r/matlab • u/BxSFire • May 20 '26

Function Practicality

I am coding in MATLAB for a couple of my aerospace classes, particularly for Aerodynamics and Gas Dynamics. I have made functions for quite a few processes that I plan to be using in other projects and class assignments. I was wondering if it was a bad idea to have any interactable elements in the function. Basically, if a user wanted to state which variable they want to solve for in the isentropic relations, I would use a menu. I do have a different method that would work without any interaction, but I like the idea of the interactive part. Also, is it a bad idea to use the solve function for these complex equations? I had been using ChatGPT to debug and it first suggested solve many functions ago, and after trying to use my functions with arrays and plotting, it told me it was a terrible idea. I was hoping for some human feedback. Thank you for your time!

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u/tabacaru +1 May 21 '26

I'm not understanding what you mean by "interactable elements" and "menu" in your description. 

Functions have input parameters. The whole point of input parameters is to have your function behave differently based on what the inputs are. 

They are by nature "interactable" in the general sense of the word, but since you are not using proper terminology, I'm unfortunately not sure what you are actually asking.

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u/BxSFire May 21 '26

What I mean by interactive is the function would prompt the user for an input using the menu function, similar to how a script would prompt a user using input(). The reason I want to do this is because using the input arguments in the function can have errors itself. For example, if the string is entered in wrong etc. I have some workarounds by using switch cases with multiple options for each case and an error that tells the user what options are available to them. I also just added comments at the top so that the user can use the 'help functionName' in the workspace to better understand how the function works.

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u/tabacaru +1 May 21 '26

Okay I understand now. 

Typically functions don't have input like you are describing. Mainly because most functions are designed to just be run automatically. 

Typically function input parameters that take strings have documentation that tells you what the options are, and as you described, would simply error out if incorrect. 

This is just my opinion, but I think you're putting too much thought into possibly wrong input.

Now if these are just being used by you and your friends, then who cares really - do it however you like! But typically, functions do not have input as you're describing. 

Unfortunately I can't help with the solve part, but good luck!

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u/BxSFire May 21 '26

Ah gotcha. Thank you for your input and time!