MATLAB Programming

2 Data Types
All available formats are listed on the format reference page.
To change the numeric display setting, use either the format function or
the Preferences dialog box (accessible from the MATLAB File menu). The
format function changes the display of numeric values for the duration of a
single MATLAB session, while your Preferences settings remain active from
one session to the next. These settings affect only how numbers are displayed,
not how MATLAB computes or saves them.
Display Format Examples
Here are a few examples of the various formats and the output produced from
the following two-element vector x, with components of different magnitudes.
Check the current format setting:
get(0, 'format')
ans =
short
Set the value for x and display in 5-digit scaled fixed point:
x = [4/3 1.2345e-6]
x =
1.3333 0.0000
Set the format to 5-digit floating point:
format short e
x
x =
1.3333e+000
1.2345e-006
Set the format to 15-digit scaled fixed point:
format long
x
x =
1.33333333333333 0.00000123450000
Set the format to 'rational' for small integer ratio output:
2-28