How do I insert the output of a command as formatted text in a live script.

Say I have a code line in a live script that generates output.

disp(magic(4))

I'd like to be able to copy the ouput

16 2 3 1

5 11 10 8

9 7 6 12

4 14 15 1

and past it a formatted text (monospaced, aligned, single line spacing) into the text of the script.

How do I do that?

[KALYAN ACHARJYA]

Is this? diary

Log Command Window text to file

https://in.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/diary.html

[Alan]

diary doesn't seem to work in Live Script files.

[dpb]

I've never used live script so "I know nuthink!" but if you can generate the output, why not just store it to a variable?

Now about reformatting it into the script "I know nuthink!" other than what can do with normal i/o. Formatting is something else again; too old a dog to worry about pretty; we were glad when first were able to put away the old Remington for the IBM Selectric; then to have an editor at all was remarkable achievement. :)

[Rik]

Maybe formattedDisplayText (introduced in R2021a) is useful in this context. See this blog post for context.

Answer 1

[Alan]

I think I worked out how to do it, but don't understand what's going on behind the sceens.

If I make a normal script file with the single command disp(magic(5)), then copy and past the output into the m-file as a comment after a section break.

disp(magic(5))
%%
%     17    24     1     8    15
%     23     5     7    14    16
%      4     6    13    20    22
%     10    12    19    21     3
%     11    18    25     2     9

Then save that file as a Live Code file I get what I want (see screen shot or the attached file.)

In the Live Code file, there seems to be a formated text box, which is monospaced. There doesn't seem to be a way of inserting such a box using the menu commands. However, a text box can be copied and pasted from one Live Code file to another, and then edited.

[K.]

The box you are seeing is likely a "Code Example". To insert one, go to the "INSERT" Toolstrip and find the "Code Example" button. (The MATLAB option gives you MATLAB syntax highlighting inside the box.)

Answer 2

[Raynier Suresh]

You can use the evalc to evaluate MATLAB expression and capture results.

results = evalc('magic(5)') 

You can also refer the below link for more information.

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/evalc.html

[Rik]

I'm not sure I would encourage people to use eval. Actually I am sure about my opinion. At the very least I would mention to be very careful.

Answer 3

[K.]

If I'm understanding your question correctly, the following might help. After running your live script, right click on the output and choose "Copy Output". Then paste it into a text (not code) area. If you don't have a line of text to paste it into, click the "Text" toolstrip button to insert a line of text first. For example:

If you'd then like to reduce the vertical spacing, you can do something like the other answer and convert it to a Code Example. Select the pasted text, go to the "INSERT" Toolstrip, and click the "Code Example" button: