Why help on 'str' yield help on 'std'?

Hi all,

When I want to check if a name for a new variable I want to use is already part of Matlab language I just seek help on that word (hopping to get 'word' not found). I guess this is a common practice.

I tried to use this technique with the word 'Str' (short name for a string) and got help on the known function 'std'. Either it is a bug or part of Matlab attempt to guess typos. In both cases, it doesn't help...

Is it a typo correction? Is it a bug?

Thanks,

Alon

[Walter Roberson]

Yes, occasionally MATLAB does clean up typos or redirect one word to the MATLAB equivalent of that concept. On occasion (not often) I have seen it direct to help that contained a copy of the word I had typed in.

Answer 1

[Stephen23]

Don't use help to check if a name is already used: the best function for this is which:

 which str
 which str -all

For example:

>> which str
'str' not found.
>> which std
C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2010b\toolbox\matlab\datafun\std.m

[Alon Rozen]

Hi Stephen,

Thanks! I learned something new. Didn't know about this 'which' option. It is better then 'help', I agree.

Just for curiosity, I still wonder about the 'help str' behavior. Is it a bug?

Alon

[Stephen23]

@Alon Rozen: I suspect that help is trying to, err, help, by providing some spelling correction.

[Steven Lord]

This feature was introduced in release R2015b. It is not a bug.