Calling user functions recursively

3 views (last 30 days)
Isabelle Armanville
Isabelle Armanville on 20 Feb 2017
Edited: Stephen23 on 20 Feb 2017
I have user created functions called f11(), f12(), f13(), f21(), f22(), f23()... I want to call these function recursively for i=1 to n for j=j to m eval(fij()) I have tried with the eval() function. It does not work. Could someone help me? thank you
  1 Comment
John D'Errico
John D'Errico on 20 Feb 2017
And yet another reason not to write numbered functions, numbered variables, etc. Regardless, you are asking to call them in sequence, but not recursively. A recursive call is one where a function calls itself.

Sign in to comment.

Answers (2)

dbmn
dbmn on 20 Feb 2017
First of all: Listen to John - he is right about this. Try not to use numbered functions and variables (you can read why this is a bad idea on numerous posts on Matlab Answers - just search).
But because I know you gonna try it anyway, here is a solution
A) Do nothing but change your eval to: (BAD)
eval(sprintf('f%d%d()', i, j))
B) Create a function caller that handles your functions (Better, but uses still the numbered functions - but at least it can be debugged)
function [] = function_caller(idx)
switch idx
case 1
% your function here
case 2
% your function here
end
end
C) Rewrite your code and avoid the numbered functions - there must be a smarter way to do this.
Work with Functions and Subfunctions instead and try to get a clear image about what your code actually needs to do in what order.

Stephen23
Stephen23 on 20 Feb 2017
Edited: Stephen23 on 20 Feb 2017
Why not just put the functions into a cell array, then this is trivial:
>> C = {@rand,@()randi(9,1),@()randi([10,20],1)};
>> cellfun(@(f)f(),C)
ans =
0.91338 6 11
or
for k = 1:numel(C)
C{k}()
end
Calling numbered functions is not a good solution:

Community Treasure Hunt

Find the treasures in MATLAB Central and discover how the community can help you!

Start Hunting!