineering, e.g. to present
antenna lobe diagrams

Plotting in polar coordinates

is done by the command
polarplot()

The demo shows the simple

script for a cardioid,
y = 1-cos(x), and its plot

Note the markers related to

the style= [-3] argument

The plot has been edited,

which is time consuming for
polar plots

// The script plots the cardioid

/
// r = 1 - cos(x), for x = 0...2pi
/
clear,clc,clf;
x = 0:0.07:2*%pi;
polarplot(x,1-cos(x),style=[3])
legend('y = 1-cos(x)',4)

Exporting plots

Scilab plots can be exported in various picture formats

(PNG, SVG, GIF, Bitmap, etc.) for use in documents
To export, Click File/Export to... in the Graphics Window and
select the target fle as well as the wished format
An alternative way is to use the xs2*() function which for
PNG takes the form
xs2png(window_number, file_name);

The following vectorial and bitmap formats are possible:

xs2png()
xs2pdf()
xs2svg()
xs2eps()
xs2ps()
xs2emf()

export to PNG
export to PDF
export to SVG
export to EPS
export to Postscript
export to EMF (Windows)

xs2fig()
export to FIG
xs2gif()
export to GIF
xs2jpg()
export to JPG
xs2bmp() export to BMP
xs2ppm() export to PPM

Handles (1/12):
introduction*

Handles are a thorny subject to Scilab newbies. Existing texts

give only an incoherent treatment of the topic. The user is left
with the option try and cry
We shall limit this discussion to the most essential handle
properties, aiming at gaining a basic understanding of how
plots are edited with handles
It may help to view handles as an alternative to the Figure
Editor that we already have used. The idea is the same in both
The Help Browser discusses the subject under the heading
graphics_entites. Check also object_editor

*) Recall the introduction to handles in Chapter 2. Handles were already used

in Example 2-3 and when discussing polylines. This discussion is based on
Kubitzki: Grafik, Eigenschaften verwalten in Scilab, section 2.4.3 in
Champbell et al., and Steer: Scilab Graphics, 2007.

Handles (2/12):
introduction*

The Graphics Window is built as a hierarchy of objects. See

the hierarchic tree presented on the next slide, which also
gives typical commands for each entity
The topmost object in the window is called Figure. We use the
function gcf() , get current figure, to influence the window as
it pops up on the screen. This is done with the handle f = gcf()
Figure has a child called Axes, which in turn has several
children, and these again may have own children. Axes is
called by the function gca(), get current axes. The handle in
case is a = gca(), but the alternative a = f.children also works
Pay attention to Compound, which has the important children
Label and Polyline. The latter refers to the actual graph that
we plot
Figure can have other children beside Axes. These are
created by Scilab when we use certain commands

Handles (3/12): basic

Compare with
structure of
graphics hierarchythe
the Graphics
h = gcf(); // Get figure handle

Figure

a = gca(); // Get axes handle or

a = h.children;
x = a.x_label // Get x_label handle
x_label

Axes

y_label

y = a.y_label // Get y_label handle

z_label

z = a.z_label // Get z_label handle (3D graphics)

title

t = a.title

compound

etc.

Editors Object
Browser that we
have used to
edit plots

// Get title handle

c = a.children // Get compound handle

legend

leg = c.children(1) // Get legend handle (if any)

polyline

pol = c.children(2) // Get polyline handle

(frst graph in plot)

Handles (4/12): demo,

starting point
As a frst exercise, lets start from the script that was used
in the introduction to handles in Chapter 2:
// handles_demo1.sce
// Basic script to demonstrate handles /
x = linspace(0, 4*%pi, 100);
plot2d(x, 0.5*cos(x))

Lessons learned:
1) You have to be systematic when working with handles
2) The existing literature is not always correct. For instance,
the
method suggested by Steer for changing axes ticks &
marks simply

Handles (5/12): demo,

behind the scene
-->gca()

When we call up the Axes

handle on the Console, it
turns out to be really long.
On the top of the list we fnd
that Axes has a child,
Compound

children: "Compound
parent: Figure
=================================
A check with gce() reveals
Handle
of type
"Axes" with
properties:
that
Compound
in turn
has a child, Polyline. This
the hierarchy
ans matches
=
that we have seen on the
Figure Editor
user_data = []

Handles (6/12): demo,

step 1
We frst defne some
changes to the window:
- Adjust the window size
- Add background color
- Give the window a name

// handles_demo1.sce
// Basic script to demonstrate handles /
clear,clc,clf;
x = linspace(0, 4*%pi, 100);
plot2d(x, 0.5*cos(x))
f=gcf(); // Get Figure (window) handle
f.fgure_size = [500,400]; // Adjust window size
f.background = 12;
// Add background color
f.fgure_name= "cosine"; // Name window

Check for details

under
figure_properties in
the Help Browser

Handles (7/12): demo,

step 2
In this step we
- Move along the hierarchy
ladder
- Edit the plot

by adding these lines to the

script (you can bypass the
p1 defnition stage and
write c.children.foreground
etc.)
Note that we move down
the hierarchy ladder: Figure
-> Axes
-> Compound
Check
for details ->
Polyline under
polyline_properties in
the Help Browser
Change p1.line_style to
p1.polyline_style to get a
different plot

a=gca();
// Get Axes handle
a.background = 9; // Change background
c=a.children;
// Get compound handle
p1=c.children; // Get polyline (plot) handle
p1.foreground = 8; // Change line color
p1.line_style = 7;
// Change line style
p1.thickness = 3;
// Line thickness

Handles (8/12): demo,

step 3
-->gce()
ans =

As shown earlier, the Entity

handle was quite empty. We
need to add labels that can be
edited. For that we add the
following command to the
script:
xtitle(COSINE PLOT,...
X-axis,Y-axis);
And now the Entity handle has
undergone a dramatic change
(this is only the beginning of
the list)

Handle of type "Axes" with properties:

======================================
parent: Figure
children: "Compound"
visible = "on
axes_visible = ["on","on","on"]
axes_reverse = ["off","off","off"]
grid = [-1,-1]
grid_position = "background
x_location = "bottom
y_location = "left
title: "Label
x_label: "Label
y_label: "Label
z_label: "Label
auto_ticks = ["on","on","on"]
x_ticks.locations = [0;2;4;6;8;10;12;14]
y_ticks.locations = matrix 11x1
z_ticks.locations = []
x_ticks.labels = ["0";"2";"4";"6";"8";"10";"12";"14"]
y_ticks.labels = matrix 11x1
z_ticks.labels = []
.

Handles (9/12): demo,

step 4
Title and axis labels have
been added, the next step
is to edit them
In each case we must frst
call the respective handle
(or skip this stage by
writing editing commands
in the form a.title.font_style
etc.), then edit the
handle properties
Check for details
under label_properties
in the Help Browser
The plot isnt exactly a
beauty, but well add a grid
and edit axes ticks & marks

xtitle('COSINE PLOT',...
'X-axis','Y-axis');
t=a.title;
t.font_style = 5;
t.font_size = 3;
xL=a.x_label;
xL.font_style = 5;
xL.font_size = 2;
yL=a.y_label;
yL.font_style = 5;
yL.font_size = 2;

// Add title & labels

// Get title handle
// Times bold, italic
// Increase font size
// Get x_label handle
// Times bold, italic
// Increase font size
// Get y_label handle
// Times bold, italic
// Increase font size

Handles (10/12):
demo, step 5
Add grid
Change x-axis ticks &
marks
Change y-axis ticks &
marks
Final plot:

xgrid(5);

// Add grid

// Change x/y ticks & marks:

a.x_ticks =
tlist(['ticks','locations','labels'],...
[0,%pi,2*%pi,3*%pi,4*%pi,14],...
['0','pi','2*pi3','3*pi','4*pi','14']);
a.y_ticks =
tlist(['ticks','locations','labels'],...
[-0.5,-0.25,0,0.25,0.5],...
['-0.5','-0.25','0','0.25','0.5']);

Note: There were

problems with ticks
& marks. Only the
presented syntax
worked

Handles (11/12):
comments (1/2)

With handles we must observe the order of Scilab commands.

For instance, a script of the following type causes an error
message from Scilab:

plot();
legend(alpha, beta);

a=gca();
a.children(1).foreground=5;

!--error 15
Submatrix incorrectly defined.
at line
6 of function %h_get called by :
at line
16 of function generic_i_h called by :
at line
2 of function %s_i_h called by :
children(1).foreground = 5; // Sum pattern re
at line
68 of exec file called by :
opulse_a-pattern.sce', -1

The error message confuses by referring to a submatrix

The real reason is that we try to change the color of the plotted
graph after the legend was declared. Scilab cannot jump back to
the legend and change it. The legend command has to come
after related handle declarations . But there exceptions....

Handles (12/12):
comments (2/2)

Handle commands are valid only

specifc levels (Figure, Axes, Entity,
etc.). Help/axes_properties gives
some hints but mostly you try &
cry and get error messages

!--error 999
This object has no auto_clear property.
at line
4 of function generic_i_h called by :
at line

2 of function %c_i_h called by :

e2.auto_clear = "on";at line

71 of exec file called by :
examples\planet_moon1.sce', -1

Scilab has a hidden agenda when it comes to handles. For

instance, the polyline numbering works in quite strange ways...
Visual edition with handles undoubtedly improves the look of a
fgure, but is the method an overkill? The amount of code
needed to edit the plot can be larger that used to create the
actual plot
We should consider that time = money. The important thing is to
come up with a script that is ft for purpose. The rest is luxury
It is possible to change Scilabs default settings, but information
on the subject is hard to come by (Kubitzki discusses it briefly)

Polylines (1/3):
xpoly(), script

This is an attempt to see how

well we can work without
ordinary plot functions
Compare with the xpoly() example
given in Help and which uses the
obsolete xset() function

// xpoly.sce
//
//
//
//

Attempt to plot a hexagon with xpoly() & edit /

with handles. Causes erroneous behavior in
/
Scilab. The script must be closed to get rid of /
the grey background color
/

clear,clc,clf;

The xpoly() function draws a

polyline; the polyline is a closed
polygon if the numeric argument
of xpoly() is >0

Note the e.parent.... defnition that

refers one step up in the
hierarchy, to Figure

With e.children.... we move one

step down in the hierarchy

x = sin(2*%pi*(0:5)/6);
y = cos(2*%pi*(0:5)/6);
xpoly(x,y,'lines',1);

// Define hexagon
// - "
// Draw polygone

e=gca();
// Get Axes handle
e.parent.background =...
// Get Figure handle
color('grey');
// & set background
e.box='on';
// Switch frame on
e.foreground=5;
// Red frame color
e.data_bounds=[-2,-2;2,2]; // Frame size
e.children.foreground = 2; // Blue graph color

Polylines (2/3):
xpoly(), plot &
discussion
And this is the polygon
The unedited hexagon
that we have created:

can also be drawn with

the following script:
x = sin(2*%pi*(0:6)/6);
y = cos(2*%pi*(0:6)/6);
plot2d(x,y,strf='011',rect=[-2,-2,2,2])

It is left open if we do a
small change to the x/y
arguments:
x = sin(2*%pi*(0:5)/6);
y = cos(2*%pi*(0:5)/6);
plot2d(x,y,strf='011',rect=[-2,-2,2,2])

Polylines (3/3):
xpoly(), lessons
learned

Scilab showed unexpected behavior with this script:

The background color could turn black with the command e=gce();
e.parent.background=34 . The gcf() handle revealed that the setting was
background=-2 and the handle command had no effect. The defnition
color(grey) feels more stabile than its numeric counterpart
The Graphics Window did not always change when the script was
changed and executed. The background stayed grey even if
e.parent.background=color(grey) was deleted. When shifting between
two scripts on the Editor, the background color was exported to the
second script. The script had to be closed to get rid of the gray color
I found no way to add ticks & marks to the box. The Axes handle
gca() showed them as defned, but for some reason they are
suppressed. Help/axes_properties gives no explanation

Lessons learned: Do not exaggerate the extent to which you

trade ordinary plot functions (plot(), plot2d()) for handle
commands

Programming pitfalls:
dont forget clf;
// ptifalls_1.sce
// Clear commands /

Chang
e and
rerun

K = 100; a = 0; b = 0;
x = zeros(1,K); y =
zeros(1,K);
for k = 1:K
x(k) = a+k;
y(k) = b+k^(0.5);
end
plot2d3(x,y,style=-1)

// ptifalls_1.sce
// Clear commands /
K = 10; a = 0; b = 0;
x = zeros(1,K); y =
zeros(1,K);
for k = 1:K
x(k) = a+k;
y(k) = b-k^(0.5);
end
plot2d3(x,y,style=-1)

Plots are
superposed
without the
clf
command

What to do with
xset()?

Examples in Scilab literatureand in blog discussionsfrequently use the

function xset(). Its handy but obsolete, so what should we do about it?
The Help Browser recommends using the graphic objects representation
instead (set(), get(), handle commands)
Below are examples of how to substitute xset(). Note that xset() operates on
the current Entity level and gives the blue axes color, not the red graph

1. Initial
script with
xset()

x=-1:0.1:2.6
plot2d(x,sin(2*x),5,rect=[-2,-2,3.6,2])
xset("color",2)

2. Modifed
script with Axes
handle
command

x=-1:0.1:2.6
plot2d(x,sin(2*x),5,rect=[-2,-2,3.6,2])
a=gca();
a.foreground=2
x=-1:0.1:2.6
plot2d(x,sin(2*x),5,rect=[-2,-2,3.6,2])
a=gca();
Modifed
set(a,"foreground",2)

3.
script with set()
and handle
argument

xset(): a practical case

Example 6-2 (last set of examples) is adapted from Pinon.
Pinon The
original contained obsolete commands, in particular xset(). I
substituted the xset() commands with the following handle
commands:
Handle graphics
xset() command
command
h=gca()
xset(background,1)

black

h.background = 1

xset(color,2)

blue fll

h.foreground = 2

xset(thickness,3)
thickness

line

h.thickness = 3

h.foreground = 5
xset(color,5)
red border
But frankly, it can be a pain and you want to throw the
computer out the window. If so, check if the gca() handle has
any children at all...

Flawed error messages

Scilabs debugger shows strengths and flaws in the error messages

that invariably pop up before ones plot commands are right
Here are two error messages that I have got:

plot2d(x1,y1,style=5) // Function
!--error 999 plot2d:
first and second arguments have incompatible dimensions.
at line
16 of exec file called by :
exec("H:/Dr.EW/Writings/Scilab examples/derviative_2.sce");
while executing a callback

clc();

while executing a callback

The real problem

was that I had not
used the Dot
Operator in the
equation for y1

Bogus warning, Scilab

crashed and had to be
reloaded to erase the
Console. This occurred
when I used two deff()
functions in tandem

More info on plotting

In the Help
Browser, Click:
Graphics Library,
and under it you
fnd info on e.g.
- 2D plots
- 3D plots
- axes_operations/
axes_properties
etc.
Now at least is
the time to get
familiar with the
Help Browser

Dr.E
Dr.E
W
W

Johnny
JohnnyHeikell
Heikell

8. Examples, Set 3
On plotting, handles, control
engineering, and user defned
functions
Return to Contents

Example 3-1: More

control engineering
plots

Example 2-3 and the log scale demo were typical control
engineering tasks. Recall also the pages on polynomials in
Chapter 3
Here well look at examples with Bode and Nyquist plots,
Nichols chart (Blacks diagram), and an Evans root locus plot
The frst cases use the second-order transfer functions

G2(s) =

s2 + 20s + 100
*
2
s + 6s + 100

s2 + 3s + 220
s2 + 25s + 225

The Evans root locus is plotted for

G4(s) = 352 *

5+s
2000s2 + 200s3 + 25s4 + s5

Ex 3-1:
script

The frst two gain equations

are given as ordinary
polynomial expressions

The third gain equation, to

be used in plotting Evans
root loci, is defned through
its roots

The Bode plot is only for the

gain, later the alternative
bode() will be demonstrated

Scilab talks about Blacks

diagram rather than Nichols
chart. Example 3-2
highlights the difference
between the two

// control_eng.sce
// Plot Bode, Nyquist, Nichols & Black's, /
// and Evans for defned equations
/
clear,clc,clf;
// Definition of systems:
//------------------------------s = poly(0,'s'); // Polynomial seed
Gain1 = syslin('c',(s^2+20*s+100)/(s^2+6*s+100));
Gain2 = Gain1*syslin('c',(s^2+3*s+220)/
(s^2+25*s+225));
Gain3 = poly(-5,'s')/poly([0,0,2000,200,25,1],'s','c');
Gain4 = syslin('c',352*Gain3);
// Bode plot:
//--------------subplot(221)
gainplot([Gain2;Gain1],0.01,100) // Magnitude plot
// Nyquist plot:
//------------------subplot(222)
nyquist([Gain2;Gain1]) // Plot with Re and Im axes
// Nichols chart (Black's diagram + iso-plots):
//------------------------------------------------------------subplot(223)
black([Gain2;Gain1],0.01,100,[Gain2';Gain1'])
chart([-8 -6 -4],[20 50 80],list(1,0,5))
// Evans root locus:
//------------------------subplot(224)
evans(Gain4,100) // Evans root locus for sys4

Ex 3-1: plot
The plot has not
been edited,
everything
shown is the
result of the
script. Note the
red iso-curves
on the BodeNichols subplot
The next slide
looks at how
alternative Bode
plot commands
operate

Ex 3-1: alternative
Bode plot functions
// bode_comparison.sce
// Compare the how the bode() and gainplot() /
// functions operate in Example 7
/
clear,clc,clf;
s = poly(0,'s'); // Polynomial seed
Gain1 = syslin('c',(s^2+20*s+100)/(s^2+6*s+100));
Gain2 = Gain1*syslin('c',(s^2+3*s+220)/
(s^2+25*s+225));
// Plot with the bode() function:
//-----------------------------------------subplot(121)
bode([Gain2;Gain1],0.01,100)
legend(Gain1',Gain2')
xtitle('PLOTTED WITH bode()')
// Plot with the gainplot() function:
//----------------------------------------------subplot(122)
gainplot([Gain2;Gain1],0.01,100)
legend(Gain1',Gain2')
xtitle('PLOTTED WITH gainplot()')

This example
demonstrates the bode()
and gainplot() functions
when operating on the
earlier Gain1 and Gain2
expressions. bode() plots
also the phase

Ex 3-1: comments

The script was modifed after being copied from the Scilab
Group Users Manual and pasted into Editor. When copypasting, Editor tends to interpret citation marks (c,s, etc.)
wrongly and they have to be corrected manually
Scilab is strict with the arguments for polynomial expressions.
If, for instance, the c is left out from the expression
poly([0,0,2000,200,25,1],s,c), it will be translated into
10000000s2 - 10455000s3 + 455225s4 - 2226s5 + s6. Be careful!
There is an advantage in using self-documenting expressions,
here exemplifed by naming the polynomials Gain1, Gain2, etc.
The separate Bode plot demo showed that the bode() function
has an advantage in providing also the phase of the system of
interest
The difference between Blacks diagram and Nichols chart will
be demonstrated in Example 3-2

Example 3-2: Black vs.

Nichols
This example, adapted from
Povys tutorial, p. 78, shows
what the chart() command adds
to Blacks diagram
The frst vector argument of
chart() defnes the iso-gain
curves to be plotted
The second argument defnes
iso-phase curves
list() defnes plotting properties
(the last argument does not
have any effect)
Check with Help for details

// black_nichols.sce
// Demonstration of black() and /
// chart() functions
/
clear,clc,clf;
s = %s;
Gain = (2+3*s+s^2)/(1+3*s+2.5*s^2+s^3);
system = syslin('c',Gain);
black(system,.01,100) // Plot Black's
diagram
chart([-8,-2,.5,3,6,12],
[5,25,60,120],list(1,1,2,5))
// chart() adds isographs

History Quiz: Did Nichols base his

chart on work by Black or by Hall?

Ex 3-2: plots
black(sl,.01,100)

black(sl,.01,100)
chart ([-8,-2,.5,3,6,12],[5,25,60,120],list(1,1,2,5))

Example 3-3: an RC
circuit

Lets do a Bode plot using just

basic circuit theory and no
Laplace rubbish

The case is the simple RC

circuit to the right (frst-order
low-pass flter)

The task is to plot both the

magnitude (gain) and phase

The bode() function is not

suitable for this case, instead
well used plot2d() and defne it
separately for magnitude and
phase

G=

uout
=
uin

1
1 + i2 f RC

Ex 3-3: script

The logspace(1,6,60)
command means
starting point 101, end
point 106, in 60 steps
and logarithmic scale
Trigonometric phase
defnition and
conversion to degrees
The logflag = ln
argument defnes a
logarithmic x-scale and
linear (normal) y-scale
Different styles and
xgrid() arguments have
been used to
demonstrate their
effect

// bode_RC.sce
// Bode diagram for an RC circuit /
// (frst-order low-pass flter)
/
clear,clc,clf;
R = 1e+3;
// Resistance in ohm
C = 1e-7;
// Capacitance in farad
freq = logspace(1,6,60); // Frequency range,
logarithmic
G = 1 ./ (1 + %i*2*%pi*freq*R*C); // Transfer function
G_dB = 20*log10(abs(G));
// Logarithmic
scale
phase = ((atan(imag(G),real(G)))/(%pi))*180; // Phase
subplot(211);
// Amplitude plot
plot2d(freq,G_dB,logflag='ln',style=5)
xgrid(2)
// Blue grid
xtitle('Amplitude','Frequency (Hz)','Gain (dB)')
subplot(212)
// Phase plot
plot2d(freq,phase,logflag='ln',style=2)
xgrid(3)
// Green grid
xtitle('Phase','Frequency (Hz)','Phase (deg)')

Ex 3-3: plot
Note that the xaxis label is
missing for the
phase plot,
although it was
specifed.
Scilab does not
repeat it since
it is the same
as the top one.
Change the
subplot
declarations to
(121) and (122)
and the x-axis
label is given
for both parts

Example 3-4: linear

antenna array
se fr

(n-1)dsin
Radiating
elements
Amplitude
weights
Phase
shifters

ont

1
d

wN
N

......

(For a discussion on
antenna arrays, see
Brookner, E. (ed): Practical
Phased Array Antenna
Systems, Artech House,
1991)

Pha

......

The task is to investigate

the behavior of the Array
Factor, AF (also know as
feld intensity pattern), of
a linear antenna array
with N = 10 isotropic
radiating elements, when
the main beam is
scanned at o = 60 and
element spacing d = 0.45
and 0.55 wavelengths

wn

w3

w2

w1

En

| AF | =

sin [ N ( d ) sin ]

sin [ ( d ) sin ]

Ex 3-4: beam scanning

The previous expression
for AF is valid when the
beam is normal to the
array axis (broadside
case). If the beam is
deflected, the scan angle
o must be included in
the equation
(In a more complete
simulation we must also
include element factors,
tapering, and mutual
coupling between the
array elements)

Scan angle

| AF | =

sin [ N ( d ) (sin - sin o)]

d
sin [ ( ) (sin - sin o)]
Scan angle

Ex 3-4:
script
This script is for the
previous expression
for AF, but normalized
(divided by N) to keep
the main beam value
at unity. The phase
functions have been
defned separately in
order to shorten the
expression for
AF_norm
The array factor is
plotted both in linear
and polar presentation

// array_factor.sce
//
//
//
//

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------/
Plots the array factor of a linear antenna array with N elemnts,
spaced at d wavelengths, and main beam scanned at +60 degr
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------/

clear,clc,clf;
// Variables:
N = 10;
// Number of radiating elements
d1 = 0.45;
// Element spacing in wavelengths
d2 = 0.55;
// Ditto
theta = [-%pi/2:0.01:%pi/2]'; // Half space, +/-90 deg
theta_z = %pi/3;
// Scan angle

// Define array factors:

f_phase1 = %pi*d1*(sin(theta)-sin(theta_z)); // Phase function
f_phase2 = %pi*d2*(sin(theta)-sin(theta_z)); // Ditto
AF_norm1 = abs((sin(N*f_phase1)./sin(f_phase1))/N);
// Normalized array factor (d=0.45)
AF_norm2 = abs((sin(N*f_phase2)./sin(f_phase2))/N);
// Normalized array factor (d=0.55)

// Plot functions:
subplot(211
// Linear plot (d=0.45,0.55)
plot2d(theta,[AF_norm1,AF_norm2], style=[2,5],...
leg="d = 0.55@d = 0.45")
xtitle("ANTENNA ARRAY FACTOR, N = 10, Beam angle = 60 deg",.
"Theta (radians)","Normalized amplitude")
subplot(212)
// Polar diagram (d=0.55)
polarplot(theta,AF_norm2, style=5)
xtitle('POLAR DIAGRAM FOR d = 0.55:')

Ex 3-4: plot
Grating lobe

Main lobe

The plot verifes the

common rule of
thumb, according to
which the array
element spacing
must satisfy the
condition d < /2 or
detrimental grating
lobes will show up
Note that there is a
mirror image in the
other half space,
only the 90 case
has been plotted

Main lobe

Grating lobe

Ex 3-4: modified plot

This case shows d=0.45

only. Other changes are:
Element spacing d =
0.75
Element number N = 30
Scan angle = -30

Scilab 5.1.1 tended under

conditions like these to
present only a part of the
polar plot, but at the
same time increase the
size and let the polar plot
overflowed the linear plot
(which wasnt bad). This
seems to have changed

Main lobe

Grating lobe

Example 3-5:
3D sinc

// sinc_colormap.sce
// Define and plot 3D sic funtion, graphic /
// adjust properties with handles /

This example is adapted

from Kubitzki, Einfhrung
in Scilab, pp. 41-42, and
can be compared with the
earlier one for plotting a
3D sinc function
The script introduces the
use of colormaps to
identify graphics colors.
The argument of
coppercolormaps() defnes
the number of colors in the
map; 32 is typical
Note that color_map works
on the Figure level (f=gcf())
Here we use the pair
drawlater() and drawnow() to

clear,clc,clf;
x=linspace(-10,10,50); // Linear space of x
y=x; // Ditto for y
// **** SUBROUTINE sincf(): **** /
//---------------------------------------------function [z]=sincf(x, y)
r=sqrt(x.^2+y.^2)+%eps; // Auxiliary computation
z=sin(r)./r;
// Amplitude
endfunction

// **** MAIN, Compute sinc function: **** /

//---------------------------------------------------------w=feval(x,y,sincf); // Evaluate with SUBROUTINE sincf(

// Plotting & plot control:

//-------------------------------drawlater();
// Suppress plotting until ready
plot3d(x,y,w);
// (Suppressed) plot function
f=gcf();
// Get Figure handle
f.color_map = coppercolormap(32); // Set color table
h=gca();
// Get Axes handles
h.rotation_angles=[87,42]; // Set angle of observation
h.children.color_flag=1;
// Use current color table
xtitle('sinc()','X','Y','Z');
// Title & legend
drawnow();
// Plot now

Ex 3-5: 3D sinc, plots &

comments
Scilab has numerous colormap
alternatives that allow the color of a
3D plot to be changed, e.g. the ones
shown here. Check Help/Color
management/colormap for more
alternatives
coppercolormap()
hsvcolormap()
hotcolormap()

Example 3-6: Lissajous

figures, task

The task is to write a script that generates Lissajous fgures

and to edit the fgure with handles
Lissajous fgures are familiar to all who have worked with an
oscilloscope in high school physics lab
Mathematically Lissajous fgures are the graph of a system of
parametric equations of the type:
x = A (sin(t) + )
y = B sin(t)

We shall plot two fgures in one window, the combination of

sin(x) & cos(3x) and
sin(1.5x) & 0.5*cos(1.5x)

For comparison we frst do a basic plot with plot2d() and then

modify the fgure with handles

Ex 3-6: Lissajous
figures, script 1

Sine and cosine functions are

grouped into matrices

The plot2d() argument [2,5]

defnes graph colors

The argument leg defnes the

legend

The argument nax defnes

axes divisions

The argument rect defnes the

extension of x and y axes

//
//
//
//

handles_demo2-1.sce
Two Lissajous fgures, sin(t) & cos(3t) and
/
sin(1.5t) & 0.5*cos(1.5t), with plot defnitions /
given by arguments of the plot2d() function
/

clear,clc,clf;
// Plot Lissajous figures:
//------------------------------t=linspace(0,6,100)';
sines = [sin(t) sin(1.5*t)];
cosines = [cos(3*t) 0.5*cos(1.5*t)];
plot2d(sines, cosines, [2,5], ...
leg='sin(t), cos(3t)@sin(1.5t), 0.5*cos(1.5t)',...
nax=[1,9,1,9], rect=[-1.1,-1.1,1.1,1.1])

Ex 3-6: Lissajous
figures, plot 1
The fgure defned by sin(t),
cos(3t) has not quite
fnished a full loop (its
reach is defned by the
argument 6 in linspace())
The second fgure,
sin(1.5t), 0.5*cos(1.5t), is
already on its second loop.
The ellipse becomes a
circle if we change the
cosine amplitude to 1
Pay attention to the fact
that plot2d() combines sines
and cosines arguments
element-by-element
That was the basic thing,
how do we improve it?

Ex 3-6: Lissajous
figures, plot 2
This is the plot that has
been modifed using
handles.* The script is
presented on the next
four slides
Major modifcations are:
- Both Lissajous fgures are
arrow style, one line is
dashdotted
- Title and axes labels have
been added & edited
- Background color has been
added
- The legend box has been
put
in the lower right-hand
corner,
text edited and box color

*) Ok, I have done some additions as well.

Ex 3-6: Lissajous
figures, script 2 (1/4)

# of linspace() steps is
lowered to 40 to better
show the arrows that are
used below
The body of plot2d() is
retained, the reminder will
be done with handles
The fgure handle is called
by gcf(), after which the
fgure background color
can be defned (addition
to Script 1)

// handles_demo2-3.sce
// Two Lissajous figures, sin(t) & cos(3t) and /
// sin(1.5t) & 0.5*cos(1.5t), with plot edited /
// using handles
/
clear,clc,clf;
// Plot Lissajous figures:
//------------------------------x=linspace(0,6,40)'; // 40 steps to allow arrows
sines = [sin(x) sin(1.5*x)];
// First figure
cosines = [cos(3*x) 0.5*cos(1.5*x)]; // Second figure
plot2d(sines,cosines,rect=[-1.1,-1.1,1.1,1.1])

// Add background color:

//-------------------------------f=gcf();
// Get Figure handle
f.background=color('grey'); // Grey background color

Ex 3-6: Lissajous
figures, script 2 (2/4)

Call Axes handle with gca(),

then edit the two Lissajous
fgures

p1 & p2 are Compounds,

children to Axes

The graphs are Polylines and

grandchildren to Axes

Title and axes labels must frst

be added, after which they can
be edited

Recall that Title is a child to

Axes

Check with Help/ graphics_fonts

for details on fonts

// Edit Lissajous figures:

//------------------------------a=gca();
// Get Axes handle
p1=a.children;
// sin(1.5x), 0.5*cos(1.5x)
p1.children(1).polyline_style=4;
// Arrow mode
p1.children(1).foreground=2; // Change color to blue
p1.children(1).arrow_size_factor=2; // Line thickness
p2=a.children;
// sin(x), cos(3x)
p2.children(2).line_style=4; // Dash-dot line
p2.children(2).foreground=5; // Change color to red
p2.children(2).polyline_style=4;
// Arrow mode
p2.children(2).arrow_size_factor=2; // Line thickenss

// Add & edit title & labels:

//----------------------------------xtitle('Two Lissajous fgures', 'x-axis', 'y-axis');
a.title.font_style=8;
// Font: Helvetica bold
a.title.font_size=3;
// Increase title font siz
a.x_label.font_style=7;
// Font: Helvetica italic
a.x_label.font_size=2;
// Increase x-label font
a.y_label.font_style=7;
// Font: Helvetica italic
a.y_label.font_size=2;
// Increase y-label font

Ex 3-6: Lissajous
figures, script 2 (3/4)

x- and y-axis ticks & marks

(legends) are added

Axes label font color & size

are redefned

Note that Ticks and

Legends (marks) are
children to Axes, similar to
Labels

A legend is added & edited

// Edit ticks & marks (labels):

//-------------------------------------a.x_ticks = tlist(['ticks','locations','labels'],...
[-1.1,-.825,-.55,-.275,0,.275,.55,.827,1.1],...
['-1.1','-.825','-.55','-.275','0','.275','.55',...
'.825','1.1']);
a.y_ticks = tlist(['ticks','locations','labels'],...
[-1.1,-.825,-.55,-.275,0,.275,.55,.827,1.1],...
['-1.1','-.825','-.55','-.275','0','.275','.55',...
'.825','1.1']);
a.labels_font_color=13; // Change label color
a.labels_font_size=2;
// Increase label size
// Add & edit legend:
//--------------------------legend(['sin(x), cos(3x)'; 'sin(1.5x), 0.5*cos(1.5x)'], 4);
leg=a.children(1);
// Get legend handle
leg.font_style=2;
// Font: Times
leg.font_size=2;
// Increase legend font size
leg.font_color=1;
// Font color black
leg.background=7;
// Yellow legend box fill

Ex 3-6: Lissajous
figures, script 2 (4/4)

To fnish, the grid is turned on

and line colors edited
Scilab does not have an
equivalent for Matlabs grid
on, this is a way of
circumventing the problem

// Add & edit grid:

//---------------------set(gca(),'grid',[1 1]);
// Matlab's "grid on"
a.grid(1)=color('green'); // Vertical line color
a.grid(2)=color('green'); // Horizontal line color

There were huge problems when I frst tried to include the gce(),
get current Entity, command in the script. The background color
did not come up after Scilab was reloaded, I could not defne
ticks, etc.
Lessons learned: Be sure that you now what you do with gce()!
And a fnal check
on the next slide

Ex 3-6: Lissajous
figures, check
After all these modifcations, lets make sure that we can
recall the basic plot by adding the following lines at the end
of the script:
// Check default settings:
//-------------------------------xdel();
// Delete Graphics Window
sda();
// Reset default Axes
plot2d(sines,cosines,rect=[-1.1,-1.1,1.1,1.1])

When we run the script,

Scilab briefly flashes the
modifed plot,* deletes it,
and puts up this window
instead. The basic
Lissajous fgures seem to
be ok
*) You can use the function pair drawlater() and drawnow() to avoid the
flashing, as was done in Ex 3-5.

Dr.E
Dr.E
W
W

Johnny
JohnnyHeikell
Heikell

9. Converting Matlab
files
The embedded Matlab-toScilab translator seems to
work and manual conversion
is an option
Return to Contents

Tips on Matlab to
Scilab conversion
About halfway down
the Help Browser (which
is not in any logical
order) you fnd Matlab
to Scilab Conversion Tips.
You will see a long list
of the m2sci_... type of
functions
Click on the frst
subheading, MatlabScilab equivalents, and
you get a list of Matlab
functions and their
Scilab equivalents
(missing ones are not
included, like text() and
xlim() mentioned
below)

Using the integrated

Matlab-to-Scilab
translator
Scilab can convert Matlabs .m fles to .sci fles, although we

should not expect the conversion to be fully successful every

time. The translated script may have to be modifed manually
We start by opening the translator: *

On the Console, Click:

Applications\Matlab to Scilab
translator
What happens next you
can se on the following
slide
*) It used to be possible to import Matlab files directly, but this option does not
exist any more.

M-to-S translator: the

process
The conversion tool opens
1. Click: (File name)
Browse and identify the fle
that you want to translate
2. Click: (Directory name)
Browse to point out where
to put the translated
script (and associated
products*)
3. Click: Convert
*) The conversion
produces two text
documents and two .sci
scripts

M-to-S translator:
messages on the
Console
Scilab
presents a list
of translation
conditions and
also warnings
of possible
errors on the
Console. The
warnings are
repeated as
comments in
the script (and
on one of the
text
documents)

Next, open the

translated
script in the

M-to-S translator:
script (1/4)
This is the script that the translator delivers. It contains
comments that may or may not be of importance:
Statement &
warning added by
Scilab
Here comes the
second warning.
The Matlab
command was
clear,clc,clf;. May be
of importance if
the script is edited
with handles. In
such a case, try to
create a new script
by copy-pasting

// Display mode
mode(0);
// Display warning for floating point exception
ieee(1);
// Monopulse Antenna Pattern
// -------------------------------------clear,clc,// !! L.4: All children will be deleted, no
HandleVisibility property in Scilab graphics.
clf;
// Normalized Aperture Width
na = 4;
// Sampling Frequeny=Number elements per norm
aperture
fs = 8;

M-to-S translator:
script (2/4)
// Norm aperture with N elements
N = fs*na;
xna = na*(-1/2:1/(N-1):1/2);

Everything runs
smoothly here
The code is expected
to present the sum and
difference patterns for
a monopulse antenna
(tracking radar, etc.)

// Illumination Function
wxna(1,1:N/2) = ones(1,N/2);
wxna = mtlb_i(wxna,N/2+1:N,-ones(1,N/2));
wxnb(1,1:N/2) = ones(1,N/2);
wxnb = mtlb_i(wxnb,N/2+1:N,ones(1,N/2));
// Fill with M/2 zeros front and back
M = 1024;
xna = na*(-1/2:1/N+M-1:1/2);
wxna = [zeros(1,M/2),wxna,zeros(1,M/2)];
wxnb = [zeros(1,M/2),wxnb,zeros(1,M/2)];
// Beam Functions from -fs/2 to fs/2 in sine space
Nfft = max(size(wxna));
Esine = mtlb_fft(wxna,Nfft);
Esine = fftshift(Esine);

M-to-S translator:
script (3/4)
Esum = mtlb_fft(wxnb);
Esum = fftshift(Esum);
// Azimuth vector
sinf = ((fs/4)*(-Nfft/2:Nfft/2-1))/Nfft;

Here comes more

warnings. May
relate to a
rounding error

// Azimuth vector in radians

// !! L.45: If sinfi is outside [-1,1]
// !! complex part of output of asin(sinfi) will be
the opposite of Matlab one.
f = asin(sinf);
// Beam gain functions
Gf = (Esine .*conj(Esine))/Nfft;
Gfs = (Esum .*conj(Esum))/Nfft;
Gf = mtlb_i(Gf,1:Nfft/2,sqrt(Gf(1:Nfft/2)));
Gf = mtlb_i(Gf,Nfft/2+1:Nfft,-sqrt(Gf(Nfft/2+1:Nfft)));
Gfs = sqrt(Gfs);

M-to-S translator:
script (4/4)
Note that title() is
an alternative to
xtitle()
Here come the last
warnings. The next
slide shows what
they mean
Well, lets see how
Scilab reacts by
executing the
script...

// Plot Monopulse Antenna Pattern

plot(f,Gf,f,Gfs);mtlb_grid;
set(gca(),"data_bounds",matrix([-0.25,0.25,-0.8,1],2,-1));
ylabel("Amplitude");
xlabel("Angle - radians");
title("Monopulse Antenna Patterns");
// !! L.63: Matlab function text not yet converted,
original calling sequence used.
text(0.04,0.8,"Sum Pattern");
// !! L.64: Matlab function text not yet converted,
original calling sequence used.
text(-0.22,0.6,"Difference Pattern");

M-to-S translator: plot

Yeees, it comes,
labels and all!
But the legends
are missing,
which means that
Scilab cannot
cope with
Matlabs text()
function

M-to-S translator:
comments

Based on this example one could say that the embedded

Matlab-to-Scilab translator is adequate
A legend has to be added manually to compensate for the
missing text() information*
The example demonstrates partly good programming
practice by declaring each logical entity. However,
informative explanations could be added
Another improvement is to use expressive variable names.
Why not talk about sampl_freq instead of fs, and what does
wxna() stand for?
Help sheds no light over the meaning of the second .sci fles
that the conversion produces

*) A paper by Sharma & Gobbert (2010) reports that the translator cannot
cope with Matlabs xlim() function. In their case the plot() function had to
be manually changed to plot2d() to correct the problem.

Manual conversion
(1/6):
Case #1, script

To the right is a Matlab code

(top) and its Scilab equivalent
(bottom). The way I did it:
Checked visually for
differences:

Comments: % //
Built-in functions: pi %pi
Plot commands are split up on
multiple rows. Indents are not
necessary, but a visual help

Changed what I could, the run

the script and let Scilabs
debugger yell about the rest
Checked frequently with Help
(particularly Matlab-Scilab
equivalents) to understand the
error messages on the Console

% beating sinusoidal tones

%
t = linspace(-1e-2,1e-2,1001);
x = cos(2*pi*1500*t) +
cos(2*pi*1300*t);
m = 2*cos(2*pi*100*t);
plot( t, m, b:, t, -m, b:, t, x, k ),...
axis( [-0.01 0.01 -2.4 2.4] ),...
title( Beating between tones ),...
xlabel( Time (s) ),...
ylabel( Amplitude )

// M-to-S_1-modulation.sce
// beating sinusoidal tones /
cear,clc,clf;
t = linspace(-1e-2,1e-2,1001);
x = cos(2*%pi*1500*t) + cos(2*
%pi*1300*t);
m = 2*cos(2*%pi*100*t);
plot( t, x.*m, rect = [-0.01 0.01 -2.4 2.4] )
title( 'Beating between tones' )
xlabel( 'Time (s)' )
ylabel( 'Amplitude' )

Manual conversion
(2/6):
Case #1, plot

There were some

problems with this
conversion:

I split up Matlabs long

plot() command, but the
abbreviated form did not
work in Scilab
First I changed Matlabs
axis() to rect(), then
swapped the preceding
argument part for x.*m.
Now plot() worked
The label commands gave
problems. The reason was
againthat I had
copied the Matlab code
and the quotation marks
were pasted incorrectly

Manual conversion
(3/6):
Case
#2,
script
plot
The pie() function
has not
been discussed&
before,
but below
is a short Matlab script that draws a pie graph*

The pie() function also exists in Scilab, the difference is that

Scilab does not support Matlabs pielabel() function
revenues = [31 36 18 8 7];
h = pie(revenues);
pielabel(h,{'Income Tax: ';'Sales Tax:
';'Borrowing: ';
'Corporate Taxes: ';'Misc: '});

// M-to-S_2-pie.sce
// Draw a pie graph with labels /
clear,clc,clf;
revenues = [31 36 18 8 7];
pie(revenues,['Income Tax';'Sales
Tax';'Borrowing';
'Corporate Taxes';'Misc']);

*) A more general sector chart

will be presented in Example 6-4

Manual conversion
(4/6):
Case
#3,
script
plot
As a last case,
lets look
at a shifted sinc&
function

In this case the problem is that polardb() is an informal

creation by Matlab users which Scilab does not support
x = -(5*2*pi):.1:(5*2*pi);
th = linspace(-pi,pi,length(x));
rho=((1+sin(x)./x));
polardb(th,rho)

// M-to-S_3polarplot.sce
// Polar plot of 1+sin(x)/x /
clear,clc,clf;
x = -(5*2*%pi):.1:(5*2*%pi);
th = linspace(-%pi,
%pi,length(x));
rho = 1+sin(x)./x;
polarplot(th,rho)

Similar, but not the same as

the Matlab plot if radial units
are in dB

Manual conversion
(5/6):
Case #3, discussion

The polar plot with

radial units in dB looks
rather
counterintuitive,
since its sidelobes
appear to be pointing
in the wrong direction

Linear plot

// M-to-S_3polarplot.sce
// Polar plot of 1+sin(x)/x

clear,clc,clf;
x = -(5*2*%pi):.1:(5*2*%pi);
th = linspace(-%pi,
%pi,length(x));
rho = 10*log10((1+sin(x)./x));
subplot(211);
plot2d(th,rho)
subplot(212);
polarplot(th,rho)

Polar plot

Manual conversion
(6/6):
discussion & hints

Manual conversion of Matlab codes to Scilab scripts is

possible, there are users who claim to do it regularly
Scilab for Matlab Users tutorials and Scilab discussion forums
can help in understanding the differences
Some Matlab functions simply do not exist in Scilab (and vice
versa). Examples are axis(), compass(), feather(), fill(), nargin(),
polar(), quad(), quiver(), stem(), stairs(), and waterfall()
Sometimes alternative Scilab commands exist (e.g., Scilabs
plot2d2() can compensate for Matlabs stairs()), sometimes not.
If not, the script may have to be rewritten
Scilabs user-defned functions must be loaded with getf(),
while Matlab has no separate load function
Matlabs run data.m should be traded for exec(data.sci) in Scilab
One more case of manual conversion will be presented in
Example 6-5 (Chapter 19)

Dr.E
Dr.E
W
W

Johnny
JohnnyHeikell
Heikell

10. Subroutines
This discussion on
subroutines is a prelude to
flow control that will be
discussed in Chapter 11
Return to Contents

Terminology
Recall from Chapter 1 that Scilab does not recognize the
term subroutine, which belongs to the group of varied
constructs that Scilab calls function. More exact, we are
talking about user defned functions (UDFs), an expression
that Scilab also does not know
Regardless of official Scilab terminology, I willwhen
possibleuse the traditional term subroutine since it is an
elegant way of pointing to specifc entities in computer
programs

An introductory demo

Recall Example 1-3 that

introduced the concept of user
defned functions (UDFs)
Task: Write a function that
calculates the area of a triangle
with known side lengths

The function is entered on Editor

It is then loaded into the

Console using the Editor
command Execute/...file
with echo

The function is executed by

entering the function name and
input parameters (side lengths)
on the Console

function A = triangle_area(a,b,c)
// The function 'triangle_area' calculates the
/
// area of a triangle with side lengths a, b, c.
/
funcprot(0)
p = (a+b+c)/2 // p = half perimeter
A = sqrt(p*(p-a)*(p-b)*(p-c))
endfunction
-->function A = triangle_area(a,b,c)
-->// The function 'triangle_area' calculates the /
-->// area of a triangle with side lengths a, b, c. /
-->funcprot(0)
-->p = (a+b+c)/2 // p = half perimeter
-->A = sqrt(p*(p-a)*(p-b)*(p-c))
-->endfunction
-->triangle_area(4,5,6)
ans =
9.9215674

Local and global

functions
(subroutines)

Local functions are embedded in a script and valid for it alone,

global functions are saved separately and accessible to any script

Local function
(local subroutine)

.....
.....

Call 1

Call

Result 1

Result

.....
.....
Call 2
Result 2

Scilab script

.....
.....
Scilab script 1

Global function
(global subroutine)

.....
.....
Call
Result

Scilab script 2

Local and global

variables

You will run into the terms local and global variables
and they need a short clarifcation:
As with functions, Scilab has two types of function
variables, local and global:

Local variables are limited to a specifc function

Global variables are available to, and can be altered by, all
functions in which the variable has been declared global

The transfer of parameters using command window

(Console) variables and global variables is not too
obvious. Global variables, in particular, can lead to errors
that are difficult to detect
For the reasons mentioned, the use of global variables
should be limited to a minimum

In conclusion, we consider only local variables that are

the default setting in Scilab. This discussion is
therefore trivial

Subroutines, more
formally

In the general case where a subroutine has several input

arguments (in_arg1,in_arg2,) and returns several output
arguments (out_arg1,out_arg2,), the structure is:
function [out_arg1, out_arg2,...] =...
funktion_name(in_arg1, in_arg2, in_arg3,...)
out_arg1 = expression for 1st output argument;
out_arg2 = expression for 2nd output argument;

endfunction

Structure borders are the function .... endfunction limiters

Input arguments are grouped with brackets (parentheses),
output arguments with square brackets (not needed for a
single output parameter)
In both cases the arguments are separated by commas

On output arguments
The example to the
right highlights the
basic way in which
Scilab manages
output arguments
of subroutines
When you need to
influence the
management of
input and output
variables, Scilab
offers the functions
argn (), varargin (), and
varargout ()

-->function [y1,y2] = myfunc(x1,x2);

-->y1 = 3*x1;
-->y2 = 5*x2+2;
-->endfunction
-->myfunc(4,7)
ans =
12.

3x4=12

-->y2 = myfunc(4,7)
y2 =
12.

3x4=12

-->[y1,y2] = myfunc(4,7)
y2 =
37.

5x7+2=37

y1 =
12.

3x4=12

With no output
argument defned,
the frst output
argument is
returned in the ans
variable
The same answer
is returned when
only one output
argument is
defned
With both output
arguments
defned, the result
of the computation
is returned in full

Vector arguments

This function* uses vectors as

input and output arguments

The function is frst defned

After that the output arguments

the operations to doare
defned

Next the input arguments (row

vectors) are entered

At the end the function is

executed

The in-line function deff() is a

specialized form of local
functions

-->// Define local subroutine cross_product

-->function [x] = cross_product(a,b)
--> x(1) = (a(2)*b(3) - a(3)*b(2))
--> x(2) = (a(3)*b(1) - a(1)*b(3))
--> x(3) = (a(1)*b(2) - a(2)*b(1))
-->endfunction
-->// Plug in numeric values
-->a = [-2 5 8];
-->b = [7 -13 -5];
-->// Executing the subroutine
-->c_prod = cross_product(a,b)
c_prod =
79.
46.
- 9.

x(1)=5*(-5)-8*(-13)
x(2)=8*7-(-2)*(-5)
x(3)=-2*(-13)-5*7

*) Here I use the term function since the code is independent and not called
by a main program.

Demo (1/2):
script
Task: Compute &
plot a parabola, fnd
its positive root
Here the subroutine
is called for the frst
time using the input
argument x
Here the subroutine is
called twice more, frst
with the input argument
a, then b
Interesting way of
fnding the root location.
Later well do the same
using fsolv()

// subroutine1.sce
// Compute & plot the function y = x^2-x+1 in the /
// range [-5,5] and determine its positive root.
/
// Assume we know the root lies in the range [1,2] /
clear, clc, clf;
// SUBROUTINE para():
//-----------------------------function y=para(x);
// Subroutine declaration
y = x^2-x-1
// Equation (parabola))
endfunction
// MAIN script:
//------------------x = linspace(-5,5,100); // Range of interest
plot(x,para)
// Call subroutine and plot
xgrid;
// Add grid

a=1; b=2;
// Search limits
while b-a > 10^(-4)
// Accuracy for searching roo
c = (a+b)/2;
// Midpoint of limits
if para(a)*para(c)>0 then // IF (lower)*(midpoint
// is positive
a=c;
// THEN change lower limit
else
b=c;
// ELSE change upper limit
end
end
disp("The root lies between "... // Output root limits
+string(a)+" and "+string(b))

Demo (2/2): plot,

printout & comments

This demo was borrowed from

the pamphlet Scilab pour les
Lyces

Notice that the calling

command was abbreviated to
the extent possible. Instead of
plot(x,para) we could write:

a = para(x);
plot(x,a)

The root lies between 1.617981

and 1.618042

Subroutines have to be
declared before the calling
main part of the script

Later well see scripts with

multiple subroutines, told apart
by their names. Subroutines
can also be nested (next slide)
and can call other subroutines

Nested subroutines

Subroutines can be nestedif it is

worth the added complexity
The example shown here computes
the equation
y (x) = (sin (x)+2*%pi) ^2
sqrt (sin (x)+2*%pi) + 3 ^2
in three steps: First sin(x)+2*%pi is
calculated. The result is then squared
and subtracted with the square root of
itself. Finally, 3^2=9 is added

Plug in the equation in a

calculator and yes, it gives
the same answer. I prefer
this old fashioned method

-->function y = nested(x)
--> a = sin(x) + 2*%pi;
-->
function y = inner(x);
-->
y = x^2 -sqrt(x);
-->
endfunction
--> y = inner(a) + 3^2;
-->endfunction
-->value = nested(%pi/3)
value =
57.437413

--> (sin(%pi/3)+ 2*%pi)^2 - sqrt(sin(%pi/3) + 2*%pi) + 3^2

ans =
57.437413

The deff() primitive

The deff() primitive can be used to defne simple functions

(it resembles Matlabs inline() function)
deff() is therefore used in local subroutines
The syntax is:
deff (y = function_name(x1,x2,...), y=function expression)

Below is the same equation computed on the Console with

function and deff() alternatives:
Note the
semicolon!
(Scilab
understan
ds if you
skip it
after the
second y
expression

Global subroutines:
window demo (1/4)

This demo creates a global

subroutine (function) for a
reusable graphics window

First, open Scilabs Graphics

Window (one alternative is by
the command gcf(); on the
Console). The empty Graphics
Window pops up

Next, On the Graphics Window,

Click: Edit/Figure properties to
open the Figure editor (this has
been explained before)

Third, select a suitable Back

color (e.g. 22 for ecclesiastic
violet) and you can see the
frame on the Graphics Window
(the bar goes only to 32, gray
is not an option)

Global subroutines:
window demo (2/4)

Fourth, you need to

play with the Figure
Editor for quite a
while to fll in all
details
Note the Ticks... button
on the Graphics
Editor. It opens a
separate window in
which you can defne
& label grid lines
Later, when all details
match, you reach
something like this
Finally, save it with
the help of the
Graphics Window.
Click: File/Save...

Global subroutines:
window demo (3/4)

Scilab answers on the

Console:

// reuse_function.sce
// Reusing graphics function,
/
// defenitions with handle commands /
clear,clc;

Figure saved.

So it is as a subroutine. I
called it window_demo.scg .
Note the ending .scg. Not .sce
or .sci. Its g for graphic
Then we need a main script
that uses global subroutine
Note that I call the Entity
handle e=gce(). It simplifes
compared to the path needed
if calling the Axes handle, as
was done in Chapter 7

// SUBROUTINE, load function:

//----------------------------------------load('window_demo.scg');
// MAIN, define and plot:
//-------------------------------x = [-4:0.01:4];
// Horizontal extension
y1 = 2*sin(x) - 2;
// First equation
plot2d(x,y1, style=2);
// First plot, blue
e=gce();
// Get Entity handle
e.children.thickness=5; // Polyline size
y2 = 2*cos(2*x) + 6;
// Second equation
plot2d(x,y2, style=3);
// Second plot, green
e=gce();
// Get Entity handle
e.children.thickness=5; // Polyline size

Global subroutines:
window demo (4/4),
plot

Do you have problems

with the plot?
If yes, make sure that
you defned the
window correctly
For instance, if you do
not correctly fll both
sides in the Edit Axes
Ticks list there will be
some funny grid
locations
Make also sure that
the data bounds ([5,5], [-10,10]) are
defned in the Axes
Editor/Axes Options
window

I typed the wrong handle call gca();

and Scilab crashed defnitely.
Reboot ...

Comment: multiple
plots with a single
command

It is possible to plot multiple

graphs with a single
command by defning the
function arguments as
column vectors
Here is the modifed plot
command of the previous
window demo, compressed
to
plot2d(x,[y1,y2])

The result is shown here.

Scilab automatically picks
different colors for the
graphs

Scilab warns if the Graphics

Window is docked

y1 = 2*sin(x) - 2;
// First equation
y2 = 2*cos(2*x) + 6;
// Second
equation
plot2d(x,[y1',y2'])
// Plot both
e=gce();
// Get Entity
handle
e.children.thickness=5; // Polyline size

Dr.E
Dr.E
W
W

Johnny
JohnnyHeikell
Heikell

11. Flow control

Flow control (conditional
branching, programming)
bring important new
structures
Return to Contents

Introduction

We have now come to the line that separates boys from men
Some examples using flow control (also known as conditional
branching and programming) have come up in the preceding
chapters, but the nature of conditional branch commands like
if ... then ... else has not been discussed*
Flow control together with subroutines are needed for serious
practical simulations
We shall therefore take a good look at the most important
aspects of flow control
Note, however, that loop operations are slow. We should aim for
vectorized operations if a task requires a lot of loop iterations
(there is a brief discussion on the subject in Chapter 18 )

*) Historical note: Konrad Zuse, the German who built the first real computer
during WW II (using over 2000 relays because he did not trust vacuum tubes),
got everything right except for conditional branches.

Flow control
constructs
The following are main constructs that you should be familiar with:
Branch commands:*
for ... (if ... else) end
while ... (if/then/else) ... end
if ... (elseif ... else) ... end
select ... case (... else) ... end
break ... continue
try ... catch ... end

Logical operators:

Comparison operators:
==

equal to

<

smaller than

>

greater than

<=

smaller or equal to

>=

greater or equal to

<> or ~=

not equal to

Logical/Boolean constants:

&

and

| or /

or

%t or %T

true

not

%f or %F

false

*) Rumor has it that Scilab will see select ... case renamed switch ... case in
line with Matlab.

for end

The for ... end loop repeats a group of statements a

predetermined number of times. The general expression of
for ... end is:
for variable = initial_value:step:final_value
// foo
No semicolon!
end

As seen here:

square
cannot be used
as variable
name since
square() is a
Scilab function

// for-end_demo.sce
// Compute the square root and
square /
// of odd integers from 1 to 8
/
n = 8;
for k = 1:2:n
root = sqrt(k);
quadrat = k^2;
disp([k, root, quadrat])
end

1.

7.
49.

1.

1.

2.6457513

for if else end

for ... end can be nested with if/else conditions to allow for
execution of alternate statements:
for variable = initial_value:step:final_value
if condition
// foo
else
// foo
end
end

The next few slides demonstrate a case where random

Gaussian noise is generated, sorted, and reported both
verbally and with a plot

for if else end:

demo, script (1/3)
// for-if-else.sce

Only variables,
nothing to comment

// --------------------------------------------------------------------------- /
// The script generates Gaussian noise around a fxed
signal.
/
// Each sample ("signal") is sorted according to whether it
/
// is within, above or below default variance limits (+/-1).
The /
// result is reported verbally with strings and is also plotted
/
// --------------------------------------------------------------------------- /
clear,clc,clf;
// Define variables:
// -----------------------n = 500;
// # of forend loops
above = 0;
// Signals above upper variance limit
below = 0;
// Signals below lower variance limit
within = 0;
// Signals within variance limits
ave = 3;
// Mean (average)
x = [];
// x axis vector

for if else end:

demo, script (2/3)
Random
generation as
discussed before

Note how the

signal array is
read element-byelement as j goes
from 1 to n

// Generate signal:
// ---------------------dt = getdate();
// Get date
rand('seed',(531+n)*dt(9)+dt(10)); // Initialize random
generator
signal= ave + rand(1,n,'normal');
// Shifted Gaussian signal
// Sort signal:
// ---------------for j = 1:1:n
if signal(1,j) > ave+1 then
// Default variance = +/-1
above = above + 1;
// Count signal > mean+var
elseif signal(1,j) < ave-1
// Default variance = +/-1
below = below +1;
// Count signal < mean-var
else
// If within variance limits
within = within + 1;
// mean-var <= signal <=
mean+var
end
end

for if else end:

demo, script (3/3)
Display on the
Console: Total,
mean, and
variance limits

This particular
form of multiple
plots was
discussed earlier
and is worth
keeping in mind

// Display result:
// -------------------disp(['Result from generating', string(n), 'Gaussian distributed
samples'])
disp(['(signals) with mean =' string(ave) 'and variance = 1:'])
disp([' -' string(within) ' samples were inside variance limits,'])
disp([' -' string(above) 'above upper variance limit, and'])
disp([' -' string(below) 'below lower limit'])
// Plot result:
// --------------x = [1:1:n];
// Array for x axis
y1 = ave*ones(1,n);
// Array for mean value
y2 = (ave+1)*ones(1,n);
// Array for upper variance
limit
y3 = (ave-1)*ones(1,n);
// Array for lower variance
limit
rect = [0,ave-4,n+1,ave+4];
// Set pot window
plot2d(x,signal,2,"011"," ",rect) // Plot samples
plot2d(x,y1,5,"000")
// Plot mean value
plot2d(x,y2,3,"000")
// Plot upper variance limit
plot2d(x,y3,3,"000")
// Plot upper variance limit
legend('signal','average','variance');
xtitle('GAUSSIAN RANDOM SAMPLES','Sample #','Sample value')

for if else end:

demo, print & plot
69.6% of the samples
are within 1
bounds. Quite ok for
500 samples

! - 77 below lower limit !

It can be seen
! - 75
above
upper variance limit, and !
that
there
are
one or two
samples
outside were inside variance limits, !
! - 348 samples
the 3 limit,
as
shouldwith
be mean = 3 and variance = 1: !
!(signals)
!Result from generating 500 Gaussian distributed samples !

for if else end:

comments

Note how the random data is collected by the signal(:,n) array.

Compare this with the x = [x,k] construct that is used later in
connection with the discussion on break & continue

This example was a maddening experience: I just could not fgure

out how to make the plot work. After hours of attempts I found the
problem: I had put the random function inside the for ... end loop

What kept me on the wrong track for too long was that the data
was collected correctly, but is was destroyed when it was brought
outside the for ... end loop. However, that did not happen if there
was a display command inside the loop. For instance, no
semicolon after signal(:,n). Speak of coincidences.....

The problem went away when I fnally understood to separate data

generation from the data sorting loop

Lessons learned: Be careful with what you put inside loops

while end

The while ... end loop repeats a group of statements an

indefnite number of times under control of a logical
condition
The general form of while ... end is:

while condition
// foo
// loop counter, i.e. count = count +1;
end
-->k = 1;

The code to the right determines from

which value of k the expression
2^(-k) <= %eps
Be careful with condition, it can easily
lock the simulation in an endless loop

-->while 2^(-k) > %eps

-->k = k+1;
-->end
-->k
k =

52.

while if /then/else
end

The while ... end condition can be nested with an optional if ...
then ... else instruction:
while condition_1
if condition_2 then
// foo
else
// foo
end
// foo
end

The function on the next slide is for a game in which the

user should guess a random number that the computer
draws. The game fnishes only with the correct guess

while if /then/else
end: demo
// The function draws a random number in the /
// range [1,M] that the user should guess.
/
// Game fnishes when correct number is found /

Save the script, load

it into Scilab (on
Editor), type the
function name on
the Console

clear,clc;

-->guess_a_number

// game.sci

Loop

M=30;
// Upper limit of numbers
number=floor(1+M*rand());
// Draw a random
number
disp('Guess a positive integer in the range ');
disp([1,M]);
// State range of random
numbers
guess=input('You guess: ');
// User's guess
while (guess~=number)
// Start while condition
if guess>number then
// Start if-then-else
disp('Number is too big');
else
disp('Number is too small');
end
// End if-then-else
guess=input('You guess: '); // User's next guess
end
// End while condition
disp('Correct!');

Guess an integer in the range

1. 30.
You guess: 15
Number is too small
You guess: 22
Number is too big
You guess: 17
Number is too small
You guess: 19
Correct!

Comments on
interactivity

The previous demo showed examples of interactive use of strings

To instruct the user:
disp(Guess an integer)
To accept user inputs:
guess = input(You guess: )

To the user the input() prompt is not very clear since the text
string only pops upit should at least blink. One must therefore
try to fnd expressive text messages. Perhaps the following would
be better in the previous case:
guess = input(Now, Sir/Madame, type your guess: )

Interactive text strings is a simple form of human-machine

interfaces; Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) more are advanced
and will be discusses in Chapter 15 (there was a case already in
Ex 1-3)

foo do end

The do keyword can be used inside for and while instructions to

separate the loop variable defnition (condition) and the
instructions. The keyword then can be used with if and while
The following are examples of for ... do ... end and while ...
do/then ... end:

if (elseif/else) end

The if statement evaluates a logical expression (condition) and

executes a group of statements when the expression is true
The optional elseif and else keywords provide for the execution
of alternate groups of statements

if condition_1
// foo
elseif condition_2
// foo

else
// foo
end

if elseif/else end:
demo
The following function computes the n:th term of the Fibonacci
sequence when n is given:
// fbonacci.sci
// Gives the n-th term of the Fibonacci /
// sequence 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,...
/
funcprot(0)
// Suppress redefenition warning
function [K] = fbonacci(n)
if n==1
// Begin if-elseif-else-end
K = 0;
elseif n==2
// Condition to proceed, n > 2
K = 1;
elseif n>2 & int(n)==n
// Check if n is an integer >2
K = fbonacci(n-1) + fbonacci(n-2);
// Compute
Fibonacci #
else
// Previous conditions not met
disp('error! -- input is not a positive integer'); // Error
message
end
// End of if-elseif-else-end
endfunction

Save the script, load

it into Scilab (on
Editor), type on the
Console the function
name with the n
argument (Hint: do
not use a large
value!)

13.
Check what
happens
ans = for n <
1 --

select case else

end

The select ... case ... else ... end construct executes the frst case
that matches the stated condition
If no match is found it executes the else statement
The advantage of select ... case ... else ... end is that it allows us
to avoid multiple if statements
select condition
case 1
// foo
case 2
// foo

else
// foo
end

Hint: Use select ...

case when if elseif
else threatens to
become too
complex
Note: select ... case
is called switch ...
case in Matlab (may
be changed in
Scilab)

select case end:

demo, script

Some textbooks on Matlab

presents this as the drunk
sailor problem. It
demonstrates a random
walk, one fxed step at a
time
The whole process is
performed in a single
function (randwalk(steps)) that
has to be executed from the
Console
In this case there is no
problem with having the
random generator inside the
for ... end loop
The script plots two marks
(o-) for each step, although
they cannot be distinguished
on the plot on the next side

// randomwalk.sce
//-----------------------------------------------------------------/
// Creates a track of marks that proceed randomly
/
// in the x,y plane. The walk starts at the origin
/
// and proceeds for a predetermined number of
steps /
// either up, down, right, or
left
/
//-----------------------------------------------------------------/
clear,clc,clf;
funcprot(0);
function randwalk(steps)
x=zeros(1,steps+1);
// Counter for x
track
y=zeros(1,steps+1);
// Counter for y
track
for k=1:steps
direction=floor(4*rand()); // Draw random
move
select direction

select case end:

demo, script & plot
After loading the script
into Scilab, the function
has to be run from the
Console

->randwalk(1000
)

case 2 then
x(k+1)=x(k);
y(k+1)=y(k)+1;
case 3 then
x(k+1)=x(k);
y(k+1)=y(k)-1;
end
end
clf
plot(x,y,'o-');
endfunction

// Move up
// Move down

// Plot marks

The starting
point is always
the origin (I
have run this
simulation
numerous times
and Scilab
seems to prefer
to go in the
northeastern

break & continue

The break command:

break lets you exit early from a

for ... end or while ... end loop, or from
within an if ... end statement
Execution continues from the line
following the end statement
In nested loops, break exits only
from the innermost loop

The continue command:

continue is a forced return to the

start of a for ... end or while ... end loop
(not if ... end loops!)
Statements between continue and
the end of the loop will be neglected

7.

break: demo
// break.sce
// Input m positive integers that are summed /
// up, but the program breaks if the input
/
// is not a positive integer
/
clear,clc;
n = input('Give amount of numbers to sum_');
summa = 0;
// Reset summa counter
for i = 1:n
number = input('Give next number_');
if number < 0
// Condition: number
~< 0
disp('wrong-----negative value!');
break;
end
if number ~= int(number)
// Check if
integer
disp('wrong-----not an integer!');
break;
end
summa = summa + number; // Sum up
end
disp(['Accumulated error-free sum is:'

!Accumulated error-free
sum is: 37 !
Give next number_7
Give next number_17
Give next number_13
Give amount of numbers to
sum_3
!Accumulated error-free
sum is: 19 !
wrong-----negative value!
Give next number_-1
Give next number_2

try catch end

With no errors, the code between try and catch is executed

If an error occurs, execution immediately shifts to the code
between catch and end:

try
// foo
// If an error occurs in this part....
catch
// .... execution continues here
// foo
end

Typically the code between catch and end informs of an

expected error, e.g. disp(----warning: cannot access the
function----)

Dr.E
Dr.E
W
W

Johnny
JohnnyHeikell
Heikell

12. Examples, Set 4

The frst three examples
relate
to Chapter 10, the rest to
Chapter 11
Return to Contents

Example 4-1: step

function, unit step
(1/2)

Step functions are useful in

many practical applications
As mentioned in Ex 2-3,
Scilab lacks a separate
function for creating (unit)
steps, but we can form them
indirectly (in Ex 2-3 it was
done with a unit vector)
Here we shall look at two
cases where a step is needed
In the frst demo a step is
created with a user defned
function that includes the
sign() function (Help is of no
help here, you dont
understand what it says
about sign())

Unit step:

1
0

t0
y(t) =

t
0, t < t0
1, t > t0

Ex 4-1: step function,

unit step (2/2)
// step_sign.sce
// Plot a sign() fucntion that is shifted by 1 /
// & compressed by 0.5 to give a unit step /

Note how the sign()

function is shifted
clear,clc,clf;
(addition by 1) and
funcprot(0);
compressed (multiplied
x = linspace(-5,5,400);
by 0.5) to get the
deff('y=u(x)','y=0.5*(1+sign(x))') // Define sign() function,
required unit step
// shift & compress as needed
rect = [-5.2,-0.2,5.2,1.2];
// Define plot frame
plot2d(x,u(x),5,'011',' ',rect)
// Plot inside frame
xgrid()
// Add grid to plot
a=gca();
// Get axes handle
a.title.text="UNITY STEP";
// Add title
a.children.children.thickness=3; // Increase line thickness

Ex 4-1: step function,

rectangular pulse (1/2)

The second case is a

rectangular pulse with
amplitude A as shown in the
fgure
In this case we do it without a
user defned function, since it
leads to a simpler script
The plot command can also
be simplifed somewhat

Rectangular pulse:
y
A
0

t0

y(t) =

t1
A, t0 t < t1
0, otherwise

Ex 4-1: step function,

rectangular pulse (2/2)
// rect_pulse.sce
// Plot a rectangular pulse with /
// width 3 < t < 5 and amplitude 2 /
clear,clc,clf;
t = 0:0.01:10;
deff('y=u(t)','y=1*(t>=0)');

// Define u(t)

y = 2*(u(t-3) - u(t-5));
// Define pulse
plot2d(t,y,5,rect=[0,0,8,2.5]) // Plot
xgrid()
// Add grid
f=gcf();
// Figure handle
f.children.thickness=2;
// Figure lines
a=gca();
c=a.children;
// Compound handle
c.children.thickness=3;
// Line thickness

Note that the argument u()

does not have to be defned
separately
rect can be defned even if
style, strf, and leg are absent
Thick fgure lines & graph with
increased line thickness

Ex 4-1: step function,

comments

In the frst case (unit step) the handle command for line
thickness is
a.children.children.thickness=3;
In the second case (rectangular pulse) Scilab did not accept this
form and it had to be rewritten as
c=a.children;
c.children.thickness=3;
I have no idea why this is the case and Help certainly is of no help

In the latter case I happened to write the script without the deff()
function, and for a while everything came out all right. But when
I added handle commands Scilab decided that the variable u is
undefned. The KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid) did not
apply in this case

Example 4-2: cones in

a 3D space
This example is adapted from Chancelier et al., pp. 163-166
The script is quite complex with four subroutines and three
separate plotting structures, which makes it difficult to follow
the transfer of parameters. Changing an argument can have
unexpected consequences
Some aspects of the script have not been covered before and
will be left without detailed discussion here as well (see
however Ex 4-3)
The object, a cone (the book mentions and shows a vase), is
plotted in three separate positions using lateral shifts,
rotation, and non-rotational dilation (homothety) of the objects
The cones are shaded using handles that are called through
the gce() command
Scilab functions used for the frst time: diag(), eval3dp(),
graycolormap(), isoview(),* size()
*) The function isoview() is obsolete. The Help Browser recommends using
frameflag=4 instead.

Ex 4-2: script (1/4)

// cone_manipulation.sce

vertical[] tells how to

move along the z axis
in later calculations.
Note the increasing
and decreasing
values that will cause
problems for shading
The function cone()
generates the cone in
case. Example #12
discusses how it is
done

// ********************************************** //
// The script generates and plots a cone with
its
//
// tip at the origin. It plots two copies of the
// cone, one shifted and one shifted &
rotated
//
//
// ********************************************** //

//
//

clear,clc,clf;
// Vertical reach of 3D object:
vertical=[0,1.0,1.6,2.5,2.2,2,1.6,0.9,0.5,0.3,0.3,0.4,0.6,1,
1.4,...
1.7,0,0,0.1,0.4,0.8,1.1,1.4,1.7,1.9,2.2,2.4,2.7,3,3.3,3.7,3.9
]/2;
// SUBROUTINE 1: Generation of 3D object:
//---------------------------------------------------------function [x,y,z]=cone(reach,Z) // Generation of a 3D
object
x=vertical(1,Z).*cos(reach)
// Extension along x
axis

Ex 4-2: script (2/4)

Lateral shifts of objects

are handled by the
function translation()

Non-rotational
dilatation of objects is
the task of homothety()

rotation() creates a
matrix for rotating
objects around the
three axes
Those are the four user
defned functions

// SUBROUTINE 2, Lateral shifts:

//------------------------------------------function XYZ=translation(vect,xyz)
XYZ=(vect(:)*ones(1,size(xyz,2))) + xyz // Translation
vector
endfunction
// SUBROUTINE 3, Non-rotational dilation: (center =
// center of dilation, f = dilation factor)
//----------------------------------------------------------------------function XYZ=homothety(center,f,xyz)
XYZ=translation(center,diag(f)*translation(-center,xyz))
endfunction
// SUBROUTINE 4, Rotation:
//------------------------------------function XYZ=rotation(angle,xyz)
angle=angle/180*%pi;
// Angle
axes
c=cos(angle);
s=sin(angle);
Rx=[1 0 0;0 c(1) s(1);0 -s(1) c(1)]
axis
Ry=[c(2) 0 s(2);0 1 0;-s(2) 0 c(2)]
axis
Rz=[c(3) s(3) 0;-s(3) c(3) 0;0 0 1]

of rotation around

// Rotation along x
// Rotation along y
// Rotation along z

Ex 4-2: script (3/4)

eval3dp() transforms the

smooth surface that
cone() creates into a
composition of
quadrangular facets
Here we plot the basic
cone, which has its tip
in the origin. The
exterior and interior of
the cone should have
different shades
Objects are
manipulated by
vectors created by the
earlier user defned
functions

// ----------------------- MAIN --------------------- //

// ---- STEP 1: CREATE & PLOT BASIC CONE ---- //
// Superimpose rectangular facets:
//---------------------------------------------[xv,yv,zv]=eval3dp(cone,linspace(-%pi,%pi,20),1:10);
f=gcf();
// Get Current Figure, create
figure
f.color_map=graycolormap(32); // Select color
// Plot basic cone with tip at the origin:
//---------------------------------------------------plot3d(xv,yv,zv)
e1=gce();
// Get Current Entity
handle
e1.color_mode = 24;
// Object exterior: light
grey
e1.hiddencolor = 30;
// Object interior: dark
grey
// ---- STEP 2: MANIPULATE & PLOT OTHER CONES
---- //
// Object manipulations parameters:
//-------------------------------------------XYZ=[xv(:)';yv(:)';zv(:)'];
// XYZ = 3 x N
matrix

Ex 4-2: script (4/4)

Plot another cone,

this one is zoomed
up and sifted
laterally. Same
shading as before

And the third plot,

with the cone shifted
laterally and rotated.
Shading as before

Properties of the box

around the cones is
adjusted. Isometric
scaling is on (check
with Help for an
explanation)

// Plot second cone (enlarged):

//----------------------------------------plot3d(matrix(XYZH(1,:),4,-1),matrix(XYZH(2,:),
4,-1),matrix(XYZH(3,:),4,-1))
e2=gce();
// Get Current Entity
handle
e2.color_mode = 24;
// Object exterior: light
grey
e2.hiddencolor = 30;
// Object interior: dark
grey
// Plot third cone (rotated):
//------------------------------------plot3d(matrix(XYZR(1,:),4,-1),matrix(XYZR(2,:),
4,-1),matrix(XYZR(3,:),4,-1))
e2=gce();
// Get Current Entity
handle
e2.color_mode = 24;
// Object exterior: light
grey
e2.hiddencolor = 30;
// Object interior: dark
grey
// ---- STEP 3: ADJUST THE BOX ---- //
// Adjust Axes properties:
//------------------------------a=gca();

// Get Current Axes

Ex 4-2: plot

Original cone
with tip at the
origin

Second cone,
laterally shifted
and enlarged

Third cone,
laterally shifted
and rotated
And the shading
of them is all
wrong. See
Example 4-3 for
an explanation

Ex 4-2: comments

Chancelier et al. have not documented their examples too

well, which in this casetogether with errors in their solution
caused major problems when I tried to understand the
script. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE NEED TO DOCUMENT
PROGRAMS! You may be the one that suffers when your code
has to be changed, years after it was written

The frst requirement of documentation is liberal use of

comments in the code

Among the handle commands are some that have not been
discussed before: f.color_map=graycolormap, e1.color_mode,
e1.hidden_color, a.rotation_angles, and a.isoview=on (recall
however the colormap command that was used in Ex 3-5)

Example 4-3: how to

generate a cone

How was the cone in the

previous example
generated? The
interplay between the
matrix vertical[], user
defned function cone(),
and facet generation
function eval3dp() are
not too obvious

Lets simplify the case

to a bare minimum

And look at the result on

the next slide

// cone_creation.sce
// A bare-bone eval3dp() script for plotting a 3D cone /
clear,clc,clf;
vertical=[0,1,2,2.3,3,4];
object

// Vertical reach of 3D

function [x,y,z]=cone(reach,Z) // Generation of a 3D

object
x=vertical(1,Z).*cos(reach)
// Extension along x
axis
y=vertical(1,Z).*sin(reach)
// Extension along y
axis
z=vertical(1,Z).*ones(reach) // Vertical (z)
extension
endfunction
[xv,yv,zv]=eval3dp(cone,linspace(-%pi/1.5,%pi,20),1:5);
plot3d(xv,yv,zv,theta=60,alpha=70) // Plot object
e1=gce();
// Get current Entity
handle
e1.color_mode = 24;
// Object exterior: light
grey

Ex 4-3: plot
Dark gray interior (e1.hiddencolor = 30)
Z5 = 3
Box alignment
defned by theta
and alpha in
plot3d()

Z4 = 2.3
Z3 = 2
Z2 = 1

Gap in the surface

due to the
argument
linspace(-%pi/1.5,
%pi,20)

Z1 = 0
Light gray exterior (e1.color_mode = 24)

Ex 4-3: discussion

The cone is created by the linearly increasing radius R Z of x

and y:
x = RZ .*cos(Zn)
y = RZ.*sin(Zn)

If you change the frst element in vertical[] from 0 to 0.5, youll

see that the tip of the cone is cut off
There are six elements in the vector vertical[]. The last one (4)
is never used since the third argument in eval3dp() is 1:5,
meaning that only the frst fve vector elements are needed.
Hence the z axis of the plot is [0,3]
I left a gap in the perimeter of the cone to demonstrate the
role of the second argument in eval3dp()
This example has correct shading of the object. The
surface pattern in Ex 4-2 is no artistic creation but messed
up due to overlapping Zn values

Ex 4-3: how to
transform the cone to
a vase

How do we create the

vase that Chancilier
et al. talk about?
Quite obviously, we
have to alter RZ in
x=RZ.*cos(Zn)
y=RZ.*sin(Zn)
Here is one way to do
it: by introducing a
vector R_factor that
compensates for the
linear increase in RZ
And the result is
shown on the next
slide

// vase_creation.sce

// A bare-bone eval3dp() script for plotting a 3D vase /

clear,clc,clf;
vertical=[0,1,2,2.3,3,4];
object
R_factor=[1,1,0,-1.5,-1,0];

// Vertical reach of 3D
// Correction matrix

function [x,y,z]=cone(reach,Z) // Generation of a 3D

object
R=vertical+R_factor;
// Radius of vase,
R=f(Z)
x=R(1,Z).*cos(reach)
// Extension along x axis
y=R(1,Z).*sin(reach)
// Extension along y
axis
z=vertical(1,Z).*ones(reach) // Vertical (z) extension
endfunction
[xv,yv,zv]=eval3dp(cone,linspace(-%pi,%pi,20),1:5);
plot3d(xv,yv,zv,theta=60,alpha=70) // Plot object
e1=gce();
// Get Current Entity
handle
e1.color_mode = 24;
// Object exterior: light

Ex 4-3: vase plot

Not bad, eh?
But I have no idea
where the pink &
aniline colors came
from, they bumped up
when I executed the
script after Scilab had
crashed. The gray
scale returned after I
reloaded Scilab for a
second time

Example 4-4: ballot

engine for politicians

The function on the next two slides

is a ballot machine that help
politicians decide on how to cast
their vote
The number of issues to vote on is
entered and the code checks that
the number is a positive integer
Scilab then draws random numbers
and transforms them to verbal votes
(yes/no/abstain)
The votes are fnally put into groups
of three
The function demonstrates the use
of select ... case ... end with a fnishing
modulo() statement
It also shows the use of repeated if ...
end statements (necessary or not?)

no
abstain

Ex 4-4: script (1/2)

// voting.sci

A good part of the

function commands
are related to
checking the validity
of data
The frst check
makes sure that the
number entered by
the user is > 0

The next check is to

make sure that n is
an integer

Pay attention to the

abort commands!

//
//
//
//

Ballot machine for politicians. The number /

of issues to be voted on is entered and
/
Scilab tells how to vote on them. The
/
answers are presented in groups of three /

clear,clc;
funcprot(0)
function voting
// Give input and check entered number:
//------------------------------------------------------n = input('Give number of issues to vote on_ ');
if n <= 0 do
// # of votings must be > 0
disp('warning-----must be > 0');
abort;
end
if n ~= int(n) do
// n should be an integer
disp('warning-----not an integer!');
abort;
end

Ex 4-4: script (2/2)

Generation of random
numbers in the similar
manner to Ex 1-3

Then a select ... case ...

end construct that
transforms the
random numbers to
text strings

Finally the string

outputs are grouped
into threes. Pay
attention to how
handy the modulo()
function is!

// Create n random numbers 0,1 or 2:

//-------------------------------------------------dt=getdate();
// Get initial seed
rand('seed',1000*dt(9)+dt(10)); // Seed random
generator
votes = floor(3*rand(n,1)); // Generate votes (0,1, or
2)
// Transform random numbers to verbal votes:
//-------------------------------------------------------------disp('Now this is how you should vote:');
for k = 1:n
select votes(k)
case 0 then
disp('yes');
// 0 = yes
case 1 then
disp('no');
// 1 = no
case 2 then
disp('abstain');
// 2 = abstain
end
if modulo(k,3)==0
// 3 votes given?
disp(' ')
// Leave space after 3 rows
end
end
endfunction

Ex 4-4: comments

Scilab has several commands related to forced

termination of an ongoing process: abort, break, exit,
quit, return, resume. Check with Help for details
In this example I had some problems with jumping out
of the program in the right manner:
According to Help Browser the exit command should end
the current Scilab sessionwhatever it means. It turned
out that exit performs more or less like the break
command by only ending the present loop
quit is a brute that closes down Scilab
Trial and error showed that abort had the expected effect
of jumping to the end of the function
Good old GO TO statement, where have you been all these yearsand why
do they give you such fancy names?

Example 4-5: nested

structures, script

if ... end

Note how
min() and
max() ensure
that scale
limits are not
exceeded

while ... end

This script contains an

if ... elseif ... else ... end
structure nested within
an while ... end structure
(read the title for an
explanation of what
the script does)

// conditional.sce
//
//
//
//

Climb up or down the scale depending on /

input data ("u" or "d") without exceeding /
the limits. The process ends when "e" is
/
pressed
/

scale = [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9]';
// Define scale to climb
i = 1;
// Preset counter
strg = ' ';
// strg = empty string
while strg ~= 'e'
// Until the "e" key is hit
disp(scale(i,:));
// Display location on
scale
strg = input('Exit(e), Up(u), Down(d)?','string')
if strg == 'u' then
// If "u" is hit
i = min(i+1, size(scale,1)); // One step up, until
highest
elseif strg == 'd' then
// But if "d" is hit
i = max(i-1, 1);
// One step down, until
lowest
elseif strg == 'e' then
// If "e" is hit
break;
// Jump out of the loop
else
// Whatever else is hit
disp('---incorrect input---') // Present error message
end
// End of if statement

Example 4-5:
execution
The scale counter i is preset
to 1 and
increases/decreases
depending on the entered
data
Any input parameter except
u, d, or e give an error
message
The break command works
well
in thisthe
case
Homework:
Modify
script by
using the select ... case ... else ... end
structure instead of if ... elseif ... else ...
end. Which solution is simpler?

1.
Exit(e), Up(u), Down(d)?u
strg =
u
2.
Exit(e), Up(u), Down(d)?u
strg =
u
3.
Exit(e), Up(u), Down(d)?d
strg =
d
2.
Exit(e), Up(u), Down(d)?6
strg =
6
---incorrect input--2.
Exit(e), Up(u), Down(d)?u
strg =
u
3.
Exit(e), Up(u), Down(d)?e
strg =
e
you hit e=Exit

Dr.E
Dr.E
W
W

Johnny
JohnnyHeikell
Heikell

13. Doing math on

Scilab
Scilab contains functions for
sophisticated mathematics.
Well stay with the simpler
cases
Return to Contents

Math in earlier
chapters

Chapter 3: Complex numbers, vectorized functions,

polynomials
Chapter 4: Trigonometric functions, random functions
Chapter 5: Matrices, matrix operations, matrix operators,
symbolic computing, random generators
Chapter 6: Linear equation systems with real coefficients
Chapter 7: 2D and 3D functions, vector felds, histograms,
rotation surfaces, logarithms, polar coordinates
Chapter 8: Polynomial expressions
Chapter 9: Application of matrices & trigonometric functions
Chapter 10: Arithmetic and algebra
Chapter 11: Logical expressions
Chapter 12: Step functions, application of 3D vector spaces

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are
far greater. Albert Einstein

optim() & fsolve():

demo (1/4), the task

The functions optim() and fsolv() give us tools by which to

investigate nonlinear equations and/or equation systems:
optim() to fnd minima (and indirectly maxima)
fsolv() to fnd solutions (roots) to equations/equation systems

optim() is a quite complex function, which is evident in the Help

Browsers confusing description. Here we shall stick to a basic case
by applying optim() and fsolv() to the equation
y = sin(x)/((x - 0.1)2 + 0.1)

We solve the problem in two steps:

First by plotting the graph to get better understanding of the function,
and simultaneously computing min and max values for y using optim()
Then we apply fsolve() to compute exact root locations with the aid of
visual estimates from the plotted graph

optim() & fsolve():

demo (2/4), script
optim() requires a Scilab
subroutine of the type
[f,g,ind]=cost(x,ind). The
numeric value of grad is
irrelevant
Plotting is done with
flpot2d(), which is quite
similar to plot2d()
I do not know why there
has to be a third
numeric argument in
list(), Scilab just requires
something (I tried and
cried...)
The second argument
of optim(list(),0) defnes
the gradient that we are
interested in

// optim_list.sce
// Investigation of minima and maxima of the function /
// sin(x)/((x-0.1)^2+0.1)
/

clear,clc,clf;
// SUBROUTINES
//---------------------deff('[fun1,grad,ind]=cost1(x,ind)',...
// Function
'fun1=sin(x)/((x-0.1)^2+0.1),grad=0');
deff('[fun2,grad,ind]=cost2(x,ind)',...
// Inverse functio
'fun2=-sin(x)/((x-0.1)^2+0.1),grad=0'); // note minus sig
// ---- MAIN ---- //
// Plot function:
//-------------------x=-5:0.01:5;
fplot2d(x,cost1,5)
xgrid

// Plot function

// Display min & max by calling subroutines:

//----------------------------------------------------------disp(optim(list(NDcost,cost1,0),0))
// Display y min
disp(-optim(list(NDcost,cost2,0),0))
// Display y max
// ---- END OF MAIN ---- //

fsolve() and optim():

demo (3/4)

Her are the minimum

and maximum y
values produced by
optim()
And here is the plot. It
is clear that it has
three roots
The next task is to
locate the roots. For
that we must provide
approximate solutions
(e.g. -3,0,3 in this
case), based on which
Scilab computes an
exact solution for the
given neighborhood

min
max
2.1199214

max

- 1.1381166
roots

min

fsolve() and optim():

demo
(4/4),
solving
the
roots
As said on the previous slide, approximate values for the roots are:

x1 -3, x2 0, x3 3
With the script is loaded into Scilab, we fnd the solutions on the
Console using the command x = fsolve(x0,f):

x1
x2
x3

Equation systems
require a different
approach. See e.g.
Zogg, pp. 66-69
I said above that the Help
Browser is confusing when
one tries to fnd out
something about optim(). A
better source is Section 4.2
in Campbell et al.

fsolve(): limitation
The script below demonstrates that for values of point close to
peak of the sin curve, e.g. 4.6 or 8, Scilab cannot solve the root
correctly
// fsolve.sce
//
//
//
//

Solves, for the equation sin(a*x)-x*exp(-x),

the root closest to a defined point.
Note: The selected point must not be too
close to the midpoint between two roots

/
/
/
/

clear,clc,clf;
function y=myfunc(x)
a=1;
y=sin(a*x)-x.*exp(-x);
endfunction
x1=linspace(0,10,300);
plot2d(x1,myfunc(x1),5)
// Plot function
plot2d(x1,zeros(x1),2)
// Add y=0 graph
point = 8;
// Point of interest
[x,y]=fsolve(point,myfunc) // Def root closest to point
plot2d(x,y,-3)
// Add mark for root location

Root mark in wrong place

Complex numbers:
demo, task

Complex numbers
have not been
discussed at any
length before, so
lets look at a
practical problem

The task is to solve

the steady-state
currents i1, i2, and i3
in the shown circuit

Recall Example 2-2

and write down the
impedance matrix
Z by inspection

R2+jL
] = Z[
-R2
-jL

-R2
R1+R2
-R1

-jL
-R1
R1+jL-jC

Complex numbers:
demo, equations

By plugging in numeric values we get the following state-space

equation [I]=[Z]-1[u]. Scilab does not have a function for shifting
between polar and rectangular coordinates, so we recalculate
the voltages manually (a rectangular-to-polar conversion routine
is included in the script), which is simple in this case :

i1
i2
i3

80+j12
-80
-j12

-80
100
-20

-1 0-j100
-j12
-20
-500-j0
20-j8
0+j0

Note that u2 was selected opposite to u1, hence the minus sign
Scilab has no problems with doing inverse matrices but, as
mentioned before, left hand division (\) typically gives better
accuracy

Complex numbers:
demo, script (1/3)

The initial step is as

Ex #5; the residual
check is at the end of
the script
Now we have to
transform rectangular
data to polar data
The for end loop is
run through three
times, once for each
current (i1i3)
Computing the
magnitude is
straightforward

// circuit3.sce
//
//
//
//

Complex mesh-current solution. The complex results are /

converted from rectangular to polar values by computing /
their magnitude and phase. The clean() function is used /
to eliminate computing errors around zero.
/

clear,clc;
// Compute complex currents:
//--------------------------------------Z = [80+12*%i, -80, -12*%i;
-80, 100, -20;
-12*%i, -20, 20-8*%i]; // Impedance matrix
u = [-100*%i; -500; 0];
// Voltage matrix
i_n = Z\u;
// Compute i = Z\u
// Calculate magnitude and phase:
//--------------------------------------------magn_i = [];
// Define empty current matrix
phase_i = [];
// Define empty phase matrix
for j = 1:1:3
// Compute for three currents
magn_i(j) = sqrt(real(i_n(j))^2 + imag(i_n(j))^2);
// Computes magnitude

Complex numbers:
demo, script (2/3)

This is where one

has to be careful and
consider all
alternatives

Note that the zero

(0) condition gets a
margin for
computing errors
through the clean()
function

Each time the for ...

end loop is run
through, the matrix
result() collects the
data

// Calculate phase:
//-----------------------if clean(real(i_n(j))) > 0 then
// In 1st or 4th quadrant
phase_i(j) = atan(imag(i_n(j))/real(i_n(j)))*(180/%pi);
elseif clean(real(i_n(j))) < 0
// In 2nd or 3rd
quadrant
if clean(imag(i_n(j))) > 0 then // In 2nd quadrant
phase_i(j) = atan(imag(i_n(j))/real(i_n(j)))*(180/%pi) +
180;
elseif clean(imag(i_n(j))) < 0 then
// In 3rd quadrant
phase_i(j) = atan(imag(i_n(j))/real(i_n(j)))*(180/%pi) 180;
else
// On negative Re-axis
phase_i(j) = 180;
end
elseif clean(imag(i_n(j))) > 0
// On positive Im-axis
phase_i(j) = 90;
elseif clean(imag(i_n(j))) < 0
// On negative Im-axis
phase_i(j) = -90;
else
// Origin: imag(i_n(j)) = real(i_n(j)) = 0
phase_i(j) = 0;
end
result(j,:) = [i_n(j), magn_i(j), phase_i(j)];
// Matrix collects computed data
j = j+1;

Complex numbers:
demo, script (3/3) &
print

The result is displayed

with the disp()
command with
everything included in
the argument vector

Finally, the preliminary

result is checked
as before

And the answer on the

Console:

In plain English:

// Display summary:
//-------------------------currents = ['i1 = ', 'i2 = ', 'i3 = ']';
// String
matrix
statement = [' equals: ',' equals: ',' equals: ']';
// String
matrix
disp(['CURRENTS IN COMPLEX AND POLAR FORM:']) //
Headline
disp([currents, string(result(:,1)), statement,...
// Display
result
string(result(1:3,2)), string(result(1:3,3))])
// Check residual:
//---------------------residual = clean(u - Z*i_n)'
// Check initial results
CURRENTS IN COMPLEX AND POLAR FORM:

i1 = 22.0 cos(t - 129.5) A

i2 = 24.0 cos(t - 129,3) A
i3 = 25.5 cos(t - 78.7) A

! i1 = -14-%i*17
equals: 22.022716 -129.47246 !
!
!
! i2 = -15.2-%i*18.6 equals: 24.020824 -129.25584 !
!
!
! i3 = 5-%i*25
equals: 25.495098 -78.690068 !

Numeric derivation
(1/3):
derivative()
The derivative of the function f(x) is
defned as the limit

// derivative_1.sce

f(x) = lim
d0

f(x + d) f(x)
d

We can compute the numeric value of

f (x) at a point x using the function
derivative(f(x),x,opt(d))
where opt(d) is an optional step size.
However, Scilabs Help Browser
recommends using the default value

To the right the derivative for the

earlier investigated function has been
computed at fve different points

derivative() outputs a 5x5 matrix, in

which the diagonal is of interest

// Derivative of sin(x)/((x-0.1)^2+0.1) /
// calculated at selected points
/
clear,clc;
funcprot(0);
deff('y=f(x)','y=sin(x)./((x-0.1)^2 +
0.1)');
x = [-2 -1 0 1 2]';
// Points of
interest
disp(["Point", "Derivative"])
disp([x, diag(derivative(f,x))])

Numeric derivation
(2/3):
script
// derivative_3.sce

// Plotting f(x) = sin(x)/((x-0.1)^2+0.1) /

// and its derivative
/

This script that plots

the previous function
together with its
derivative

The equation and its

derivative are defned
with separate deff()
functions

fplot2d() accepts the

same multiple plot
structure as was used
earlier with plot2d()

children(2) and
children(3) are used
because children(1) is
reserved for legend

clear,clc,clf;
funcprot(0)

x = -5:0.01:5;
d = 0.001;

// Area of interest
// Step size

// Define function & derivative:

// ----------------------------deff('y1=f(x)','y1=sin(x)./((x-0.1)^2 + 0.1)');
// f(x)
deff('y2=g(x)','y2=((sin(x+d)./(((x+d)-0.1)^2 + 0.1))...
-(sin(x)./((x-0.1)^2 + 0.1)))/d');
// f'(x)
// Plot function & derivative:
// --------------------------rect = [-5,-3,5,11];
fplot2d(x,f,5,"011"," ",rect)
// Plot function
fplot2d(x,g,2,"000")
// Plot derivative
xgrid
// Add grid to plot
xtitle('f(x) = sin(x)/((x-0.1)^2+0.1 AND ITS DERIVATIVE')
legend('Function f(x)','Derivative of f(x)')
a=gca();
a.children.children(2).thickness=2
// f'(x)) thickness
a.children.children(3).thickness=2
// f(x) thickness

Numeric derivation
(3/3):
plot
A lesson from
doing this exercise
is that two deff()
functions in
tandem, i.e. one for
f(x) followed by
one for f(x) that
utilizes f(x), does
not work. On the
contrary, the
attempt may cause
Scilab to crash
Pay attention to the legend command in the script. It comes
before the related handle statements, but Scilab does not
complain. Beats me...

Numeric integration
(1/6):
definite
integral
Consider the defnite integral

A=

f(x) dx

To solve the integral, frst

defne the function y = f(x),
e.g. using the deff() function
The integral can then be
evaluated using Scilabs intg()
function,* i.e.:
A = intg(a,b,f)

*) The function
integrate() can be more
useful in some cases.
Check with Help

-->deff('y=f(x)', 'y=sin(x)');

18.

-->A = intg(%pi/4, 3*%pi/4, f)

A =
1.4142136

A =
-->A = intg(-2,1,f)
Change the
integration limits
-->deff('y=f(x)',
'y=6*x^2'); to 0 and 2*%pi,
and this is what
-->A=intg(0, 2*%pi, f)
you get

Numeric integration
(2/6):
length of an arc

The length of an arc f(x),

between points a and b, is
given by the defnite integral

-->deff('y=g(x)','y=sqrt(1+(x^2/8-2*x^(-2))^2)');

L=

{1 + [f (x)] }

2 1/2

dx

-->L=intg(2,3,g)
L =
1.125

Lets compute the length of

f(x) = x3/24 + 2x-1 from x=2
to x=3
The task requires manual
derivation, which yields
f (x) = x2/8 - 2x-2

-->L=intg(3,4,g)
L =
1.7083333

Numeric integration
(3/6):
double
integral, principle
The function int2d () computes
d

the 2D area integral of a

function f(x,y) over a region
consisting of N triangles

x and y must therefore be

defned through triangulation
matrices X and Y, after which
the command is
[I,err] = int2d (X,Y,f) ,
and Scilab returns the
integration variable I and an
estimation of the error, err
(not mandatory)

The triangles are ABC and

ACD, as shown in the picture.
Triangle elements are inserted
column-wise in the matrices

I=

f(x,y) dx

y
d

dy

D=a,d

C=b,d

ACD
ABC

A=a,c

B=b,c

a a
c c
X= b b , Y= c d
b a
d d
ABC ACD

ABC ACD

Numeric integration
(4/6):
double integral, demo

I=

-->X = [0 %pi %pi; 0 %pi 0]

X =

(y cos(x) + x sin(y)) dx

/2

-->deff('z=f(x,y)', 'z=y*cos(x)+x*sin(y)');

Lets compute the double

integral

By looking at the integration

limits of the function we fnd
the triangulation matrices X
and Y:

0 0
X=
0

/2 /2
Y = /2 2
2
2

dy

0.
3.1415927
3.1415927

0.
3.1415927
0.

-->Y = [%pi/2 %pi/2 2*%pi; %pi/2 2*%pi 2*%pi]

Y =
1.5707963
1.5707963
6.2831853

1.5707963
6.2831853
6.2831853

-->[I,err] = int2d(X,Y,f)
err =
9.805D-11
I =
- 4.9348022

Numeric integration
(5/6):
double integral, plot
The plot of f(x,y) = y*cos(x)
+ x*sin(y) is here done with
a separate script:

// double_integral_plot.sce
// Plot the function z = y*sin(x) + x*sin(y)
/
// over the rectangle 0<x<%pi, %pi/2<y<2*%pi /
clear,clc,clf;
x=linspace(0,%pi,30);
// Linear x axis
y=linspace(%pi/2,2*%pi,30); // Ditto y axis
[X,Y]=meshgrid(x,y);
// Surface mesh
Z=(Y.*cos(X)+X.*sin(Y));
// 3D surface
equation
surf(X,Y,Z)
// Plot 3D surface
xtitle('f(x,y) = y*cos(x) + x*sin(y),
// Add
title
with 0<x<%pi, %pi/2<y<2*%pi')

The fgure has been

edited with the Figure
Editor

Numeric integration
(6/6):
double integral, check

We can check the computed

result using the other possible
triangulation

D=a,d
BCD

Now we get the triangulation

matrices shown here
Plugging these matrices
into the Console gives the
following result:
-->X=[0 %pi 0; %pi %pi 0];
-->Y=[%pi/2 %pi/2 2*%pi; %pi/2 2*%pi 2*%pi];
-->[I,err]=int2d(X,Y,f)
err =
9.887D-11
I =
- 4.9348022

C=b,d

ABD
A=a,c

B=b,c

a b
c c
X= b b , Y= c d
a a
d d
Same result, but a small
difference in the estimated
error

Ordinary differential
equations (ODEs):
ode()*
This simplest call for solving ODEs is ode() that has the
general form:

y = ode(y0,t0,t,f(t,y))
where

y0 = initial condition (normally a column vector)

t0 = initial time (normally 0)
t = vector of instances for which the solution has to be
computed, e.g. t = [0:0.01:10]
f(t,y) = function for which the solution has to be found,
often stated as [ydot] = f(t,y). Here t is a scalar, y a
column vector, and [ydot] a column vector with values of
the derivative

ode() can also have optional arguments. See Help for

details
*) Sallet, G.: Ordinary Differential Equations with Scilab, <http://www.math.
univ-metz.fr/~sallet/ODE_Scilab.pdf> is an old but good text.

First-order ODEs:
demo

Lets fnd the solution for the frst-order homogenous ODE

x + x2 = t ,
with the initial condition x(0) = 1. Plot the solution for t [0,20]
Start by rewriting the function as x = -x 2 + t
Note how x is designated y in the deff() argument
// first-order_ODE.sce
// Solve the equation x'+x^2 = t /
// for x(0) = 0
/
clear,clc,clf;
funcprot(0)
deff('y=f(t,x)','y=-x^2+t') // Define
function
t=linspace(0,20);
// Abscissa
x=ode(1,0,t,f);
// Compute
equation
plot2d(t,x,style=5)
// Plot
xtitle('dx/dt + x^2 = t','t','x')
xgrid a=gca();
a.children.children.thickness=2

In this case Scilab does not

accept numeric arguments of

Second-order ODEs:
introduction

Scilab only supports frst-order

differential equationsas do other
programs for numeric computing

Higher order problems must be

reduced to frst-order systems, i.e.
by shifting to state-space
representation

The methodology runs according

to the algorithm shown to the
right
A good treatment of state-space
methods is e.g. Chapter 8 in
Burns, R.S.: Advanced Control
Engineering, ButterworthHeinemann, 2001

Problem expressed as
second-order ODE
Select state variables
Substitute state
variables with zerothorder variables
Rewrite problem as
first-order state-space
equation system
Solve using Scilabs
ode() function

Second-order ODEs:
RLC circuit (1/5), the
task
The task is to plot the
output voltage v for the

shown RLC circuit, when

U = 5V
switch closes at t = 1
R = 0.3
L = 0.5 H
C = 0.8 F

We can derive the

following second-order
ODE for the circuit:
LC

d2v2(t)
dt

+ RC

dv2(t)
dt

+ v2(t) = v1(t)

Second-order ODEs:
RLC circuit (2/5),
reduce

Simplify the equation for clarity:

LCv2 + RCv2 + v2 = v1

Select v2 and its derivative v2 as state variables, and substitute:

x1 = v2 and x2 = v2 (= x1)

With v1 substituted by u , the frst-order ODE system becomes:

x1 = + 0x1 + 1x2 + 0u
(simpler: x1 = x2)
x2 =

x1
RC

x2 +

u
LC

Which gives the state-space expression that we are looking for:

x1

0
=

x2

1
1

RC

x1
R
x
L2

0
+

1u
LC

Second-order ODEs:
RLC circuit (3/5), script
Recall the
discussion in
connection with
Ex 2-3: We are
working with a
matrix expression
of the type
x = Ax + bu
All of these factors
can be seen here,
with x being
denoted ss and x
substituted by y

// RLC_ODE.sce
// Simulation of a series RCL circuit with /
// 5V step input voltage at t = 1s
/
clear,clc,clf;
// Define circuit components:
//-------------------------------------R = 0.3;
L = 0.5;
C = 0.8;

// Resistance (Ohm, V/A)

// Inductance (Henry, Vs/A)
// Capacitance (Farad, As)

// Define space-state equations & input signal:

//-------------------------------------------------------------A = [0 1; -1/(L*C) -R/L];
// System matrix
B = [0; 1/(L*C)];
// Input matrix
deff('[ut]=u(t)','ut=2.5*(1+sign(t-1))'); // Step input signal
deff('[ss]=RLC(t,y)','ss=A*y+B*u(t)'); // Space-state expression

Second-order ODEs:
RLC circuit (4/5), script
The ode() function
computes our
differential equation
by using the RLC
state-space
expression of the
second deff()
function. Calling
parameters are y0
and t0
Note the plot
command (new way
of doing
plot2d())
Handle
commands
come before the
legend (in this case
Scilab gives an error
message if you try it
the other way)

// Compute using ode(), which calls previous deff() function

//--------------------------------------------------------------------------------out0 = [0;0];
// Initial output voltage & d(v2)/dt = 0
t0 = 0;
// Initial time = 0
Time = [0:0.05:10];
// Time as abscissa
State = ode(out0,t0,Time,RLC); // State variable vector (v2',v2

// Plot and add title & grid:

//----------------------------------plot2d(Time,[State',u(Time)']); // Note transposed arguments
xtitle('Series RLC circuit with step input voltage',...
'Time (s)','Input + Output voltage v2(t) & d(v2(t))/dt')
xgrid
// Edit plot:
//-------------a=gca();
a.children.children.thickness=2

// Make all graphs thicker

// Add legend (must come after handle commands):

//--------------------------------------------------------------------legend('Output voltage, v2(t)','d(v2(t))/dt','Input signal,4)

Second-order ODEs:
RLC circuit (5/5), plot
The plot shows that
the circuit is
undercritically
damped. Change the
resistor value to 1.5 ,
and it becomes
critical. It is
overcritical for still
higher values of R
Handle commands
could be used to edit
the fgure further. I did
not do it because the
main point with this
demo is to solve a
second-order ODE

odeoptions()
The command
%ODEOPTIONS = odeoptions()
opens the GUI shown right.
With the help of it you can
change parameters for
solving differential equations.
Examples:
h0 = size of frst step

hmax = maximum step size

hmin = minimum step size
mxstep = minimum # of
steps
Check with Help for details

Dr.E
Dr.E
W
W

Johnny
JohnnyHeikell
Heikell

14. Examples, Set 5

The examples give additional
insight into working with math
on Scilab
Return to Contents

Example 5-1:
solving an equation
(1/3)

This demo is based on Mkel

Lets solve the equation

ln(x) = x2-7x+10

We begin by plotting it (note

how the multiple plot command
is constructed)

The plot reveals that there are

two solutions, at x1 2 and
x2 5.5

You can see the roots more

exactly by using the Graphics
Windows zoom function (next
slide)

-->plot2d(x,[log(x), x.^27*x+10])
-->x = (0.01:0.01:8)';

Ex 5-1: solving an
equation (2/3)

The zoom function gives more precise values for the roots:
x1 = 1.81 and x2 = 5.49
To improve the accuracy even more we can calculate the
roots with the fsolve() function (next slide)

Ex 5-1: solving an
equation (3/3)

fsolve() delivers the ultimate

answer
We can also check the error of
the result. As shown, it is
close to zero
Lessons learned: Precise zoom
in the Graphics Window
produces satisfactory
accuracy for most practical
engineering purposes (two
decimals), considering that an
old engineering adage says
that factors that influences
the result by less than 10%
can be forgotten

-->deff('y=f(x)', 'y=log(x)-(x^2-7*x+10)');
-->x1=fsolve(1.8,f)
x1 =
1.8132512
-->x2=fsolve(5.5,f)
x2 =
5.4881107
-->f(x1),f(x2)
ans =
- 7.772D-16
ans =
- 4.441D-16

Check

Exxample 5-2: ODE,

series RLC circuit (1/5)

This example is a modifcation

of the earlier RLC circuit and its
second-order ODE
However, we now want to
defne the current i(t) and
charge q(t) for a sinusoidal
input signal and initial
conditions i(0) = 0 and q(0) = 0
Kirchoffs second law gives:

di(t)
dt

+ Ri(t) +

1
C

q(t) = u(t)

where
t

q=

i(t) dt

or:

dq
dt

= i

R = 0.3
L = 0.5 H
C = 0.8 F
u(t) = sin(5t)

Ex 5-2: ODE, series

RLC circuit (2/5)

No substitutions are required in this case since q and its

derivative i are state variables. The frst-order equation
system is therefore:
q = i
1
R
1
q
i +
u
i =
LC
L
L

Which gives the following state-space expression:

q
0
1
q
0
i

LC

R
L

Remember: x = Ax + Bu

1u
L

Ex 5-2: ODE, series

RLC circuit (3/5), script
// series_RLC_ODE.sce

There is nothing
new here
compared to the
previous
RLC/second-order
ODE

//
//
//
//

Simulation of the current i(t) and charge q(t) in /

a series RCL circuit with sinusoidal input voltage /
and initial conditions i(0)=0, q(0)=0.
/
Legend: ss = state-space
/

clear;clc,clf;
// Define circuit components:
//-------------------------------------R = 0.3;
// Resistance (Ohm)
L = 0.5;
// Inductance (Henry)
C = 0.8;
// Capacitance (Farad)
// Define state-space equations & input signal:
//-------------------------------------------------------------A = [0 1; -1/(L*C) -R/L];
// SS system matrix
B = [0; 1/L];
// SS input matrix
deff('[ut]=u(t)','ut=sin(5*t)');
// Sinusoidal input
deff('[ss]=RLC(t,y)',ss=A*y+B*u(t)'); // SS expression

Ex 5-2: ODE, series

RLC circuit (4/5), script
The ode() is the
same as in the
previous RLC
case

// Compute using ode(), which calls the previous deff()

function:
//--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------y0 = [0;0];
// Initial current & charge = 0
t0 = 0;
// Initial time = 0
Time = [0:0.05:8];
// Time as abscissa
Y = ode(y0,t0,Time,RLC);
// Y = state variable vector (i,q)

Check the plot

argument 024
and its effect on
the plot (next
slide)

// Plot current & charge:

//------------------------------plot2d(Time,Y',[2 5],'024'); // Plot state vectors, note
transposed Y
xtitle('Series RLC circuit with sinusoidal input voltage',...
'Time','Current & Charge')
xgrid
legend('Charge, q(t)','Current, i(t)')

Ex 5-2: ODE, series

RLC circuit (5/5), plot

This is the plot for the

shown component values.
There are initial fluctuations
before the situation begins
to stabilize

This is the plot for more

realistic component values
of R = 3 k, L = 0.5 H,
and C = 0.8 F

There used to be problems

with the latter case (Scilab
5.1.1), but these have
obviously been solved

Example 5-3: System

of first-order ODEs

This example is modifed from Povy (pp. 66-67, Povy also has an
animation version on pp. 67-68, but it causes Scilab to crash).
The example fnishes with and interesting plot2d() command
The task is to plot the slope (vector) feld for the following
system of frst-order ODEs :
x = y
y = -x y

x
0 1
=
y
-1 -1

x
y

together with a single phase portrait with the initial trajectory

x(0) = 1 and y(0) = 1
The script can utilize either the ODE system (as Povy has done)
or the state-space representation. Well select the latter, in line
with earlier examples

Ex 5-3:
script
The state-space
function is named
firstorder()
The vector feld is
drawn with fchamp()
ode() has only one
argument (and
accepts only one
name) for the initial
condition x and y
are renamed x(1) and
x(2) respectively, as
shown in the
arguments for plot2d()

// ode_phase_plane_m.sce
//
//
//
//

The scripts plot the phase plane of the

/
equation system x'=y, y'=-x-y together with /
a single phase portrait that satisfes the
/
initial condition x(0)=1, y(0)=1
/

clear,clc,clf;
funcprot(0);
// First order transformation:
//-------------------------------------A = [0 1;-1 -1];
// State vector
deff('[ss]=frstorder(t,x)',ss=A*x');
// Create & draw slope (vector) field:
//------------------------------------------------z = linspace(-1.5,1.5,10);
fchamp(frstorder,0,z,z)
// Draw vector field
// Create phase portrait:
//------------------------------x0 = [1;1];
// Initial condition
t = linspace(0,30,300);
[x] = ode(x0,0,t,frstorder); // [x]=state variable
vector
// with x=x(1), y=x(2)
// Plot phase portrait on slope field:
//----------------------------------------------plot2d(x(1,:),x(2,:),5,'004')
xtitle('Phase plane of dx/dt=y, dy/dt=-x-y')

Ex 5-3: plot
Full plot
Phase portrait
with initial
condition [1,1]
Zoomed center
area

Scilab does not put the

haircross at the origin, which
is just as well

Example 5-4:
Simpsons rule, the
task

This example demonstrates integration of double integrals

using Simpsons rule for calculating double integrals
Lets frst defne a subroutine for
Simpsons rule and then add code
for the function, the area integral
of which should be calculated
In this case well repeat the earlier
function
2

I =

(y cos(x) + x sin(y)) dx dy

/2 0

but the script can easily be modifed

for other algebraic expressions
There are numerous variants of Simpsons rule for double
integrals (for an accurate algorithm, see Faires, Burden:
Numerical Methods, 3rd ed., Brooks Cole 2002). The one given
on the next slide is based on Urroz and known as Simpsons
1/9 rule

Ex 5-4: Simpsons rule,

algorithm
I=

x y
9

ij

i=2
j=2
i = i+2 j = j+2

where we calculate our function f(x,y) in a rectangular

domain R = {a<x<b, c<y<d}
Here x is divided into n and y into m even parts, so that:
b-a
x =
,
n
Furthermore:

d -c

Si j = fi-1 j-1 + fi-1 j+1 + fi+1 j-1 + fi+1 j+1 +

4(fi-1 j + fi j-1 + fi+1 j + fi j+1 ) + 16 fi j

Ex 5-4: Simpsons rule,

script
The script is built in
four steps:

// double_integration_simpson.sce

1. Overall headline
comments for the
program

//-----------------------------------------------------------------/
// The program calculates the double integral of the

2. UDF declaration
followed by clarifying
comments

clear,clc;

3. Body of UDF (next

slide)
4. The code for f(x,y)
that calls the UDF (two
slides down)

// function f(x,y) = y*cos(x)+x*sin(y); by calling the /

// subroutine simpson_double(x0,xn,n,y0,ym,m,f)
/
//-----------------------------------------------------------------/

function [integral] =
simpson_double(x0,xn,n,y0,ym,m,f)
//
//
//
//
//
//

The function calculates the double integral of

the function f(x,y) in the region x0<x<xn,
y0<y<ym using Simpson's 1/9 rule. The x- and
y- ranges are divided into n and m subintervals,
respectively, where both m and n must be even.
The function modifes m and n if they are odd

/
/
/
/
/
/

Ex 5-4: Simpsons rule,

script
This is the body of the
UDF
It starts by checking
and (if necessary)
correcting the input
parameters n and m
Here we again meet
the function feval(). It
returns a matrix z(i,j) =
f(x(i),y(j))
Heart of UDF: The
double summation that
produces Sij before
forming the fnal
answer (output
argument)

// Check that n and m are even, correct as

needed:
//------------------------------------------------------------------if modulo(n,2) <> 0 then // Check that n is even;
n=n+1
// if not, add one
end
if modulo(m,2) <> 0 then // Check that m is even;
m=m+1
// if not, add one
end
// Define x and y increments and region:
//-----------------------------------------------------Dx = (xn-x0)/n
// Define delta x
Dy = (ym-y0)/m
// Define delta y
x=[x0:Dx:xn]
// Region and increments
of x
y=[y0:Dy:ym]
// Region and increments
of y
// Calculate double integral:
//-----------------------------------z=feval(x,y,f)
// Matrix z(i,j)=f(x(i),y(j))
Sij = 0
// Initiate Sij
for i = 2:2:n
// Sum Sij along x-axis
for j = 2:2:m
// Sum Sij along y-axis
Sij = Sij + z(i-1,j-1)+z(i-1,j+1)+z(i+1,j1)+z(i+1,j+1)...
+4*(z(i-1,j)+z(i,j-1)+z(i,j+1)+z(i+1,j))+16*z(i,j)
end
end

Ex 5-4: Simpsons rule,

script & result
Now comes the function f(x,y)
that we want to integrate. We
start by defning integration
limits and steps
An interesting problem
emerges: How should one
defne the calling argument
f(x,y)? If it is entered as
f(x,y)=y*cos(x)+ x*sin(y), Scilab
will complain that x and y are
not defned. The solution is
deff()
And fnally: the answer as
displayed on the Message box
(the last digit of the earlier
demo was more accurate)

// Define integration parameters:

//-------------------------------------------x0 = 0;
// Lower bound for x
xn = %pi;
// Upper bound for x
n = 100;
// # of subintervals of
x
y0 = %pi/2;
// Lower bound for y
ym = 2*%pi;
// Upper bound for y
m = 100;
// # of subintervals of
y
// Define function & calculate integral:
//--------------------------------------------------deff('[z]=f(x,y)','z = y*cos(x)+x*sin(y)');
I = simpson_double(x0,xn,n,y0,ym,m,f)
messagebox('The result of the double integral
is:
'+string(I))

The exact answer is

-2/2 =
-4.934802199...

Ex 5-4: Simpsons rule,

discussion

I had big problems with this one. Scilab repeatedly insisted

on coming up with the wrong answer. I tried to fnd the error
in several ways:
Checked manually that the earlier answer (- 4.9348022, or 2/2)
was correct
Changed trigonometric functions to exponential equivalents at
no avail
Checked the algorithm by comparing with solved examples from
math and Matlab books

Finally, when I plugged in the equation in the now several

times changed script, the result came out right. Most likely I
had written sin(x) instead of cos(x).....
Lessons learned: Its hard to see bugs in ones own program
Another thing: The script uses nested loops (for i = ...; for j
= ...; ... end; end;). This should be avoided in Scilab as far as
possible, because the performance is poor in such cases

Dr.E
Dr.E
W
W

Johnny
JohnnyHeikell
Heikell

15. Working with

GUIs
The term GUI relates both to
Scilabs embedded windows and
to user defned interactive
windows
Return to Contents

Introduction

Scilabs GUI interface was updated with version 5. Old

tutorials (e.g. Campbell et al.) are therefore of limited value
Brief discussions of GUIs can be found in Kubitzki and in
Antonelli & Chiaverini (you can read Scilab scripts in German
and Italian even if you dont speak the language)
Although the GUI interface has improved, the Scilab team still
cannot be proud of their achievement
GUIs is a large subject; the Help Browser identifes about 50
GUI-related functions. Well be able to cover only a part of
them (as always)
We have earlier seen cases with the dialogue box ( x_dialog() in
Ex. 1-3) and the messagebox (messagebox() in Ex. 5-4)
The frst discussion below is about how to tailor Scilabs
windows
Following that we shall look at some user defned dialog
windows. A real GUI is presented in Example 6-1

Tailoring windows (1/2)

There are four main functions for tailoring either the Console
or the Graphics Window:
Addmenu (<gwin>,button,
<optional arguments>)

adds new buttons or menus in the main

and/or Graphics Window command panels

delmenu()

deletes buttons or menus created by

addmenu()
activates buttons or menus created by
addmenu()
deactivates buttons or menus created by
addmenu()

setmenu()
unsetmenu()

The numeric gwin argument, if present, tells on which

Graphics Window the button should be installed
The button argument is a character string that defnes a
shortcut on the menu bar

Tailoring windows (2/3)

Optional arguments are:

submenus character string with names of submenu items
action defnition list of the type action=list(flag, proc. name)

This is not the whole truth. The book by Das, which is a

collection of Scilabs Help function texts, contains more hints

As a demonstration of the above said, here is a command that

adds the menu Graphics, with submenus New Window and Clear
Window, to the Consoles menu bar:

Create
-->addmenu('Graphics',['New window','Clear window','Close window'])
-->Graphics = ['scf()','clf()','xdel()']
Graphics =
!scf() clf() xdel() !

Tailoring windows (3/3)

You can convince yourself that the added Console menu

works by clicking on New window to open the Graphics
Window and click on Close window to close it again
As the following steps we can deactivate the created menu
by the command unsetmenu() and delete it with delmenu():

Interacting with the

Graphics Window (1/4)

Scilab has numerous commands for interacting with the

Graphics Window; among these are:

xclick ()

Waits for a mouse click, returns a) the number of

window where the click occurs, b) position of the
click, and c) the number of the mouse button used
(left, center, right)

xgetmouse ()

Returns the current position of the mouse

seteventhandler ()

Sets an event handler for the current Graphics

Window

seteventhandler (' ' )

Removes the handler

The script below is adapted from Help/xgetmouse. It draws a

rectangle on the Graphics Window. The rectangle starts off at
the location of the mouse pointer at the frst click of the lefthand button, and freezes the rectangle at the second click

Interacting with the

GW (2/4): script (1/2)
Look for a
description of
data_bounds under
Help/axes_properties
(not very helpful)
According to Help/
xclick the frst vector
element should be
numeric, but Scilab
requires a name
Look at the
arguments of xrect(),
it is those that we
later play with
The third vector
element is set to -1,
or mouse pointer has
moved (see

// rectangle_selection.sce
// The script demonstrates the use of the mouse-related
// commands xclick(), xgetmouse() and xrect() when they
// are used to draw a rectangle in the Graphics Window

/
/
/

clear,clc,clf;
// Initialize drawing process:
//-------------------------------------a = gca();
// Get current Axes
a.data_bounds = [0 0;100 100]; // Boundaries for x & y
coordinates
xtitle('Click left mouse button & drag to create a rectangle. ...
Click a second time to freeze')
// Display instruction
show_window();
// Put Graphics Window on
top
// Start drawing rectangle in the Graphics Window:
//-------------------------------------------------------------------[button,x_coord,y_coord] = xclick(); // Point of mouse button
click
xrect(x_coord,y_coord,0,0)
// Start rectangle at mouse pointer x & y
coordinates

Interacting with the

GW (3/4): script (2/2)
The loop starts by
checking the
status of the
mouse. Recall
from the previous
slide the vector
mouse = [x_coord,
y_coord,-1]
Following that,
new data are
calculated for the
rectangle
The fnishing touch
is to defne new
handle values (see
xrect() arguments
above)

// Execute mouse commands for rectangle:

//--------------------------------------------------------while mouse(3) == -1 do
// Repeat until second
click
mouse = xgetmouse();
// Check mouse position
x_coord1 = mouse(1);
// Mouse location in xplane
y_coord1 = mouse(2);
// Mouse location in yplane
x_origin = min(x_coord,x_coord1);
// Define x origin
y_origin = max(y_coord,y_coord1); // Define y origin
width = abs(x_coord-x_coord1);
// Define width of
rectangle
height = abs(y_coord-y_coord1);
// Define height of
rectangle
rectangle.data = [x_origin,y_origin,width,height];
The while-do-end
loop
runs
forever
// Change rectangle
origin,
width
and height
unless
a
second
mouse
button
click
end

changes the condition mouse(3)==-1.

Should a timeout condition be added
to the loop?

Interacting with the

GW (4/4): what it does
1) The Graphics Window with
instruction pops up, as
required by the show_window()
command

2) Put the cursor

somewhere, click and
drag, and click a second
time to freeze

What do you do with this

feature? Beats me....

GUI demo 1:
Introducing figure() &
uicontrol()

Here figure() generates the fgure (opens

the Graphics Window), uicontrol()
creates the graphical user interface
object in the GW, and two of the items
on the list are highlighted with set()
The central argument in this case is
listbox, which defnes the list

// uicontrol-1.sce /
// A basic GUI exercise /
clc; xdel();
f = fgure();
// Create a figure
h = uicontrol(f,'style','listbox',..
// Create a
listbox,
'position',[50 300 150 100]);
//
h = handle
set(h,'string',"Alpha|Beta|Gamma.. // Fill the list
|Delta|Epsilon|Zeta|Eta|Tau");
set(h,'value',[1 3]); // Highlight items 1 and 3 in
the list

Note the scrollbar, it

pops up when the
height is too small
(100) for all items

GUIs: pop-up window

functions

Scilab has several commands for creating pop-up windows. Note that
x_message() is obsolete and will not work in Scilab 5.2 and later
versions; messagebox() has to be used instead:

Command

Feature

messagebox()

Message presentation (see Demo 2, Cases 1, 2 & 7)

x_choose()

Alternative selectable from list (Demo 2, Case 3)

x_choices()

As previous but with multiple choices (Demo2, Case 5)

x_dialog()

Window with multi-line dialog (Demo 2, Case 4)

x_mdialog()

As previous but with multiple string parameters

x_matrix()

Vector/matrix input window (Demo 2, Case 6)

list()*

Creates a list of objects (Demo 2, Case 5)

*) Matlabs struct() is also available in Scilab

GUIs: messagebox()
The syntax of the messagebox() function is the following:
messagebox (message, title, icon, [buttons], modal )
Message that
you want to
convey
Box title (the
default is
Scilab
Message)

1xn vector of
strings with
button legends
modal tells Scilab to
Icon to be
wait for user actions
placed in the
(otherwise 0 is
box
returned)

Defnable icons are:

error, hourglass, info, passwd, question, and warning

GUI demo 2: creating

pop-up windows (1/5)
Case 1: Recall that this pop-up
window was created by adding the
command messagebox=(The result of
the double integral is: +string(I)) at the
end of the script of Example 5-4

Default title

Case 2:
Default icon

0. 2 is wrong! The Yes/No

Case
buttons have no meaning since
the
is not declared modal
m case
=
and
by design returns
-->mScilab
= messagebox('Division
bythe
0: Continue?','WARNING',['Yes' 'No'])
default zero (0)

GUI demo 2: creating

pop-up windows (2/5)
Case 3: x_choose() with four alternatives

Case
2. 4: x_dialog() with input
transformed from string to matrix
ans =
->ans=x_choose(['Alpha','Beta','Delta','Gamma'],'D
ouble-click on one:')

6. Change
5. 4. matrix as needed, click OK
1. 2. 3.

GUI demo 2: creating

pop-up windows (3/5)
// x-choices_demo.sce
// Demonstrates the x_choices() command /
clear,clc;
list1 = list(Food grading',3,
['Excellent','Good','Passable','Poor']);
list2 = list(Service grading',2,
['Excellent','Good','Passable','Poor']);
list3 = list(Interior grading',4,
['Excellent','Good','Passable','Poor']);
answer = x_choices('Grade restaurant food..
service & interior',list(list1,list2,list3))

3.

2.

Case 5: x_choices()
with four
alternatives for
three cases

Pick your
choices,
click OK,
and Scilab
returns the
answer as a
*) Scilab 5.1.1 returns the answer automatically,
vector*
1.
with 5.3.1 & 5.3.2 it must be asked for (a bug?)

GUI demo 2: creating

pop-up windows (4/5)
Case 6: Compute determinant for
a matrix A that is given by
x_matrix(). The assumption is a 3x3
identity matrix
// x-matrix_demo.sce
// Demonstrates the use of x_matrix()

clear,clc;
A = x_matrix('Change matrix to nxn as
needed',eye(3,3));
det(A)
// Calculate determinant
clean(det(A))
// Clean det(A) for small
values

Change (here to 4x4

Magic Square) and click
OK

The answer is the same as earlier

in Chapter 5. Problem: It works in
Scilab 5.1.1 but not in 5.3.1 and
5.3.2

ans =

GUI demo 2: creating

pop-up windows (5/5)
Case 7: Create an info list of
beverage choices using list()
and messagebox()

Here Brandy is
selected and the
answer returned*

3.
m =
-->m

-->r = messagebox('Pick','Title',' ',['1','2'],'modal')

2.

*) Same problem repeats.

Scilab does not return the
answer automatically (in
Scilab 5.3.1 it did so with
a simpler case, but not in
5.3.2 any more)

GUI: computer screen

size & color depth

The computer screen size is needed if we

want to position a GUI at a specifc
position in the feld of view

-->get(0,"screensize_px")
ans =
1.

For that we need information of the

computer screen size. It can be extracted
with the argument screensize_xx. There are
more alternatives for the _xx suffix, check
Help/root_properties for details
Another alternative is the number of
display color resolution bits. It can be
found with the argument screendepth
These arguments are used with the
function get(), meaning fnd out. See
Example 6-1 for a practical case

1.

1280.

800.

-->get(0,"screensize_pt")
ans =
0.

0.

960.

600.

-->get(0,"screensize_norm")
ans =
0.

0.

1.

1.

-->get(0,"screendepth")
ans =
24.

GUI demo 3: opening a

predefined GW, script

This demo shows how to open a new Graphics Window with

predefned size and position
The size is defned relative to the computers screen size in points
The position in the middle of the screen has to be found by trial
and error
// screensize_demo.sce
// Opens a new Graphics Window with a predefined size & location /
clear,clc,clf;
screen_size = get(0,"screensize_pt"); // Find computer screen
size
size_x = .3*screen_size(3);
// .6*screensize_pt 3rd
element
size_y = .5*screen_size(4);
// .8*screensize_pt 4th
element
h_graph = scf(0);
// Open Graphics Window
h_graph.fgure_size = [size_x size_y]; // Define GW size
h_graph.fgure_position =...
// Position GW in the...
[size_x/.6 size_y/1.15];
// middle of the screen

GUI demo 3:
predefined GW,
screenshot

The small GW opens

in the middle of the
screen (the picture
has been
compressed and
looks muddled)
Note however that
the GW size is not
exactly in proportion
to the defned ratio
of the screen size,
and it also changes
if we select
screensize_px instead
of screensize_pt (the
location changes as
well)

GUI shortcomings

GUIs are not perfected in Scilab. The (messy) text on GUIs in

WIKI.Scilab.org/howto/ tells of very old bugs that remain unsolved
Apart from what is mentioned in Demo 2, Cases 5-7, and in the
end discussion of Ex 6-1, I have experienced problems with
Demo 1, where the listbox may (or may not) flow over the window
frame
Ex 6-1, where the labels of the slider and frst radiobutton sometimes
open with reduced font size

WIKI.Scilab.org/howto/ also mentions the following limitations:

Scilab does not allow vertical sliders

checkbox == radiobutton
slider has only smallstep, no side arrows (and as I found out with Ex 61, Scilab gets a lockup when I drag the slider)
foreground color is always grey
pressed radio/check always pale red (have not tried it)
only pushbutton, radiobutton, checkbox, and slider support callback

The usual recommendation is to use Tcl/Tk when advanced GUI

solutions are neededanother program for you to learn

Dr.E
Dr.E
W
W

Johnny
JohnnyHeikell
Heikell

16. File handling

We need fle handling e.g. to
process measurement data

Return to Contents

File handling:
introduction

In engineering, data on external fles often originate in automated

measurements. The data has to be read by Scilab before it can be
processed. Well focus our discussion on this aspect of fle
handling
Scilab has a set of commands for fle handling, beginning with the
commands mopen() that opens a fle, and mclose() that closes it.
Between those two we use e.g.:*

mfprint, fprintMat()

Write data to a file (fprintMat() for matrix files)

mfscanf(), fscanMat()

Read a file (fscanMat() for matrix files)

mseek()

Move the pointer

menf()

Check end of a file

size()

Check size of an object

*) The full set of i/o functions (~60 in all) can be found under Help/Files:
Input/Output functions. Recall the related load() function in Chapter 10.

File handling: demo 1

(1/5), introduction
Open write file: fd, path, name
Write data into file
Close write file, w
Open file for reading, r
Define contents to read (whole file)
Return pointer to beginning of file
Define data to read
Close file

In this demo Scilab creates the

data fle that is then read; later
well se how to read from text
fles created by other programs
Script sequences are shown to
the right. The script
demonstrates the use of the
functions mopen(), mclose(),
mfprintf(), mseek(), and mfscanf()
Pay attention to the following
steps: open as w fle, close w
fle, open as r fle, close r fle.
The stack pointer moves down
as we write into the fle and
must be returned to the top
before we begin to read

File handling: demo 1

(2/5), script
Create the text
(.txt) fle with
mopen(). fd = fle
descriptor. Note
the argument w
(write) that is
used to create a
new fle
Then fll the fle
with data (in this
case created by t)
using mfprintf().
Note the odd
argument
%6.3f\n' that
defnes the output
size (
explained below)

// fle_exercise1.sce
// The script demonstrates the process of 1) creating a text fle
/
// on Scilab, 2) closing it, 3) opening it again to be written into,
/
// 4) writing the actual data into the fle, 5) reading
certain
/
// pieces of data from the fle, and 6) closing the read
fle,
/
// Notice that both close operations are
necessary!
/
clear,clc;
// Create and open a text file for the exercise:
//------------------------------------------------------------fd = mopen('H:\Dr.EW\Writings\Scilab
examples\fle_exercise1.txt','w');
// Create data and write into the exercise file:
//------------------------------------------------------------t = (1:1:18)';
// Integers from 1 to 18
mfprintf(fd,'%6.3f\n',t);

File handling: demo 1

(3/5), script cont..
After that the fle
has to be closed

// Close exercise file:

//--------------------------mclose(fd);

Then opened
again to be read
(r)

// Open the exercise file for reading:

//-----------------------------------------------fd = mopen('H:\Dr.EW\Writings\Scilab
examples\fle_exercise1.txt','r');

Next we read in
its entirety (the
-1)

// Read and format file contents:

//-------------------------------------------contents = mfscanf(-1,fd,'%f')
// -1 means entire file
contents

But the pointer

must be returned
to the top..

// Return position pointer to file beginning:

//---------------------------------------------------------mseek(0,fd) // Following mfscanf(-1, , ) the pointer is at the
end

before we can
defne which data
we want to see

// Read some data from the file:

//-----------------------------------------fve_data = mfscanf(fd,'%f %f %f %f %f')
// First five data
three_data = mfscanf(fd, '%f %f %f')
// Next three data
[n,data_9,data_10,data_11] = mfscanf(fd,'%f %f %f')// Three
specific..
// elements

Finish by closing
the fle (see below

File handling: demo 1

(4/5), the .txt file

Scilab has put the text fle where it

was told to, on the H: drive. Check
with Notepad

File handling: demo 1

(5/5), check
The variables
five_data ,
three_data , and
data_11 were
defned in the
script

The defned
read variable
contents brings
up the contents
of the text fle
on the Console

n is the # of
elements (-1) in
the vector it
belongs to (4-1)

We can then
pick out
specifc
elements from
the list

We can also
address specifc
elements in the
column vector
and get the
answer as a
row vector
18.

Spreadsheet data
(1/7):
Creating data

Scilab does not interface

directly with spreadsheet
programs. The data has to be
saved as a text fle

I started with the new kid on

the block, LibreOffice Calc.
The data is the output from
an indoor/outdoor
temperature measurement

The process of saving LibO

and OOo data as a .csv text
fle is explained later

If you do it in Excel you just

save it as Text (Tab delimited).
Do not select Unicode Text
because Scilab cannot read it

Spreadsheet data
(2/7):
Data saved as .csv file

And here is the LibO data saved as

file_spreadsheet_demo5.csv and seen in
WordPad (the fgure 5 reflects the
fact that it is my ffth attempt to get
it right)

Lets see if Scilab can read the .csv

fle. There are two command options:
M = fscanfMat() for a matrix of real
numbers (text data is ignored)
[M,text] = fscanfMat() for a string
matrix

The output for both alternatives are

shown on the next slide

After that we can write a script to

plot the data

Spreadsheet data
(3/7):
.csv file read by[G,text]
Scilab
= fscanfMat()
-->M = fscanfMat('I:\file_spreadsheet_demo5.csv')
M =
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

- 7.3
- 7.8
- 8.3
- 7.6
- 5.
- 3.3
- 1.9
0.1
1.2
0.4
- 2.1
- 3.6

20.1
19.8
19.5
19.5
19.7
20.
20.2
20.6
21.1
21.3
21.
20.7

M = fscanfMat()

-->[G,text] = fscanfMat('I:\file_spreadsheet_demo5.csv')
text =
Reading

Outdoor

Indoor

G =
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

- 7.3
- 7.8
- 8.3
- 7.6
- 5.
- 3.3
- 1.9
0.1
1.2
0.4
- 2.1
- 3.6

20.1
19.8
19.5
19.5
19.7
20.
20.2
20.6
21.1
21.3
21.
20.7

Note: If you work

with MS Excel you
use of course the
ending .txt instead
of .csv (CSV stands
for Comma
Separated
Variable)

Spreadsheet data
(4/7):
script for plotting (1/2)
The fscanfMat()
command cannot
be split on two
rows (even if it is
not needed in this
case)
The size(name,r)
function is used to
determine the
number of matrix
rows
Matrix columns
form separate
vectors

// spreadsheet_data_plot.sce
// The script reads data from the test fle
/
// fle_spreadsheet_demo5.csv, determines its /
// length,and plots its two measurement sets /
clear,clc,clf;
// Open the file, determine number of rows,
// and form vectors of its columns:
//----------------------------------------data_fle = fscanfMat(IH:\fle_spreadsheet_demo5.csv');
// Opens text file
rows = size(data_fle,'r'); // Determine number of rows
readings = data_fle(:,1); // Column 1, reading #
(redundant)
outdoor = data_fle(:,2);
// Column 2, outdoor
temperature
indoor = data_fle(:,3);
// Column 3, indoor temperature

Spreadsheet data
(5/7):
script
for
The plot command
uses plotting (2/2)
the obsolete plot2d()
syntax that we have
seen before. The reason
for having it here is that
plot2d() with the frameflag
argument of the new
syntax does not work
when two graphs should
be fused into one plot:
The second plot
destroys the frst one,
and when the rect
argument is included
Scilab responds with an
error message (know it,
tried it)

// Assume outdoor temp always lower

// than indoor and form plot commands:
//--------------------------------------------ymin = min(outdoor);
// Determine min temp
ymax = max(indoor);
// Determine max temp
dy = (ymax-ymin)/10;
// Define frame margin
rect = [0,ymin-dy,rows+1,ymax+dy]; // Define plot
frame
x = linspace(1,rows,rows);
plot2d(x,indoor,5,'011',' ',rect) // Plot inodr temp
plot2d(x,outdoor,2,'000')
// Plot outdor temp
xgrid(1)
// Add grid
xtitle('TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENTS','Reading #',
'Temperature, deg C')
legend('Indoor temp','Outdoor temp',4)

Spreadsheet data
(6/7):
plot
Simple plot, but
the main point
with this exercise
is to show how to
go from
spreadsheet data
to a text fle and
then to plot the
data
And then we turn
to the question of
how to create text
fles with
LibreOffice Calc
and
OpenOffice.org
Calc (next slide)

Spreadsheet data
(7/7): Text data in LibO
& OOo
Save as Text CSV (.csv)
and select Tab in the
Field delimiter
dropdown menu of the
window that opens.
Thats it

The saved .csv fle looks

messy if you open it with
Excel, but it is ok in
Notepad and WordPad

mopen()

The mopen() function is of course more intricate than what one

can understand from the discussion above. Forgetting binary
and text fles, the general structure of mopen() is:
[fd <,err>] = mopen(file_name <,mode>)
where
file_name is the entire path of the fle, including its name
mode defnes what to do with the data, e.g.:

r, read an existing fle

w, create a new fle & write into it, alt. overwrite data in existing fle
a, append, open a fle and add data to the end

fd, fle descriptor, temporary name of the fle

err, error parameter. err = 0 if the fle is successfully opened, err <> 0 if
fle opening failed (merror() is a function related to the err argument)

It can be a good idea to check the err parameter after a fle has
been opened (has not been done in Demo 1)

mclose()

A fle that has been opened with mopen() should be closed

with the mclose(fd) command even if it is automatically
closed when Scilab closes. However, pay attention to the
following ambiguous statement in Scilabs Help Browser:
mclose must be used to close a fle opened by mopen. If fd is
omitted mclose closes the last opened fle.
Be careful with the use of [mclose(all)] ... because when it is
used inside a Scilab script fle, it also closes the script and
Scilab will not execute commands written after mclose(all).

mfprintf(), fprintfMat()

The mfprintf() command is used to convert, format ,and write

data in an opened text fle
The general structure of mfprintf() is:
mfprintf(fd, <text a> format_1 <text b> format_2
<text c> format_3..., value_1, value_2, value_3...)

Which means that each value that we want to print is

declared with an optional text, the format to be printed in
(both within a single pair of quotation marks), and the value
to be printed
Format declarations are given on the next slide
The format demo two slides down should give a better grasp
of what it all means. If you ask me, it looks really messy...
The fprintfMat() command is used to write a matrix in a fle.
See Help for details

Format definitions

Recall the arguments %6.3f\n and %f in

File handling Demo 1. They are part of a set of format
defnitions:

%d for integers (e.g. 1230)

%f for floating point presentation (e.g. 12.30987)
%e for exponentials (e.g. 1.2345e+002)
%s for text (string) presentation (e.g. Hello World!)
%6.3f to defne the output size

the 6 is for the total number of fgures

the 3 is for the number of fgures after the decimal point

\n go to a new line
\t use a horizontal tabulator

Some defnition combinations, like %6.3f\n, are possible

Format demo:
script (1/2)
This demo aims at clarifying the use of format
declarations:
// fle_format_demo.sce
//
//
//
//

Demonstrates the use of mfprintf() format defnitions.

/
Pay attention that with several variable to be printed,
/
all formats are declared (inside a single pair of citation /
marks) before the variables are defned.
/

clear,clc;
// Create a new test file for writing:
//---------------------------------------fd = mopen('H:\Dr.EW\Writings\Scilab examples\fle_format_demo.txt','w');
// Some variable to play with:
//--------------------------------A = 123.45678901;
a = 0.3;
b = 1.23e-02;
c = a + %i*b;
text = 'Hello World';

Just initial declarations here.

The real stuff is on the next
slide

Format demo:
script (2/2) & text file
// Several outputs to be demonstrated:
//-------------------------------------------mfprintf(fd,'%d\n %10d\n %20d\n %8.4f\t %8.4f\n %5.2f\t %5.2f\t
%5.2f\n',...
A,A,A,A,A,A,A,A);
mfprintf(fd,'%d\n %f\t %e\n %10.3f\t %6.2f\n complex = %3.4f + i
%3.4f\n\n',...
A,A,A,A,A, real(c), imag(c));
mfprintf(fd,'%e\t %5.2e\n %s\n %5s\t %10s\t %15s\t %20s\t\n',...
A,A, text, text, text, text, text);
// Close the opened file:
//-------------------------mclose(fd);

Remembe
r to close!

You have to be very

careful to get it
right...

No
optional
text is
used in
any of the
cases

mfscanf(), fscanfMat()

We used mfscanf() in Demo 1 to read (scan) data from a fle. Two

examples of its use:
contents = mfscanf(-1, fd, %f). With this argument it reads the whole
contents of the fle and formats it
four_values = mscanf(fd, %f %f %f %f). Reads the four frst data in the fle
After reading data, the stack pointer remains where it is and we must
use the mseek(n,f) command to shift it to a new location. The frst row
in the stack is numbered 0, as indicated by mseek(0,fd) in Demo 1

In the discussion of spreadsheet data we used the fscanfMat()

function to read the data contained in a .csv fle. The function
has two alternative call sequences:
fscanMat(filepath,<opt_arg>) to read the numeric part only of scalar
matrix data in a text fle
[M,text] = fscanfMat(filepath,<opt_arg>) to read the data and include the
frst non-numeric lines
The default optional argument is %1g. Check with Help for other
options

Dr.E
Dr.E
W
W

Johnny
JohnnyHeikell
Heikell

17. Animation
A brief introduction to
creating dynamic graphics

Return to Contents

Introduction

Animations are a sequence of plots on the Graphics Window;

executed by showing a plot, freezing it while an incremental
shift is being calculated, and then swapping the old plot for
the new one.* With correct speed and increments it gives
the illusion of continuous movement
There are two main modes for creating animations:
Real time mode. The animation runs while the script is being
executed, with the speed being determined by the incremental
shifts and computer speed. The execution can be influenced
(slowed down) by the realtimeinit() and realtime() functions
Playback mode. Possible in Matlab with the getframe and movie
commands, but Scilab lacks this alternative

A tool for producing animations is the pixmap handle

command and the show_pixmap() function. Example 6-2,
however, does not use the pixmap command

*) Unless one wants to retain the whole sequence, as in Example 6-2.

Demo 1 (1/4):
Introducing pixmap &
xfarcs()
This demo is adapted from Antonelli & Chiaverini. It exhibits

in particular the pixmap and show_pixmap() pair of commands

pixmap=on/off

The pixmap mode* is used to achieve a smooth animation. With

the handle command pixmap=on the display is refreshed only
when called on by the command show_pixmap()
Compare this case with the drawlater() - drawnow() pair in ordinary
plotting

The script uses the xfarcs() function to fll the moving pie.
Related Scilab functions are xfarc(), xarcs(), and xarc()
xfarcs() is used instead of xfarc() because the latter has no
provision for defning plot color by arguments, and its Axes
handle gca() does not recognize any children that would
allow colors to be defned

*) Also called double buffer mode because the picture is first created in one
buffer before being pushed to the second (the Graphics Window).

Demo 1 (2/4): moving

pie, script
// animation_ball.sce

Missing x and y values are

substituted by (%nan)

// Creates a cut pie that makes 5 loops while

/
// moving around a circle. Demonstrates the use of
/
// the pixmap - show_pixmap() pair of commands,
/
// and the use of xfarcs() in
drawing
/
clear,clc;

Only frameflag=3 works

in this case

Note the imaginary values

of theta1 & theta2. Their
relative values (2 & 10)
determine the fve loops
that the pie makes before
fnishing the full circle

xfarcs() requires six vector

values as its argument.
The color code is optional
(the default color is black)

steps = 250; // # of animation steps

r1 = 0.5;
// Pie size
r2 = 0.5;
// Loop size
f = gcf();
// Figure handle
f.pixmap = "on";
// Create before display
for i=1:steps
clf();
// Erase pie after each step
plot2d (%nan,%nan,frameflag=3,.. // Define
figure
rect=[-2,-2,2,2],axesflag=1)
xtitle('MOVING PIE');
theta1 = i*2*%pi/steps;
theta2 = i*10*%pi/steps;
c = [cos(theta1)+r2*cos(theta2),.. // Define
pie..
sin(theta1)+r2*sin(theta2)];
// position
xfarcs([c(1)-r1, c(2)+r1, 2*r1,...
// Plot pie,..
2*r1, 0, 360*48]', 2);
// color=2
f.background = color('grey');
show_pixmap();
// Display created graphics
end

Demo 1 (3/4): moving

pie, frozen plot

Here is the blue pie in its

combined start and fnish
position
The completion of the full
circle in 250 steps takes
about 10 seconds with my
1.6 GHz dual-core
processor

Demo 1 (4/4):
discussion

Odd things happened while I tried to get this one going

The Graphics Window mostly opened as shown above, but I
have also seen a black ball (that was before I changed it to a
pie) on a red background surrounded by a yellow frame topped
by a red titlewith the animation running just as smoothly as it
should
When I changed frameflag=3 to frameflag=2 the dot rotated
around to the lower left-hand corner, and when I changed back
again Scilab told that the handle is not valid any more. Just go
on and reload...
I also saw the size of the Graphics Window change from
execution to execution for no obvious reason
In short, these events give the feeling that animation
together with GUIsis not a top priority of the Scilab team

Demo 2 (1/2): moving

rectangles
// animation_rectangles.sce

// Two rectangles slide diagonally over the

Graphics /
// Window. As they slide over each other their colors
/
// are NORed. The solution is only partly successful /

This demo is adapted from

Chancelier et al.
Its an attempt to
demonstrate the use of the
XOR command in
f.pixel_drawing_mode= xor,
here NOR instead of XOR for
reasons told below
The rectangles move on top
of a grey background

The rectangles are drawn

with xfrect() without color
code, they are therefore
black

The rectangles move

diagonally from corner to
corner in 200 steps

clear,clc,clf();
f=gcf();
f.pixmap='on';
// Double buffer mode
f.pixel_drawing_mode='nor';
// NOR mode
f.background=color("lightblue");
ax=gca();
ax.data_bounds=[0,-4;14,10];
// Plot limits
ax.margins=[.1 .1 .1 .1];
// Plot framed
ax.background=color("lightgrey");
max_pos = 10;
// Max position of rectangles
k=%nan;
// Auxiliary parameter
xfrect(k,k,4,4);
// First black rectangle
e1 = gce();
xfrect(max_pos-k,max_pos-k,4,4); // Second
rectangle
e2=gce();
for k=linspace(1,10,200)
// Animation
loop
e1.data(1:2)=k;
e2.data(1:2)=max_pos-k;
show_pixmap()
//Show double buffer
end

Demo 2 (2/2): frozen

plot
Here is the animation in
progress. The NOR function
does its job, but otherwise
something is quite wrong: We
do not have black rectangles
moving across a light grey
background
The problem is that the
command
f.pixel_drawing_mode=nor
operates on the whole screen,
not just on the moving
rectangles as intended by
Chancelier et al. For that
reason the XOR operation they
use is even worse than NOR
I decided to leave the demo in
this state. Those who are

Demo 3 (1/3): a 3D
object, script (1/2)

Now well look at a

geometrically more
challenging object, a 3D
plot that moves both in
azimuth and elevation
Data bounds are not
defned separately, they
are changing with
surface mesh resolution
The frst plot command
only defnes axes labels

// rotating_surface.sce
// The 3D surface is first rotated and then /
// tilted, after which its position is locked
/
clear,clc,clf;
// Initialize:
//-------------f=gcf();
f.pixmap="on";
clear_pixmap();
t=%pi/20*(-20:20); // Bounds & mesh resolution
// First plot command, defines labels:
//------------------------------------------------plot3d1(t,t,sin(t)'*cos(t),%nan,%nan,..
'x_axis@y_axis@z_axis');

Demo 3 (2/3): a 3D
object, script (2/2)

The surface rotates

around the z axis, starting
at 45 and fnishing at
100, while the tilt angle
is constant at 45

When fnished rotating,

the surface tilts around
the x axis from 45 up to
80, with the rotation
angle constant at 100

With my 1.6 GHz laptop

the animation does not
run perfectly smoothly,
the jumps from step to
step are noticeable

// Set speed and turn object:

//-------------------------------------step = 2;
// Step size --> 1/speed
for angle1 = 25:step:100,
// Rotate loop
plot3d1(t,t,sin(t)'*cos(t),angle1,45)
show_pixmap();
end
for angle2 = 45:step:80,
// Tilt loop
plot3d1(t,t,sin(t)'*cos(t),100,angle2)
show_pixmap();
end
f.pixmap="off";

Demo 3 (3/3): a 3D
object, plot
The surface has
reached its destination:
rotated to 100
(azimuth) and tilted to
80 (elevation)
While testing various
parameters I saw this
message on the
Console (long list). It
disappeared when I rerun the script
Exception in thread "AWT-EventQueue-0" java.lang.NullPointerException
..

at

Dr.E
Dr.E
W
W

Johnny
JohnnyHeikell
Heikell

18. Miscellaneous
A hotchpotch of philosophy
and realism that hopefully is
of use
Return to Contents

The problem-solving
process
The problem-solving process for a computational problem
typically goes through the following steps (not a textbook
defnition):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Defne the problem (answer the question Whats the problem?)

Outline a way of solving the problem (block diagram, DFD, etc.)
Defne equations and/or algorithms (solve the math problem)
Transform steps 2 & 3 to a software outline or architecture
Do the coding in steps and test each step before proceeding
Validate the solution (does it do what it should do, with all input
values (especially 0 & ), and nothing more than it should do?)

The boundaries between these steps can be blurred, iterations

are mostly needed, and one or two of the steps may be more
important than the others. Each step also requires a number of
subtasks to be performed. But in general it helps to have this
approach in mind when attacking a problem.

Good program
structures

Keep in mind that a program is characterized by a) its structure

and b) by what it does
Give variables clear and meaningful names; use single letters
only for x, y and z axes, loop counters (j,k), and the like
Split the code into logical entities with the help of subroutines
Separate structural entities by empty rows and headline
comments
Indent rows (loops, print commands, etc) for increased clarity
Be liberal with the use of comments, keep space between the
command and its row comment
Simple is beautiful; a good program is short and unambiguous
For a more thorough discussion, see textbooks on software
engineering
"Always program as if the person who will be maintaining your program is a violent
psychopath that knows where you live.
Martin Golding

Programming pitfalls
(1/4)

Computer programs cannot be tested to guarantee 100%

reliability. There is the danger of both hidden andin retrospect
obvious bugs.* Avoiding common programming pitfalls should
be a minimum goal and requires that we are familiar with them
Basic Scilab tutorials do not pay much attention to
programming pitfalls. Eine Einfhrung in Scilab by Bruno
Pinon (original in French, for me German is far easier) is an
exception. Its last chapter briefly discusses programming
pitfalls. Worth taking a look at
A search on the web for Matlab pitfalls provides some hints.
There is also a useful discussion in Chapter 9 of Hahn,
Valentine: Essential Matlab for Engineers and Scientists , 3rd
ed., Butterworth-Heine-mann, 2007

*) The term bug, according to anecdote, was coined in 1947 when Grace
Hopper (Grandma Cobol) of the US Navy identified a computer problem
being caused by a moth in a relay (/tube/connector, the story varies). The
original bug was thus a hardware related problem and lethal to the bug.

Programming pitfalls
(2/4): error types

Programming errors can broadly be grouped into the following types

Logical errors, meaning errors in the algorithm used to solve a problem

Syntax errors, meaning mistakes in the construction of Scilab statements
Rounding errors, meaning errors due to limited computer accuracy

Logical errors are mostly the result of our limited understanding of

the problem at hand and/or our limited knowledge of algorithms in
general and Scilab in particular
Syntax errors are generally speaking due to human limitations:
oversight, carelessness, forgetfulness, and the like. Typical cases are
misspelling, mismatched quote marks, wrong type of arguments,
etc.
Rounding errors arise from truncations due to hardware limitations,
digitization of mathematical functions, converting between decimal
and binary mathematics, etc.
There is also a fourth type, namely errors made by Scilab system
designers and programmers. They show up as bugs, performance
limitations, poor user interfaces, and the like

Programming pitfalls
(3/4): error messages
Incompatible vector
lengths would be a better
error message
This message
is misleading if what
Inconsistent
you intend is [] * [], but ok if you
addition. multiplication
aim at elementwise
!--error 8
[] .* [] (but Wrong multiplication
is better still)-->[1 2 3] + [4 5]

Inconsistent
multiplication.
!--error
10
-->[1 2 3] * [4 5Here
6] you can see that the warning redefning
function does have a meaning. I have improperly
used sqrt as a variable name, but Scilab
76.
recognizes it is a built-in function. The answer is
correct, but one should rather change the variable
name. Check help name if you are uncertain if an
sqrt =
intended variable name is reserved

Programming pitfalls
(4/4): the endless loop
I have several times
mentioned the risk of creating
an endless loop, so lets look
at this little beast
When you execute the script
you have to crash the program
to stop it. The easiest way is
to press the Close button on
the Console and then reload
Scilab
Why does the loop not end?
Because we die from old age
before the variable n by
chance gets exactly the value
0.5

// endless_loop.sce
// Demonstrates an endless loop.
// Execution ends only by crashing
// the program (click on the Close
// button (X) on the Console)
n = .1;
dt = getdate();
rand('seed',1000*dt(9) + dt(10));
while n ~=0.5;
n = rand(0,'normal');
end;
disp(n)

Have you forgotten

about seeding rand
functions? If so, go
back to Ex 1-3 (lotto
draw)

/
/
/
/

Debugging (1/2)

We are already familiar with Scilabs rudimentary embedded

debugger that provides error messages on the Console (a separate
debugger window may come with Scilab 6.0)
Another debugging tool is the pause, resume, abort set of statements.
Read section 6.7 in Introduction to Scilab by Michal Baudin for an
explanation
My suggestion for painless programming is stepwise development,
meaning to
Develop the script inside out, starting with the central equation (or
similar kernel) and executing it using a simple plot or display
command. Correct the kernel until it works to satisfaction
Extend the script stepwise by adding subroutines, loops, plot
commands, handle commands, etc. and test (execute) after each added
step
The advantage with stepwise development is that, frst, bugs are
isolated to a specifc part of the script and easy to identify and ,second,
one gets a feeling of satisfaction from each added bug-free step

Debugging (2/2):
validation

Finally, even when a script seems to behave correctly we must

validate it. Dont judge a bird by the colors of his feathers
To validate you can (among other things):
Take a critical look at the solution: is it logically sound, do you
really know what the program doesand what it does not do?
Check for and eliminate redundancies (I have found surprisingly
many in the textbook examples that I have borrowed)
Run it for some special cases for which you know the answer. If no
model cases are available, check at least that the answers it
provides are plausible and magnitudes are correct
Test for unusual events (e.g. where you could end up dividing by
zero), extreme values (e.g. infnite), conditions leading to loop
lockup, overlooked rounding errors, stack overruns, etc.
Work through the program by hand to see if you can spot where
things could start going wrong
Ask somebody cleverer than yourself for a second opinion

Speeding up Scilab
(1/4): introduction

There are ways to speed up the execution of Scilab

programs. The three major rules are:
Replace loops by vectorized operations .* Particularly with the for
loop one should aim at its vectorized alternative
Use subroutines whenever possible
Avoid time consuming algorithms like Runge-Kutta

Speed-upparticularly if we move from loops to vectorized

functionsrequires that we adopt new thinking. Its a new
learning effort. But vectors are, after all, what Scilab is all
about!
However, there is a problem with learning vectorized
operations: Textbooks tell us to use them but pay little
attention to the subject and their few examples are very
basic

*) Scilab does not support Matlabs vectorize() function.

Speeding up Scilab
(2/4): vector-based
functions

This case is adapted from

Baudin. The task is to compute
the sum of odd integers [1,99]

In the frst case we use a nested

while...if...end...end structure,
picking odd integers with the
modulo() function

Below is the alternative

vectorized solution. Clean and
simple! Advantages:
Higher level language, easier to
understand
Executes faster with large
matrices

There was a bug in Scilab 5.3.1

and it returned an Invalid
index error message for the
latter script

// add_demo1.sce

clc;
add = 0;
i = 0;
while ( i < 100 )
i = i + 1;
if ( modulo( i, 2 ) == 0 )
then
continue;
end
add = add + i;
end
disp( add )

2500.
// add_demo2.sce
clc;
add = sum(1:2:100);
disp(add)

2500.

Speeding up Scilab
(3/4): execution time
tic()..toc()

Execution time can be

measured with the tic() and
toc() pair of functions

The top script computes

values for sin(x) and orders
the result in a table with two
columns (shown to the far
right for only four points). The
execution time 17.389 s is for
the shown script, with Scilab
looping over 30,000 times

// measure_time1.sce

clear,clc;
x=[];
// Initate vector
y=[];
// Ditto
tic();
// Start stopwatch
for t=0:0.0002:2*%pi
x=[x; t];
y=[y; sin(t)];
end
time=toc(); // Stop watch
disp(time) // Display time

// measure_time2.sce

The lower (vectorized) script

performs the same task. The
execution time is 9 msec,
about 2000 times faster than
with the for...end loop!

clear,clc;
tic();
t = (0:0.0002:2*%pi)';
[t,sin(t)]
disp(toc())

0.014
6. 17.389
0.2794155
4. 0.7568025
2.
0.9092974
0.009
0. 0.

Speeding up Scilab
(4/4): two more ideas
Replace loop by ones ():
tic();
77.481
for i = 1:100000
x(i) = 1;
end
disp(toc())
tic();
x = ones(100000,1);
disp(toc())
0.005

In this case the execution

time is reduced by a factor of
34. Not nearly as much as in
the earlier cases, but still a
signifcant improvement
(typical in practice)

Replace nested loops with

length (find () ):

!k = 200660 !
!time = 10.142 !

tic();
k = 0;
for i = 1:1000000
x = rand(1,1);
if x < 0.2 then
k = k + 1;
end
end
disp(['k =' string(k)])
disp(['time =' string(toc())])

tic();
k = length(fnd(rand(1000000,1) < 0.2));
disp(['k =' string(k)])
disp(['time =' string(toc())])
!k = 199649 !
!time = 0.298 !

Discrepancy in time
measurements (1/2)
I wanted to check Scilabs computation time for a cased
given in a textbook on Matlab by Hahn & Valentine. First I did
it on the Console and then on the Editor, but the results did
not match:
The result is
// scilab-matlab_loop.sce
97.531 seconds on
the Console.
clc;
tic();
Clearly not true
s = 0;
because the
for n = 1:100000
answer came up
s = s + n;
end
without delay
time = toc();
It is only 0.453 s
disp(time)
when done on
the Editor. Thats
more like it
97.531

Lets try with0.453

vectorized functions
(next slide)

Discrepancy in time
measurements (2/2)
And here is the same in vectorized form:
Now the Console
tells of a threefold
improvement in
computation time,
but still not true

// scilab-matlab_vectorized.sce
clc;
tic();
n = 1:100000;
s = sum(n);
time = toc();
disp(time)

and the Editor

agrees about the
improvement,
but the
0.016
discrepancy
remains
32.994
Conclusion: There is a bug either in my approach or in Scilab;
but Scilab seems to execute faster than Matlab on the old
-->disp(time)
Pentium II processor that Hahn & Valentine used

ATOMS (1/6): installing

new toolboxes

Recall the problems with ATOMS that I mention in Chapter 1

ATOMS (AutomaTic mOdule Management for Scilab) allows the
user to download and install external toolboxes (modules)
There is reason to take a look at which modules might be of use,
since specialized tools can limit the time needed to solve a
problem
Start by hooking up the computer on the Internet and clicking
on the ATOMS icon on the Console. If you are unlucky you will
see the following message on the Console (I was unlucky and
others have been as well):
atomsDownload: The following file hasn't been downloaded:
- URL
: 'http://atoms.scilab.org/5.3/TOOLBOXES/32/windows.gz
- Local location : 'C:\Users\Johnny\AppData\Local\Temp\SCI_TMP_2772_\.atoms\1_TOOLBOXES.gz

The bug (Scilab bug #8942) remains unsolved and its true
influence is unknown to me. The Scilab team gives the unhelpful
suggestion to download the mentioned fle

ATOMS (2/6): whats

available
This is the ATOMS
main window.
Texts overlap a
bit, but basically
it is a list of
contents
Go ahead and try
to fnd something
of interest, even
if there isnt
much for us
engineers
Another problem
is that there is
little information
about what the
modules really

ATOMS (3/6): install

I decided to try
Stphanie
Motteletts
Plotting
library (this
version gives
problems with
a Vista PC!)
Click on Install
An installation
message
opens at the
bottom, and
after a good
while Scilab
tells that the
module has
been installed

ATOMS (4/6): new info

I also installed the GUI
Builder by TAN Chin Luh
When Scilab is restarted it
informs about the installed
toolboxes
Question: What is needed
to make use of the installed
modules?
Check with the Help
Browser and yes, at the
very end of the list of
contents are new additions:
Matlab-like plotting
library and A Graphic
User Interface Builder

ATOMS (5/6): Check

with Matlabs
quiver3()
// matlab_quiver3.sce

// Test Matlab's quiver3()

function /
clear,clc,clf;
[X,Y]=meshgrid(-2:0.2:2,-1:0.2:1);
Z=cos(X.*Y);
surf(X,Y,Z);
hold on
[U,V,W] = surfnorm(X,Y,Z);
quiver3(X,Y,Z,U,V,W,'r');
Legend 'Surface normals'
colormap gray
hold off

I tested Matlabs quiver3()

function with the script in Help,
but something is wrong. The
plot is wrong and Scilab yells
about hold on, which it should
know by now

hold on

ATOMS (6/6):
discussion of problems

My troubles began in earnest with the execution of Matlabs

quiver3() function. No matter what I did, all Scilab scripts
turned out garbage plots
The situation was confused by simultaneous events: Apart
from toolboxes I had also installed Scilab 5.3.2, had some
Windows updates arriving, and saw hiccups with both MS Word
and Windows. There was no problem with Scilab 5.1.1
Windows had been running for three years so I decided to
reinstall it. Only after this process I suspected ATOMS
To cut the story short, the problems were due to the Plotlib
toolbox. I uninstalled it and Scilab 5.3.2 worked normally again
Lessons learned: Install only one toolbox at a time and test it
and Scilab immediately. Uninstall the toolbox in case problems
emerge

Building a script
library

Over time we accumulate a huge number of programs. How

should we administer them, how can we later fnd what we need?
This presentation demonstrates alternative ways of commenting
scriptsa most important subject when a program has to be
modifed in the future
Pay attention to program names. Descriptive names help to
identify individual programs among other programs in a large fle
Build your library of Scilab scripts in a logical manner. In this work
I have partly saved scripts on a thumb stick drive, in the fle
H:\Dr.EW\Writings\Scilab examples\, under the assumption that
this presentation points to where to fnd a particular script. This is
not a the way to do it continuously, so give your own
documentation system a thoughtincluding the backup solution!
One option is to maintain a spreadsheet catalogue of programs
with information on what a specifc script does, where it is
located, which functions it contains, etc. An advanced solution is
documentation software of the type used in requirements
management

Dr.E
Dr.E
W
W

Johnny
JohnnyHeikell
Heikell

19. Examples, Set 6

Additional examples, mostly
related to Chapters 15-19

Return to Contents

Example 6-1: user

defined GUI,
introduction

This example is a modifcation of

the similar in Antonelli,
Chiaverini: Introduzione a Scilab
5.3, pp. 74-80
The task is to create a GUI in the
Graphics Window (GW). The GUI
consists of

A sine plot
A slider for changing the angular
frequency of the plot
Two radiobuttons by which the
properties of the plotted graph
can be changed
An exit button that closes the
GUI

The process is shown as a flow

diagram to the right

START

Create initial GUI

Any changes?
Yes
EXIT pressed?
Yes
Close GUI

END

No
Implemen
t changes
No

Ex 6-1: user defined

GUI, script (1/6)
// GUI_italian.sce

Go to the MAIN
program below if
you want to proceed
in a logical order
The frst
subroutine,
initial_GUI(),
creates the initial
sine plot within the
Graphics Window;
including title and
axes labels
The initial angular
frequency is
defned as 5 Hz
There is really

// Generates on the Graphics Window (GW) a GUI that contains

a /
// sine plot (plot2d), a slider by which to adjust the angular
/
// frequency of the sine function, two radiobuttons that change
/
// the style and color of the sine graph, and a pushbutton that
/
// closes the GW
/
clear,clc;
// **** SUBROUTINES **** //
// Declaration of initial plot in GUI:
//------------------------------ --------------function initial_GUI()
t = linspace(0,7,200);
w = 5;
// Initial angular
frequency
plot2d(t,sin(w.*t),..
// Initial plot w=5 rad/s
rect = [0,-1.1,7,1.1]);
a = gca();
a.axes_bounds = [0.2,0,.8,1]; // Frame dimensions &
location
xtitle("GUI DEMO WITH sin (wt)",...
"Time [s]","Amplitude");
a.font_size = 3;
// Axes mark size
a.x_label.font_size = 3;
// x_label size
a.y_label.font_size = 3;
// y_label size
a.title.font_size = 3;
// Title size

// Functions for changes wrt user actions:

//------------------------------------------------------function update_slider()
// IF slider movement
new_GUI_data();
// GOTO new_GUI_data()
endfunction

Ex 6-1:
script/

function update_radio()
new_GUI_data();
endfunction

The next two

subroutines respond
to user commands
(slider and
radiobuttons
respectively), and
point to the fourt
subroutine,
new_GUI_data()
An existing plot is
erased
The slider goes from
end to end in 10
steps
The if-then-else-end
constructs register
the status of

// IF radiobutton click
// GOTO new_GUI_data()

// Redefine plot in GUI:

//-----------------------------function new_GUI_data()
t = linspace(0,7,200)
drawlater();
// Delay changes
a = gca();
if (a.children~=[]) then
// IF frame contains
graph...
delete(a.children);
// then delete graph
end
w = h_slider.value/10;
// Slider range: 10 steps
plot2d(t,sin(w.*t));
if (h_radio1.value == 0) then
// Check status of style
button
a.children.children.polyline_style=1; // Basic style: line
else
a.children.children.polyline_style=3; // IF clicked: bars
end
if h_radio2.value==0 then
// Check status of color
button
a.children.children.foreground=1;
// Basic color:
black
else
a.children.children.foreground=2;
// IF clicked: blue
end
drawnow();
endfunction

Ex 6-1: user defined

GUI, script/
// **** MAIN **** //
xdel();
funcprot(0);

The Main program

frst deletes an
existing GW
The size and
location of the new
GW is defned as a
function of the total
screen size
Here we pick up
the initial plot that
comes in the GW
(GUI)
The next thing that
we add to the GUI
is the EXIT button.
Note how many
arguments the

// Define window size & position:

//-------------------------------------------screen_size = get(0,"screensize_px"); // Find computer
screen size
size_x = .7*screen_size(3);
// .7*screensize_px 3rd
element
size_y = .7*screen_size(4);
// .7*screensize_px 4th
element
h_graph = scf(0);
// Open Graphics Window
h_graph.fgure_size = [size_x size_y]; // Define GW size
h_graph.fgure_position =...
// Position GW in the...
[size_x/5 size_y/6];
// middle of the screen
// Open GUI with inital plot:
//------------------------------------initial_GUI();
// Add EXIT button:
//------------------------h_stop = uicontrol (h_graph,...
"style","pushbutton",...
// Declare pushbutton
"string","EXIT",...
// Pushbutton label
"fontsize",14,...
"backgroundColor",[1 0 0],...
// Red button RGB
"foregroundColor",[1 1 1],...
// White label RGB
"position",[85 size_y-210 50 50],...
"callback","xdel(0)");
// CLOSE GW if button
pushed

Ex 6-1: user defined

GUI, script (4/6)
Here is the uicontrol()
command that
controls the slider
strcat() is a function
that we have not met
before. Note that w
and rad/s are
surrounded by
double asterisks (' '
w ' ' and ' ' rad/s ' ' ),
not by quotation
marks (strings within
a string)
This is the initial
label below the slider
And the uicontrol()
that takes care of

// Add slider & label:

//-------------------------h_slider= uicontrol(h_graph,...
"style","slider",...
// Declare slider
"Min",0,...
// Slider start value
"Max",100,...
// Slider end value
"value",50,...
// Initial slider value
"position",[10 size_y-270 180 20],... // Slider size &
location
"callback","update_slider();... // GOTO to update_slider()
foo = strcat([ ' w = ' string(h_slider.value/10)...
' rad/s ']);h_text_slider.string = foo");
slidelbl = strcat(["w = 5 rad/s"]);
// Define initial label
h_text_slider = uicontrol(h_graph,...
"style","text",...
// Declare text
"horizontalalignment","center",...
// Position in
reserved field
"string",slidelbl,...
// Add slider label
"fontsize",14,...
"backgroundColor",[1 1 1],...
// White background
"position",[10 size_y-310 180 20]);
// Field size &
location

Ex 6-1: user defined

GUI, script (5/6)
The frst
radiobutton
controls the style of
the plotted sine
curve (a solid line
is the default, turns
to a bar graph
when the
radiobutton is
clicked)

// Add radiobutton for graph style:

//--------------------------------------------h_radio1 = uicontrol(h_graph,...
"style","radiobutton",...
// Declare
radiobutton
"Min",0,...
"Max",1,...
"value",0,...
// Initial button value
"backgroundColor",[1 1 1],...
"position",[10 size_y-350 20 20],...
"callback","update_radio()");
// GOTO to
update_radio()
h_text_radio1 = uicontrol(h_graph,...
"style","text",...
// Declare button text
"horizontalalignment","left",...
"string","-Change graph style",...
"backgroundColor",[.8 .8 .8],...
// Gray background
"fontsize",14,...
"position",[40 size_y-350 140 25]);
// Field size &
location

The commands are

quite similar to the
ones of the slider,
except that the foo
command is
Notice the callback statements. They are the beasts that make
missing
us jump up to (GOTO) the subroutine in case (here to
update_radio())

Ex 6-1: user defined

GUI, script (6/6)
The second
radiobutton
controls the color
of the plotted sine
curve (black is the
default, turns to
blue when
radiobutton is
clicked)
This is mostly a
repetition of the
commands for the
frst radiobutton,
but the position in
the GW is different

// Add radiobutton for graph color:

//---------------------------------------------h_radio2 = uicontrol(h_graph,...
"style","radiobutton",...
// Declare
radiobutton
"Min",0,...
"Max",1,...
"value",0,...
// Initial button value
"backgroundColor",[1 1 1],...
"position",[10 size_y-380 20 20],...
"callback","update_radio()");
// GOTO to
update_radio()
h_radio2_txt = uicontrol(h_graph,...
"style","text",...
// Declare button text
"horizontalalignment","left",...
"string","-Change graph color",...
"backgroundColor",[.8 .8 .8],...
// Gray background
"fontsize",14,...
"position",[40 size_y-380 140 25]);
// Field size &
location
// **** END MAIN **** //

Ex 6-1: user defined

GUI, and here it is
Click on
EXIT and
the
window
closes
w clicked
down to 2
rad/s
Both
radiobutton
s have
been
clicked
Problem: Scilab experiences a lockup if you drag the slider. The
plot freezes and the Consol reports that the current handle no
longer exists

Ex 6-1: discussion

I copy-pasted the script from Antonelli & Chiaverini into

Scilabs Editor
The script had to be cleaned up and some redundancies could
be removed
I added the second radiobutton and organized the script in
what I thought was a more logical fashion
When I executed the script it opened up as expected, but the
slider was missing
After a frustrating weekend I did the whole thing from the
beginning, but now in steps. The error was that I had moved
the if-then-end construct in function new_GUI_data() after the
plot2d() command
Lessons learned: Do the job stepwise and test as you progress
As for the lockup, my guess is that Scilab runs into a conflict
situation when it should update the handle and the previous
update still is in progress

Example 6-2: animation

of a waltzing polygon
(1/4)

This demo is based on

Pinons Eine
Einfhrung in Scilab
The original contained
errors, obsolete
functions, and
redundant commands.
For instance, I
transformed xset()
functions to handle
graphics commands (as
explained in Chapter 7)

// animation_pincon_m2.sce
//------------------------------------------------------------------------------/
// The script plots the track of a blue polygon (rectangle)
/
// with red border, as it turns around its axis while racing
/
// counterclockwise in a circular loop on a black
background.
/
// The rectangle can be chaged to a trapetzoid or other
shape
/
// by changing element values in the matrix polygon.
Changing /
// theta arguments in the matrix align gives different
effects
/
//------------------------------------------------------------------------------/
clear,clc,clf;
// Basic parameters:
//---------------------steps = 100;
// Steps per circular loop
blength = 0.6;
// Basic length of polygon
width = 0.3;
// Basic width of polygon

Ex 6-2: animation of a
waltzing polygon (2/4)

The matrix polygon

defnes length & width
of edges. Change
them to different
values and the
rectangle is modifed
to a different polygon
Note the use of the
%inf constant to fll
missing arguments in
plot2d()

h=gca() declares h as a
handle

The handle is frst

used to set the
background color

// Basic equations & definitions:

//-----------------------------------t = linspace(0,revolutions*2*%pi,steps)';
x_axis = radius*cos(t);
// x-axis of circular loop
y_axis = radius*sin(t);
// y-axis of circular loop
polygon = [-blength/2 blength/2 blength/2 -blength/2;...
-width/2 -width/2 width/2 width/2];
// Defines corners of polygon
// Set scale for isometric plot:
//--------------------------------plot2d(%inf,%inf,frameflag=3, rect=[-1,-1,1,1],
axesflag=0)
h = gca();
xtitle('Waltzing polygon')
h.background = 1;
// Set background to black

Ex 6-2: animation of a
waltzing polygon (3/4)

The matrix align turns

the polygon into a new
angle. Change theta
values to see some
interesting effects

Here the handle is

used to set the fll
color of the polygon;
the process is
executed by xfpoly()

Next the handle

defnes the border
color; in this case the
executing function is
xpoly()

// Plot rectangle as it waltzes its loop:

//------------------------------------------turns = 3;
// Number of turns per loop
for i=1:steps
theta = turns*t(i);
// Angle of polygon alignment
align = [cos(theta) -sin(theta);...
sin(theta) cos(theta)]*polygon;
// Realigns polygon
h.foreground = 2;
// Set fill color to red
xfpoly(align(1,:)+x_axis(i), align(2,:)+y_axis(i))
// Fills polygon with defined color
h.foreground = 5;
// Change to blue for border
h.thickness = 3;
// Set border thickness to 3
xpoly(align(1,:)+x_axis(i), align(2,:)+y_axis(i),'lines',1)
// Draws polygon border in defined color
end

Ex 6-2: animation of a
waltzing polygon (4/4)
In this screenshot the
polygon (rectangle) has
made just over three
quarters of its
counterclockwise loop. At
the same time it has spun
2 times around its axis,
and has begun the last
turn. There are 100
position samples on a full
loop (steps = 100;) and it
completes in a few
seconds

Example 6-3 (1/2) :

grayplot() &
contour2d()
// grayplot_demo.sce /

This example shows how a gray

color scale and contour lines can
be combined to create the
illusion of a 3D space

// Gray area map with level curves using /

// grayplot()/Sgrayplot() & contour2d() to /
// create illusion of a 3D space /

linspace() is multiplied by a 1x3

vector since the color map (the
third dimension) must be a
mx3 matrix. The color map can
be inverted with (1-linspace())
and a nonlinear amplitude
function can be added to stress
the effects

// Color map definitions & initial

declarations:
//------------------------------------------------------------f = gcf();
f.color_map = linspace(0,1,64)'*ones(1,3);
n = 20;
// Plot resolution
x = linspace(-3,3,n); // 3D plot limits
y = x;

The Sgrayplot() function smoothes

the plot color compared with the
basic grayplot() function

Contour lines are added

clear,clc,clf();

// Plot function:
//-------------------Z = sin(x)'*cos(y);
Sgrayplot(x,y,Z)
grayplot

// Function to plot
// Smoothed

// Define and add level curves:

//---------------------------------------level = [-.8 -.6 -.4 -.2 -.03 .03 .2 .4 .6 .8];
contour2d(x,y,Z,level);

Ex 6-3 (2/2): grayplot()

& contour2d()

cos(y)

The influence of the sine and

cosine functions are easy to
see (note that the origin is in
the center of the graph)

sin(x)

The contour lines become

white if the color map is
inversed
Steps begin to show in the
gray scale if the color map
defnition is changed to
linspace(0,1,32), where the
argument 32 stands for
halved color resolution
Change the plot function
from Sgrayplot() to grayplot(),
and youll see the meaning
of the variable n=20

Example 6-4: sector

chart, script
// create_sectors.sce

// Plots four colored sectors in predifined

// directions and with predifined widths

/
/

clear,clc,clf;

This script is based on a

solution by Pierre Lando and
shows a method for creating a
sector chart, with each sector
having defned length (radius),
direction, width, and color
The solution can be seen as a
more general case of Scilabs
pie() function that we met in
Chapter 9
The most important function in
this case is xfarcs(), which we
already met in the frst
animation demo (the arcs vector
is of course also important since
it governs the whole plot)

//
---- SUBROUTINE ---/
// The plot2d() function defines the figure, /
// xfarcs() adds colored sectors to the plot /
function create_sectors(r, angle, width, col)
plot2d(%nan,%nan,-1,"031"," ",[-1,-1,1,1])
arcs=[-r;r;2*r;2*r;(angle-width/2)*64;width*64];
xfarcs(arcs,col)
// Add sectors
xtitle('COLORED SECTORS')
endfunction
// ---- MAIN ---- /
// Define sectors:
//---------------------rad = [.9,.6,1,.5]
angle = [0,135,225,270]
width = [45,75,60,80]
colors = [2,3,5,7]

// Sector radii
// Sector midpoints
// Sector widths
// Color definitions

// Call subroutine:
//----------------------create_sectors(rad,angle,width,colors)
// ---- END MAIN ---- /

Ex 6-4: sector chart,

plot

Here is the plot, nice and

beautiful. We can
suppress the axes by
changing the plot2d()
argument 031 to 030

The overlapping yellow

sector just happens to
be on top (last element
in the vector list). In
practical applications,
when doing automatic
plotting of some process,
we would have to put
more effort into getting
the plot the way we want

Example 6-5: Robot

arm (1/6), introduction

Recent web discussions on the

relative virtues of Scilab, Matlab,
and Octave made me take a new
look at manual conversion of
Matlab scripts
This case with a two-dimensional
moving robot arm is from
Chapman, S.J.: Matlab
Programming for Engineers, 2nd
ed., (publisher & year unknown),
pp. 202-206
The case demonstrates practical
application of matrices. See
Chapman for a full discussion
The original script can be found on
the next slides; the converted
script with added comments are on
the following two slides

Finish
L2

x2
Start

L1
1

x1

Base motor
Elbow motor

Hand

Ex 6-5: Robot arm

(2/6), Matlab script
% Robot arm motion script
%
% Initial values, angles in degrees
tf = 2;
theta10 = -19*pi/180;
theta1tf = 43*pi/180;
theta20 = 44*pi/180;
theta2tf = 151*pi/180;
%
% Equations for a coefficients
T = [ tf^5
tf^4
tf^3
5*tf^4 4*tf^3 3*tf^2
20*tf^3 12*tf^2 6*tf ];
c = [ theta1tf-theta10; 0; 0 ];
disp(Coefficients for theta1 motion:)
a = T\c
%
% Equations for b coefficients
d = [ theta2tf-theta20; 0; 0 ];
disp(Coefficients for theta2 motion:)

b= T\d
%
% Equations of motion
L1 = 4;
L2 = 3;
t = linspace(0,2,401);
tq = [ t.^5; t.^4; t.^3 ];
theta1 = theta10 + a*tq;
theta2 = theta20 + b*tq;
x1 = L1*cos(theta1) + L2*cos(theta1 +
theta2);
x2 = L1*sin(theta1) + L2*sin(theta1 +
theta2);
%
% Plot path of hand
plot(x1,x2),...
xlabel(x_1),...
ylabel(x_2),...
title(Path of robot hand),...
text(4.3,0,t=0s: (x_1,x_2) = (6.5,0)),...
text(0.2,2,t=2s: (x_1,x_2) = (0,2))

Ex 6-5: Robot arm

(3/6), Scilab
conversion
(1/2)
The joint motors are
controlled by the
// robot_motion.sce

following polynomial
expressions:
1(t) = 1(0)+a1t5+a2t4+a3t3+
+a4t2+a5t
2(t) = 2(0)+b1t5+b2t4+b3t3+
+b4t2+b5t

Matrix equations are set

up and solved for
coefficient vectors (a, b),
using given initial values
(0) and fnal values
(tf), and the results are
used to plot the path of
the robot hand

//
//
//
//

Robot arm motion in two dimensions using a fifth-degree /

polynomial to control the motion. See Chapman, S.J.: /
"Matlab programming for Engineers," 2nd ed., for a /
detailed discussion. /

clear;clc,clf;
// Initial values, angles in degrees:
//--------------------------------------------tf = 2;
// Finish time
theta10 = -19*%pi/180;
// Theta 1 start position
theta1tf = 43*%pi/180;
// Theta 1 final position
theta20 = 44*%pi/180;
// Theta 2 start position
theta2tf = 151*%pi/180; // Theta 2 final position
// Equations for a coefficients (velocity
// constraints have been taken into account):
//-----------------------------------------------------------T = [ tf^5
tf^4
tf^3
5*tf^4 4*tf^3 3*tf^2
// Angular velocity
20*tf^3 12*tf^2 6*tf ]; // Angular acceleration
c = [ theta1tf - theta10; 0; 0 ]; // Theta 1 movement
a = T\c
// Coefficient vector a
disp(['Coefficients for theta1 motion:'])
disp([string(a')])

Ex 6-5: Robot arm

(4/6), Scilab
conversion
(2/2)
By requiring that velocity
and acceleration at t=0
be zero, the polynomial
coefficients a5 and a4
become zero. This limits
the size of the T matrix
(previous slide) to 3x3
The computed
coefficient vectors a
and b are used to
defne angular
speeds, based upon
which the hand
position is defned in
x1 and x2 coordinates

// Equations for b coefficients:

//--------------------------------------d = [ theta2tf - theta20; 0; 0 ];
// Theta 2 movement
b= T\d
// Coefficient vector b
disp(['Coefficients for theta2 motion:'])
disp([string(b')])

// Equations of motion:
//-----------------------------L1 = 4;
// Length of upper arm [feet]
L2 = 3;
// Length of lower arm [feet]
t = linspace(0, 2, 401);
// Computation steps
tq = [ t.^5; t.^4; t.^3 ];
theta1 = theta10 + a'*tq; // Base motor angular speed
theta2 = theta20 + b'*tq; // Elbow motor angular speed
x1 = L1*cos(theta1) + L2*cos(theta1 + theta2); // x1 positio
x2 = L1*sin(theta1) + L2*sin(theta1 + theta2); // x2 position
// Plot path of hand, add labels & legend:
//-----------------------------------------------------plot(x1,x2),..
xlabel('x_1'),..
ylabel('x_2'),..
title('PATH OF A ROBOT HAND'),..
h1 = legend(['START: t=0s, (x_1,x_2) = (6.5,0); ..
STOP: t=2s, (x_1,x_2) = (0,2)'], 3)

Ex 6-5: Robot arm

(5/6), plot & display

!0.3501567 -1.7507834 2.3343

Coefficients for theta2 motion:

!0.2028945 -1.0144726 1.3526

Ex 6-5: Robot arm

(6/6), discussion
The manual conversion from Matlab scripts to Scilab was
simple enough. Only the following came up:

Matlabs % comment marks had to be changed to //

Matlabs built-in pi function had to be changed to %pi
Apostrophes (quotation marks) had to be rewritten, but only
because copy-pasting gives the wrong type ( instead of )
The disp() command had to be changed because Scilab does
not output the a and b coefficients even if respective lines
(a=T\d and b=T\d) end without a semicolon (a bug?)
Matlabs text() command is not recognized by Scilab (cf.
Chapter 9). It allows legend beginnings to be located at
precise points

The Help Browser does not give an answer on what to do

The Scilab-for-Matlab-users compendium by Beil & Grimm-Strele
mentions this particular case but does not offer a solution
Conclusion: We have to stick to Scilabs ordinary legend commands

Example 6-6:
animation with planet
&Themoon,
task is to animateintro
a planet with a moon rotating

around it. If possible, the bodies should have different

colors
The task has its frst difficulty in fnding a way to keep the
planet static while the moon rotates. My solution is to
redraw both bodies for each step that the moon moves.
Slow, but it works
The second difficulty is to give the bodies different colors.
The handle command color_map is nice, but it operates on
the Figure level and only one color is possible for graphs
on the Axes level. The presented solution is not perfect,
since only the edges of the facets that form the spheres
have different colors (this can be done on the Entity level)
The third problem is with box alignment. It will be
discussed on the plot slide

Ex 6-6: planet & moon,

script (1/3)
// planet_moon1.sce
// Animation with a moon rotating around a planet. /
// The spheres are ccomposed of 3D X, Y, and Z
/
// facets using the surf() function to plot.
/

The spheres (planet,

moon) are built from
rectangular facets. The
values of the facets are
computed here, in
subroutine facet()
Basic variables for the
planet

/ clear,clc,clf;
// **** SUBOUTINE **** //
// Attach defined points to the spheres:
function [x, y, z] = facet(v, h)
x = cos(v)'*cos(h);
// Facet x-matrix
y = cos(v)'*sin(h);
// Facet y-matrix
z = sin(v)'*ones(h);
// Facet z-matrix
endfunction
// **** MAIN **** //
// Define planet & moon variables:
//--------------------------------------------// Planet (p), 10x10 degree grid:
vp = linspace(-%pi/2,%pi/2,18); // 18 steps vertically
hp = linspace(0,2*%pi,36);
// 36 steps horizontally
rp = 2;
// Planet radius

Ex 6-6: planet & moon,

script (2/3)

Basic variables for the

moon, both for the
moon itself and its
location in space
GO TO subroutine
facet() to compute
facet matrices
Basic plot defnitions

// Moon (m), 20x20 degree grid & offset from origin:

vm = linspace(-%pi/2,%pi/2,9); // 9 steps vertically
hm = linspace(0,2*%pi,18);
// 18 steps horizontally
rm = 0.3;
// Moon radius
Rm = 2.1;
// Moon offset
Az = 0;
// Moon start point
n = 1;
// # of moon revolutions
step = 100
// # of steps/revolution
// Define facets for spheres using subroutine facet():
//---------------------------------------------------------------------[Xp,Yp,Zp] = facet(vp,hp);
// Planet
[Xm,Ym,Zm] = facet(vm,hm);
// Moon

// Plot commands (box, planet, moon):

//--------------------------------------------------// Define 3D box, put double buffer on, define surface:
a = gca();
a.data_bounds = [-5,-5,-3; 5,5,3]; // 3D box size
f = gcf();
f.pixmap = "on";
// Double buffer
f.color_map = hotcolormap(32);
// Surface color

Ex 6-6: planet & moon,

script (3/3)
// Plot planet & rotating moon:
for Az = 0 : 2*%pi/step : n*2*%pi

Loop for rotation

begins

Delete old graphs

Put color on the box

Push planet data to

frst buffer

Recalculate moon
location & push data
to frst buffer

show_pixmap() =
push plot to screen

// Delete previous entities (planet & moon):

if (a.children~=[]) then
// IF frame contains graph...
delete(a.children);
//
then delete graph
end
// Plot planet & define facet edges:
a.background = color('grey');
// Box wall color
surf(rp*Xp, rp*Yp, rp*Zp);
// Plot planet
e1 = gce();
e1.foreground = color('red'); // Facet edge color
// Plot moon & define facet edges:
x_loc = Rm*sin(Az);
// Location on x axis
y_loc = Rm*cos(Az);
// Location on y axis
C = Rm*[x_loc, -y_loc, 0]
// Moon center
surf(C(1)+rm*Xm, C(2)+rm*Ym, C(3)+rm*Zm); // Plot moon
e2 = gce();
e2.foreground = color('blue'); // Facet edge color
show_pixmap();
end
f.pixmap = "off";
// **** END MAIN **** //

Ex 6-6: animation with

planet & moon, plot
And here the beauty is.
The moon rotates
counterclockwise and is
shown in its start position
As said above, this task
was not without
problems. One thing that
I failed to do was to tilt
the box somewhat
differently. The handle
command a = gca();
a.rotation_angles =
[alpha,theta] just refused
to cooperate and the
angles stayed at 51 and
-125 respectively (a
fnal bug?)

Measured with tick(); ... tock(),

each moon step takes about
150 milliseconds to perform

Dr.E
Dr.E
W
W

Johnny
JohnnyHeikell
Heikell

20. Adieu
Final words to accompany you
in your struggle for survival of
the fttest
Return to Contents

Thats it, Folks!

We have reached the end of our journey. The road was longer
and bumpier than I anticipated
There is much more to Scilab but we are on our way if we master
even this material (think of an office software package and how
little of its potential you really know even if you use it daily)
The most important next step is to do Scilab simulations on our
own, to solve problems in our particular sphere of interest

Learning = hard brainwork + a tough rear end

And for everybodys sake, keep reminding the Scilab team about
the need for a comprehensive, up-to-date tutorial. To repeat an
old engineering adage: The job isnt done until the paperwork is
done!
All the best and take care
JH

When I think over what I have said, I envy dumb people.

Seneca (4 B.C.A.D. 65).