R2009a introduces Extended M-Lint: a new set of tooltips in the MATLAB Editor that provide on-demand additional information about a particular message. The following images show the new R2009a M-Lint message features.

Some, but not all of the messages are hyperlinks. Clicking the hyperlink expands the tooltip box and displays additional information on why the message was shown and how to possibly resolve the issue. Clicking the link again will shrink the message.

In addition to the color of the squiggle or stripe, the severity of a message is indicated by a warning or error icon.

Not all M-lint messages have extended information. We started with the ones we felt would be most useful, and each release going forward we’ll examine the new and existing messages to see how we can provide the most useful information about your code.

If there is a an automatic fix available for the message, there is a “fix” button in the tip which will apply the change for you. To preview the change, you’ll still have to use the context menu. In addition to the Alt+Enter shortcut introduced last release, this release we introduce Ctrl+M (or Command+M on Mac) to show the message and expand/collapse it.

Let us know how you find this new feature; we’re especially interested in any comments you might have about the content and what messages you find useful or would like to see.