Search for keyword in all help entries


As an alternative to the lookfor function, use the Function Browser.


lookfor topic
lookfor topic -all


lookfor topic searches for the string topic in the first comment line (the H1 line) of the help text in all MATLAB® program files found on the search path. For all files in which a match occurs, lookfor displays the H1 line.

lookfor topic -all searches the entire first comment block of a MATLAB program file looking for topic.


For example:

lookfor inverse

finds at least a dozen matches, including H1 lines containing "inverse hyperbolic cosine," "two-dimensional inverse FFT," and "pseudoinverse." Contrast this with

which inverse 


what inverse

These functions run more quickly, but probably fail to find anything because MATLAB does not have a function inverse.

In summary, what lists the functions in a given folder, which finds the folder containing a given function or file, and lookfor finds all functions in all folders that might have something to do with a given keyword.

Even more extensive than the lookfor function are the find features in the Current Folder browser. For example, you can look for all occurrences of a specified word in all the MATLAB program files in the current folder and its subfolders. For more information, see Find Files and Folders.

See Also

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