automatically add path in a MATLAB script

Question

I have several MATLAB scripts to share with my colleagues. I have put these scripts under a specified directory, e.g., /home/sharefiles

Under the MATLAB command prompt, the users can use these scripts by typing

addpath  /home/sharefiles

Is there a way to automatically add this path in my matlab script, and save users the efforts of invoking addpath /home/sharefiles each time.

Answer 1

Sure, just add the addpath to your script.

addpath('/home/sharefiles')

If you want to recursively add subdirectories, use the genpath function:

addpath(genpath('/home/sharefiles')

Adding files to the path or one of the slower operations in Matlab, so you probably don't want to put the addpath call in the inner loop of an operation. You can also test to see if you need to add the path first.

if ~exist('some_file_from_your_tools.m','file')
    addpath('/home/sharefiles')
end

Or, more directly

if isempty(strfind(path,'/home/sharefiles;'))
    addpath('/home/sharefiles')
end