format - Set output display format - MATLAB (original) (raw)

Set output display format

Syntax

Description

format([style](#btiwmh5-1-style)) changes the output display format to the format specified by style. For example,format("shortG") displays numeric values in a compact form with 5 total digits. Numeric formats affect only how numbers appear in the display, not how MATLAB® computes or saves them.

When you specify the style by name, you can use command form without parentheses or quotes:

You can set the format in either the Command Window or the Live Editor. Changing the format in one automatically updates it in both contexts.

example

[fmt](#mw%5F3eb76f23-845a-4266-9320-19dbc1994756) = format returns the current display format. (since R2021a)

example

[fmt](#mw%5F3eb76f23-845a-4266-9320-19dbc1994756) = format([style](#btiwmh5-1-style)) stores the current display format in fmt and then changes the display format to the specified style. (since R2021a)

You cannot use command form when you request output or when you pass a variable as input. Enclose inputs in parentheses and include style names in quotes.

fmt = format("shortG"); format(fmt)

example

Examples

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Set the output format to the long fixed-decimal format and display the value of pi.

Display the maximum values for integers and real numbers in hexadecimal format.

format hex intmax('uint64')

ans = uint64 ffffffffffffffff

Display the difference between shortEng and longEng formats.

Set the output format to shortEng.

Create a variable and increase its value by a multiple of 10 each time through a for loop.

A = 5.123456789; for k = 1:10 disp(A) A = A*10; end

 5.1235e+000

51.2346e+000

512.3457e+000

 5.1235e+003

51.2346e+003

512.3457e+003

 5.1235e+006

51.2346e+006

512.3457e+006

 5.1235e+009

The values display with 4 digits after the decimal point and an exponent that is a multiple of 3.

Set the output format to the long engineering format and view the same values.

format longEng

A = 5.123456789; for k = 1:10 disp(A) A = A*10; end

5.12345678900000e+000

51.2345678900000e+000

512.345678900000e+000

5.12345678900000e+003

51.2345678900000e+003

512.345678900000e+003

5.12345678900000e+006

51.2345678900000e+006

512.345678900000e+006

5.12345678900000e+009

The values display with 15 digits and an exponent that is a multiple of 3.

Use the shortG format when some of the values in an array are short numbers and some have large exponents. The shortG format picks whichever short fixed-decimal format or short scientific notation has the most compact display.

Create a variable and display output in the short format, which is the default.

x = [25 56.31156 255.52675 9876899999]; format short x

x = 1×4 109 ×

0.0000    0.0000    0.0000    9.8769

Set the format to shortG and redisplay the values.

x = 1×4

       25       56.312       255.53   9.8769e+09

Set the output format to the short engineering format with compact line spacing.

format shortEng format compact x = rand(3)

x = 814.7237e-003 913.3759e-003 278.4982e-003 905.7919e-003 632.3592e-003 546.8815e-003 126.9868e-003 97.5404e-003 957.5068e-003

Reset the display format to default and display the matrix again.

x =

0.8147    0.9134    0.2785
0.9058    0.6324    0.5469
0.1270    0.0975    0.9575

Before R2021a, reset the display format to default values using format by itself.

Since R2021a

Get the current display format.

fmt = DisplayFormatOptions with properties:

NumericFormat: "short"
  LineSpacing: "loose"

Since R2021a

Save the current display format and restore it at a later time.

Set the numeric display to shortE and display a 2-by-2 matrix of numeric values.

format shortE m = [9638573934 37467; 236 574638295]

m = 2×2

9.6386e+09 3.7467e+04 2.3600e+02 5.7464e+08

Save the current display format in oldFmt and change the numeric format to longE.

oldFmt = DisplayFormatOptions with properties:

NumericFormat: "shortE"
  LineSpacing: "loose"

Confirm that the numeric format is now long, scientific notation by redisplaying matrix m.

m = 2×2

 9.638573934000000e+09     3.746700000000000e+04
 2.360000000000000e+02     5.746382950000000e+08

Restore the format to its previous state. Redisplay m to confirm that the numeric format is now short, scientific format.

m = 2×2

9.6386e+09 3.7467e+04 2.3600e+02 5.7464e+08

Input Arguments

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Format to apply, specified as a character vector, string scalar, orDisplayFormatOptions object.

Character vectors or string scalars must be one of the listed style names or default.

Default

default restores the default display format, which is short for numeric format andloose for line spacing. (since R2021a)

Numeric Format

These styles control the output display format for numeric variables.

Line Spacing Format

The DisplayFormatOptions object has two properties,NumericFormat andLineSpacing. The options for character vector and string scalar inputs are also the valid property values. For an example of using a DisplayFormatOptions object, see Save and Restore Display Format.

Output Arguments

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Current display format, returned as a DisplayFormatOptions object with these properties:

• NumericFormat
• LineSpacing

For valid property values, see the style argument.

Note

Property values reflect the state of the display format when the object is created. The properties do not automatically change when the display format changes. See Save and Restore Display Format for an example.

Tips

• The specified format applies only to the current MATLAB session. To maintain a format across sessions, choose aNumeric format or Line spacing option in the Command Window settings.
• You can specify short or long and the presentation type separately, such as format short E orformat("short E").
• MATLAB always displays integer data types to the appropriate number of digits for the data type. For example, MATLAB uses 3 digits to display int8 data types (for instance, -128:127). Setting the output format to short or long does not affect the display of integer-type variables.
• Integer-valued, floating-point numbers with a maximum of 9 digits do not display in scientific notation.
• If you are displaying a matrix with a wide range of values, consider using shortG. See Large Data Range Format.

Extended Capabilities

Version History

Introduced before R2006a

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The format command, by itself, resets the output display format to the default, which is the short, fixed-decimal format for floating-point notation and loose line spacing for all output lines.

For clearer code, explicitly specify the default style (since R2021a).