Important note: The term of an activated single user installation always ends on 30.04. of a year. From 60 days before this date you will also receive a corresponding notice when starting MATLAB. During this period an existing installation can be extended via the Matlab GUI (Help Button -> Licensing -> Activate License ...). The computer must be online for this.

MATLAB was originally developed as"MATrix LABoratory" to facilitate access to the matrix software developed in the LINPACK and EISPACK projects. MATLAB now combines both this numerical core and numerous visualization capabilities into a unified, interactive system. The built-in functions operate directly on matrices, allowing matrix-based problems to be solved at a much higher level of abstraction than, for example, in FORTRAN or C. The system can be easily extended by toolboxes, i.e., subroutines written in the MATLAB programming language. Likewise, FORTRAN or C subroutines can be integrated into MATLAB.

SIMULINK is an interactive system for nonlinear simulation of dynamic systems. The systems to be simulated can be designed as block diagrams on the screen using a graphical, mouse-driven interface. SIMULINK can simulate linear and nonlinear, discrete-time and continuous-time systems. It is fully integrated with MATLAB and uses its numerical methods to simulate the models.

Toolboxes are collections of MATLAB M-files specialized for a particular application area and accessed from within a MATLAB session.

Blocksets are extensions to SIMULINK.

The MATLAB system is developed and distributed by MathWorks developed and distributed. The SCC has purchased a so-called Total Academic Head Count (TAH) license for employees and for students as part of a state license for Baden-Württemberg. This can be purchased through the software store. After the ordering process, all information required for a single-user installation is provided. Registration with Mathworks is required for activation and for support requests. For network installations on managed desktops or in pools, MATLAB is available on the FTP server with appropriate instructions. Please also note the terms of use in the excerpt from the License Agreement.

Starting the program

Matlab can be started under Unix/Linux with the command matlab.

Under Windows, the program is started by activating the corresponding icon.

MATLAB introductory courses

Currently, the following Matlab introductory courses are offered through the MINT-Kolleg:

• Matlab - Basics and Application
• Computer course

Slides for a previous Matlab introductory course at SCC are available as PDF files:

• Introduction to MATLAB
• Introduction to Simulink

Another introduction is available as a publication in the series of the Regional Computing Center for Lower Saxony/Leibniz University Hannover (RRZN) and can be purchased at a price of 4,00 € via BIT8000:MATLAB/Simulink, 2nd modified edition, February 2010

Many tutorials, book tips and also especially books about numerical applications by Cleve Moler are available on the Academia web page of MathWorks at http://www.mathworks.com/academia/.

To extend the Mathworks license for another year, perform the following steps:

1. open MATLAB. (If the license has already expired, the activation client is launched and you can skip the next step).
2. From the 'Help' menu, click 'Licensing' > 'Activate Software'
3. Select the option to activate via the Internet.
4. restart MATLAB after activation so that the new license file is recognized.

If the license has already expired, you are prompted for activation when you start MATLAB.
If the activation is successful, MATLAB switches to the new license file after the old one expires.
 

Online documentation for Matlab is available on the website of MathWorks, whereby the individual documents can also be downloaded as PDF files. The documentation can also be started via the help functionality of the Matlab program (Help -> Documentation or F1 key).

Some useful commands, which can be entered directly from the command window of Matlab, are

• >> doc
  starts the help system in a new window
• >> demo
  starts an overview of Matlab examples
• >> ver
  shows all installed toolboxes and their versions
• >> help
  starts help for functions in the command window
• >> helpwin
  starts help for functions in a new window
• >> lookfor <argument>
  searches for a keyword in all help entries

Further information offers from MathWorks

• MathWorks Academia
  Entry page to various information offers like tutorials, webinars as well as book tips (e.g. about numerical applications by Cleve Moler) for research and teaching.
• MathWorks Solutions
  Contains demos, webinars, user stories, and more - divided by industry, application area, or product category.
• MathWorks Support
  Links to online support request form and online documentation, troubleshooting, and installation topics.
• MATLAB Central
  Links to contributions from the Matlab user community.
• Mathtools.net
  Portal to other tools for engineering calculations, including Matlab.

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