web - Open web page or file in browser - MATLAB (original) (raw)

Open web page or file in browser

Syntax

Description

web([url](#btigyx%5F-url)) opens the page specified byurl in a web browser. If url is an external site or a documentation page (including custom documentation pages),web(url) opens the page in your system web browser. Otherwise, the page opens in the HTML Viewer. If multiple browsers are open, the page displays in the one that was most recently used.

example

web([url](#btigyx%5F-url),[opt](#btigyx%5F-opt)) opens the page using the specified browser option, such as'-new' to create a new web browser instance or'-browser' to use the system web browser.

On Microsoft® Windows® and Apple Macintosh platforms, the operating system determines the system web browser. On other systems, the default is the Mozilla® Firefox® browser, but you can change the default using MATLAB® Web settings.

example

web([url](#btigyx%5F-url),opt1,...,optN) opens the page using one or more browser options.

example

web opens an empty HTML Viewer tab. If a HTML Viewer tab is already open, web does nothing.

[stat](#btigyx%5F-stat) = web(___) returns the status of the operation: 0 if successful,1 or 2 if unsuccessful. You can include any of the input arguments in previous syntaxes.

[[stat](#btigyx%5F-stat),[h](#btigyx%5F-h)] = web(___) returns a handle to a HTML Viewer tab that allows you to close it using the command close(h). If the page opens in the system web browser, web returns an empty handle.

If you do not specify any inputs to the web function, such as [stat,h] = web, then the handle corresponds to the most recently used HTML Viewer.

[[stat](#btigyx%5F-stat),[h](#btigyx%5F-h),[url](#btigyx%5F-url)] = web(___) returns the URL of the current page in the HTML Viewer. If the page opens in the system web browser, web returns an empty URL.

Examples

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Open the MathWorks® Web site home page in the system web browser.

url = 'https://www.mathworks.com'; web(url)

Create a local HTML file by publishing an example program file.

htmlFile = publish("penny.m",outputDir=pwd);

View the file by specifying the filename.

View the file in a new tab in the HTML Viewer that does not include a toolbar.

web(htmlFile,"-new","-notoolbar")

Alternatively, you can use the file:/// URL scheme, as long as you include the full path. The publish function returns the path in the htmlFile output.

url = "file:///" + htmlFile; web(url)

Send an email from your system web browser's default mail application using the mailto: URL scheme.

To run this example, replace the value for email with a valid email address.

email = 'myaddress@provider.ext'; url = ['mailto:',email]; web(url)

View formatted text using the text:// URL scheme.

web('text://

Hello World

Input Arguments

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Web page address or file location, specified as a character vector or a string. File locations can include an absolute or relative path.

If url is an external site or a documentation page (including custom documentation pages), then the page opens in your system web browser. Otherwise, the page opens in the HTML Viewer.

Example: 'https://www.mathworks.com'

Example: "myfolder/myfile.html"

Browser option, specified as one of the following. Options can appear in any order.

Example: '-new','-noaddressbox'

Output Arguments

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Browser status, returned as an integer with one of these values:

Handle to the most recent HTML Viewer tab, returned as a scalar instance of a matlab.htmlviewer.HTMLViewer class. If the page opens in the system web browser, h is empty,[].

If you do not request the handle when you open the page, the handle might not correspond to your most recent use of the web function as MATLAB uses the web function for other functionality.

Current page address in the most recent HTML Viewer tab, returned as a character vector or string. url has the same data type as the input argument url. If the page opens in the system web browser, url is empty,''.

Limitations

• MATLAB Online™ only supports the web(url) syntax. Calling web(url) in MATLAB Online opens the page specified by url in your web browser.
• The web function does not support thetext:// URL scheme when opening pages in the system web browser or from a deployed application.

Tips

• If you plan to deploy an application that calls the web function using the MATLAB Compiler™ product, use the '-browser' option to open all pages in the system web browser.
• If you are displaying Japanese streaming text in the HTML Viewer, specify a header that includes the charset attribute. For example:
  web(['text://<meta http-equiv="content-type" ' ...
  'content="text/html;charset=utf-8">TEXT'])

Version History

Introduced before R2006a

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When you use the web function to open a local URL or file, the page now opens in the HTML Viewer. Previously, the page opened in the MATLAB web browser. As part of this change, the MATLAB web browser has been removed.

The web function now returns a handle to the most recent MATLAB web browser as a matlab.htmlviewer.HTMLViewer object. In previous releases, the web function returns the handle as an instance of a Java® class. With this change, some methods that were previously supported in the returned handle are no longer supported.

In most cases, you do not need to make any changes to your code. However, if your code uses methods that are not supported in the returnedmatlab.htmlviewer.HTMLViewer object, you must update your code.

When you use the web function to open a file in the installed documentation, the file now opens in your system web browser. Previously, the file opened in the Help browser.

In a future release, the web function will return a handle to the most recent MATLAB web browser as a MATLAB class. Currently, the web function returns the handle as a Java class. With this change, some methods that were previously supported in the returned handle will no longer be supported.

In most cases, you will not need to make any changes to your code. However, if you are using methods that are not supported in the returned MATLAB class, you will need to update your code.

The web function now opens external sites using your system web browser. Previously, you could open external sites using the MATLAB web browser by clearing the Use system web browser when opening links to external sites (recommended) setting. This setting has been removed.

The web function does not return a handle or URL for pages that open in the system web browser. This includes all external pages, which by default open in your system web browser, unless configured otherwise in the MATLAB Web settings.

To update your code, remove the handle and URL output arguments from instances of the web function. This table shows examples of how you can update your code.

The web function now opens external sites using your system web browser by default. Previously, the web function opened external sites using the MATLAB browser. Using the system web browser is recommended when opening external sites.

To use the MATLAB browser as the default browser for external sites, go to theHome tab, and in the Environment section, click Settings. Select > and in the System Web browser section, clear theUse system web browser when opening links to external sites (recommended) option.