Get Help for MATLAB Functions from Python
How to Find MATLAB Help
From Python®, you can access supporting documentation for all MATLAB® functions. This documentation includes examples and describes input arguments, output arguments, and calling syntax for each function.
MATLAB Engine API for Python enables you to use the MATLAB
doc
and help
functions. Use
doc
to open the MATLAB Help browser. Use help
to get a brief description
of a MATLAB function at the Python prompt.
Open MATLAB Help Browser from Python
From Python, you can use the Help browser to open MATLAB function reference pages and search the documentation.
For example, display the reference page for the MATLAB
plot
function. (Since doc
returns no output
arguments, you must set nargout=0
.
)
import matlab.engine eng = matlab.engine.start_matlab() eng.doc("plot",nargout=0)
The reference page includes a description of the function, examples, and links to related documentation.
Note
Click an example title, or on the arrow next to a title, if you do not see the examples on a MATLAB reference page. Examples can be collapsed or expanded within a page.
If you call eng.doc
with no positional arguments, it opens the
Help browser. (You still must set the keyword argument
nargout=0
).
eng.doc(nargout=0)
To search the MATLAB documentation, type an expression in the search box at the top of any page in the Help browser. The browser returns a list of search results, highlighting words that match the expression.
Alternatively, you can search the documentation with the
docsearch
function. For example, search for pages that
mention
plot
.
eng.docsearch("plot",nargout=0)
Display MATLAB Help at Python Prompt
To display help text for a function at the Python prompt, call the MATLAB
help
function. For example, display the help text for
erf
.
import matlab.engine eng = matlab.engine.start_matlab() eng.help("erf",nargout=0)
ERF Error function. Y = ERF(X) is the error function for each element of X. X must be real. The error function is defined as: erf(x) = 2/sqrt(pi) * integral from 0 to x of exp(-t^2) dt. See also ERFC, ERFCX, ERFINV, ERFCINV. Other functions named erf: codistributed/erf gpuArray/erf sym/erf Reference page in Help browser doc erf
The output displays the help text, but does not include any links to help for other MATLAB functions that might be mentioned.