A lot of new functionality was added in R2008a, including<\/p>\n
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- \n
- Editors for objects created in the new MATLAB class system<\/a><\/li>\n
- Improved Structure support<\/li>\n
- Support for Data Brushing<\/li>\n
- Other interface enhancements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Because of all of these changes since Version 5, we felt that it was time to rename the Array Editor.\u00a0 It’s now called the “Variable Editor” to reflect its enhanced capabilities.<\/p>\n
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Let’s take a look at some of the changes.\u00a0 Create a variable and open it in the Variable Editor:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
>> x = magic(10);<\/p>\n
>> openvar x % Or go to the Workspace and double-click on x.<\/p>\n
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![](\"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/images\/desktop\/bob_gilmore_editing_variables\/VEMagic10.png\")
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Here we see the Variable Editor with a new information bar bar located just below the toolbar.\u00a0 It shows the name, size, and class of the current variable, as well as the same icon (based on data type) that’s shown in the Workspace.<\/p>\n
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We also see the new data brushing toolbar button.\u00a0 Data brushing is a topic unto itself, worthy of a future posting (stay tuned – if you can’t wait to try it, checkout the documentation<\/a>).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Structure Editing<\/b><\/p>\n
We’ve enhanced structure editing to leverage a lot of the features that have been added to the Workspace in recent years.\u00a0 To see this, let’s create a structure with some interesting data.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
>> s.data = magic(10);<\/p>\n
>> s.city = ‘Natick’;<\/p>\n
>> s.temp = 70.2;<\/p>\n
>> openvar s<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
![](\"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/images\/desktop\/bob_gilmore_editing_variables\/VEStructure.png\")
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As you can see, the Variable Editor shows the fields of the structure in the same way that the Workspace shows the variables in the Workspace.\u00a0 Field (instead of Name), Value, Min, Max, and all of the other columns accessible in the Workspace are also shown here.\u00a0 Further, all of the gestures for editing (clicks, context menus, and so on) are identical to those used in the Workspace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Object Editing<\/b><\/p>\n
We’ve also added support for MATLAB class system objects.\u00a0 Now, the public properties of objects are shown in the same way as the fields of structures.<\/p>\n
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![](\"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/images\/desktop\/bob_gilmore_editing_variables\/VEMemmap.png\")
<\/a><\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/images\/desktop\/bob_gilmore_editing_variables\/VEMemmapDebug.png\")
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p>\n