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It is possible to return a variable number of output arguments from a
function using a syntax that’s similar to the one used with the
special varargin
parameter name. To let a function return a
variable number of output arguments the special output parameter name
varargout
is used. As with varargin
, varargout
is
a cell array that will contain the requested output arguments.
As an example the following function sets the first output argument to 1, the second to 2, and so on.
function varargout = one_to_n () for i = 1:nargout varargout{i} = i; endfor endfunction
When called this function returns values like this
[a, b, c] = one_to_n () ⇒ a = 1 ⇒ b = 2 ⇒ c = 3
If varargin
(varargout
) does not appear as the last
element of the input (output) parameter list, then it is not special,
and is handled the same as any other parameter name.
Copy the input parameters into the corresponding output parameters.
If only a single input parameter is supplied, its value is copied to each of the outputs.
For example,
[a, b, c] = deal (x, y, z);
is equivalent to
a = x; b = y; c = z;
and
[a, b, c] = deal (x);
is equivalent to
a = b = c = x;
Programming Note: deal
is often used with comma separated lists
derived from cell arrays or structures. This is unnecessary as the
interpreter can perform the same action without the overhead of a function
call. For example:
c = {[1 2], "Three", 4}; [x, y, z] = c{:} ⇒ x = 1 2 y = Three z = 4
See also: cell2struct, struct2cell, repmat.
Next: Variable-length Argument Lists, Previous: Multiple Return Values, Up: Functions and Scripts [Contents][Index]