The first example is a cell array and for array creation, you don’t the … to add values to the array. However, for the function, you do need … to continue lines. So the explanation is that the first is array creation and the second a function.

FYI, this will also work:

datafiles={
            'J1lower'
            %'J1upper' ...
            'S3lower'
            %'S3upper' ...
            'S4lower'
            %'S4upper', ...
            'soilc6lower',
            }; %names of datafile(s) without file extension

–Loren

concerning the topic of “block comments” or more generally, the interaction between … and %:
can someone explain why example 1 works (commenting out some input files) why the 2nd, obviously similar to the thread example, doesn´t? The´re both in the same script.

example 1:

datafiles={...
            'J1lower' ...
            %'J1upper' ...
            'S3lower' ...
            %'S3upper' ...
            'S4lower' ...
            %'S4upper', ...
            'soilc6lower', ...
            }; %names of datafile(s) without file extension

example 2:

plot(ind,reslts(:,1),'.'...
            %,ind,reslts(:,3),'*'...
            %,ind,reslts(:,5),'o'...
            ,ind,reslts(:,7),'+'...
            ,ind,reslts(:,9),'-'...
            ,ind,reslts(:,11),'-')...
            );

(Yes I will also be happy about any comment that these two problems can be solved better anyways, but still understanding how … and % ineract would really be interesting!)

Another interesting technique. Thanks.\

–Loren

I would recommend not to use the code suggested by Loren as it makes the whole code less readable. Block comments should only be used to comment out blocks of codes, not small fragments or single lines.

Although the % does not work in a multi-line command, there is absolutely no need to use it. Putting a … in front of the line has the same effect except for keeping the multi-line command intact:

t = pi:pi/20:5*pi;
sinc = sin(30*t)./t;
h = plot(t,sinc);
set(h,...
    'linestyle','--',...
    'color','m',...
    'marker','diamond',...
    'markersize',8,...
...    'markerfacecolor','c',...
    'markeredgecolor','b'...
   )

Sorry for the broken link. Here is the link for block comments:

http://www.mathworks.com/access/helpdesk/help/techdoc/matlab_env/f2-53314.html#f2-53527

–Loren

Thanks, now I understand what these “block comments” are. I can see how they might be used with prototype code: e.g., you can disable a section of code and observe the behavior of the rest when you execute it.

However, I can’t see how I would use it. There is a risk that I will visually miss the section that is commented out. Using the “%” at the beginning of each line in the block makes the commented section visually prominent. Since the MatLab editor has the feature to automate the adding of the “%” to the selected lines, why use this “riskier” technique?

I see that the MatLab editor will color code both techniques to aid in the visual prominence, so I suppose the risk of missing the comments is low.

I understand that a similar feature is available in C, so likely The MathWorks has received requests for this feature from their customers and it is always good to accommodate your customers.

But, for final code, I want the comments to really stand out as visually separate from the commands, so I’ll continue to use “%” on each line.

Sorry I missed you in Seattle today. I wanted to attend your seminar, but schedule issues prevented it.

I fixed the link. It broke with the release of R2006b. Thanks for catching it.

Block comments are delimiters around a block (of anything you want to be in comments). They start with a line like this:

%{

and end with a line like this

%}

See lines 11 and 13 in the last code block in the blog.

Using them, you don’t need to have % in front of every line in between, sometimes rendering the comment more readable. In the case of comment embedded in a code that continues on multiple lines, block comments also render the remaining code usable.

–Loren

Could you explain your term, “block comments?” The link in your article appears to be broken and I haven’t been able to figure out if it is a type of MatLab command, MatLab editor command or just a general term applying to a style of comments. I did find a reference to the term on the MathWorks web site, but that is broken also. It appeared to refer to a section of MatLab documentation:

Adding Comments :: Editing and Debugging M-Files(Desktop Tools and Development Environment)

But, I can’t find that by surfing thru the documentation contents.