How to turn off cell mode in Matlab editor in 2012b?

Hi everyone,

I have just installed R2012b. This is used to be a simple thing to do. But now I have already spent half an hour looking for the documentation but I still don't know how to turn off cell mode in Matlab editor.

Anyone knows how to do that.

Also how come Matlab HELP does not have a chapter (or session) on the editor.

Kevin

Answer 1

[Kevin]

I have actually issued a service request to Mathworks and the answer is no.

So there is no way to turn off cell mode in Matlab R2012b.

Also for whatever reason, Mathworks has renamed "cell" to "section".

On a more broader question. Does anyone know why Mathworks keep renaming things from version to version. For example,

(1) "cell" is renamed to "section". (2) Sometimes some functions are renamed to another name. (3) Function interface is changed so that it is no longer backward compatible.

Hard-disk space is cheap and so does it really matter if the old function is kept so that people can easily upgrade to new Matlab version.

Is there a good reason for renaming terminology or function?

Maybe I am missing something.

Kevin

[Star Strider]

I wish for the 2012a version of Help as well, with its format and functionality. Not all changes are improvements. I'm keeping 2012a up and running rather than uninstalling it.

The only reason I can imagine for renaming the Editor cell mode is to avoid confusion with {cell} data types.

I invite you to add your — and if you want to, my — comments to what seems to be the current thread for such: http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/48070-experiences-with-release-2012b

Answer 2

[Sean de Wolski]

Kevin, you can go to "Preferences" -> "Colors" -> "Programming Tools" and turn off "Highlight Sections". This should essentially do the same thing as disabling cell mode.

[Kevin]

Hi Sean,

Wow, this is great. I can disable cell mode. Thank you very much.

Kevin

[Steven]

Thanks Sean. It made my day.

Answer 3

[Ken Atwell]

I believe section/cell mode is triggered by a double "%%" comment in a source file. If you change your "%%"'s into "%"'s, I believe MATLAB will not enter the section/cell mode.

Kevin, just interested... why do you want to disable section/cell mode? AFAIK, there is no side effects of MATLAB entering "cell mode" beyond the enablement of new "Run" capabilities that don't stomp on anything else. Why would you actively turn it off when it can be ignored? Is there is a side effect I don't appreciate?

[Kevin]

I find the highlighting and the extra lines in the cell mode pretty distracting. This is just my personal thing. Since the day Mathworks had introduced cell mode to the world, I had only turned it on less than 6 times. I really don't find that useful.

Also I really don't have the time to go through all my matlab files to change "%%" to "%".

[Ken Atwell]

Thanks for clarifying, Kevin.