Question

I want to write a function called 'my_function'. Which one of the function prototypes is NOT valid?

function x,y = my_function(a)
function my_function(a)
function my_function
function [ ] = my_function
'fprintf' is extensively used to print formatted data. Two messages displayed by 'disp' are shown below. Use 'fprintf' to print the two same messages. (hint: message part, format specifier, variable) name = 'Joe Bloggs'; ID=4869; % first message disp(['The ID of patient is ' num2str(ID) '.']); % second message disp(['The ID of patient " name ' is ' num2str(ID) '.']);

Answer 1

The use of fprintf in MATLAB allows for formatted output, requiring format specifiers for variables. The format specifiers for a string is %s and for an integer is %d. Escape sequences such as \\ (new line) and \" (double quote) are necessary in formatted strings.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question concerns the use of the fprintf function in MATLAB, which is a programming environment used for numerical computation and visualization. fprintf is used to print formatted data to the screen or a file. In contrast to the disp function, which displays information without formatting control, fprintf allows for formatted output using format specifiers.

To rewrite the disp outputs provided in the question using fprintf, we start by identifying the format specifiers needed for the variables name (a string) and ID (an integer). The correct format specifier for an integer is %d and for a string is %s. Therefore, the fprintf version of the disp statements would be as follows:

fprintf('The ID of patient is %d.\\', ID);
fprintf('The ID of patient "%s" is %d.\\', name, ID);

It's important to use escape sequences like \\ to represent a new line and \" to include double quotes in the output string. The fprintf function combines the format specifiers with the variables to produce the final formatted string that is printed to the console.