Input String Variable to SaveAs Command

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I'm trying to write the SaveAs command to save a plot. Upstream of the command, I'm trying to create a string parameter that's comprised of a variable from the calculations. Below is the snippet of code that I'm working with. I'd like to capture the value of the "d" parameter in the SaveAs filename. I figured I might be able to do this by first writing a string variable having the "d" parameter within. Then I try to reference that string variable in the SaveAs command. It doesn't seem to work though. Is there another way to do this?
d=100E-6;
str_saveas="HW_2_%d_micron_particle";
z=d*10^6;
str_saveas=sprintf(str_saveas,z)
saveas(figure(1),'str_saveas','fig');
Thanks in advance, M Ridzon
  1 Comment
Stephen23
Stephen23 on 25 Sep 2017
Edited: Stephen23 on 25 Sep 2017
This is a sign of some bad code design:
str_saveas="HW_2_%d_micron_particle
z=d*10^6;
str_saveas=sprintf(str_saveas,z)
because you are putting meta-data into variable names. This is a very bad practice, and will only make your code slow, buggy, and complicated. This is exactly the problem you are experiencing now, although you probably don't realize it yet.
Read this to know why putting meta-data into variable names is a bad idea:
Some beginners think that putting meta-data into variable names is cunning and neat. It isn't, and it just causes them to write complex, buggy, slow code.
You should learn to use indexing: simple, efficient, neat, easy to write and debug. If you had used indexing then your example could be reduced down to two or three simpler lines of code.

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Accepted Answer

Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 25 Sep 2017
Edited: Walter Roberson on 25 Sep 2017
d = 100E-6;
str_saveas = 'HW_2_%d_micron_particle.fig';
z = d*10^6;
str_saveas = sprintf(str_saveas, round(z));
saveas(figure(1), str_saveas, 'fig');
saveas(figure(1), str_saveas, 'fig');

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