What is changing in R2014b?

Is there a published list of features that are changing with Matlab R2014b? I have been unable to install the pre-release, but I have received word that some of my FEX submissions do not work with R2014b. For example, I'd like to know what needs to be changed in my label function, and whether fixing it for R2014b will end up breaking it for previous versions.

[Star Strider]

I believe there’s a confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement in the pre-release versions. I’m not certain you can discuss the content except with TMW.

[Bill Rooker]

Howdy y'all!

When be R2014b coming?

Toodles,

Billie Bob

[Sean de Wolski]

@Billie Bob:

This returns the right answer:

>> datenum(floor(now)+randi(1000))

You just have to guess my rng seed :)

[Bill Rooker]

Howdy y'all,

It be 2 weeks and no news...

Toodles,

Billie Bob

[Sean de Wolski]

Now :)

Answer 1

[Sean de Wolski]

Hi Chad,

First, one of the purposes of the prerelease is to provide you with an opportunity to test your code against up and coming changes as well as to provide feedback on what went well and what didn't. It's too bad you can't install the prerelease :(

Second, Star is right that the prerelease comes with an NDA so we can't talk about it. But I can answer your second question which is release agnostic. You can use verLessThan to make decisions about what code path to take. If for any release you need a switch mechanism (new features to take advantage of, incompatibilities, etc.) you can use this as the criterion

if verLessThan('matlab','8.4')
 % <=R2014a 
 do_something
else
 % >R2014a
 do_something_cooler
end

Hope this helps.

PS. It's hot down here in Texas!

[Chad Greene]

Hi Sean,

The verLessThan trick will come in handy, thanks.

I do wish more information were available on changes to come with R2014b. I keep hearing the changes will be big, and I have already been informed that my label function does not work with R2014b, but I don't know what's causing the problems. I wrote that function recently, and I could have designed it to work with the new graphics, if any information on changes were available.

In some cases in the past, TMW has kindly offered notes that the behavior of certain functions will change in future releases. Those notes help users design their scripts and plan for the future. I am currently in the process of designing scripts that I will use for the next couple of years, but I am hesitant to put much time into them for fear that my efforts will be for naught.

The cynic in me wonders if the pre-release is truly to benefit Matlab users, or if it's simply a way of generating buzz and getting a free labor force of engineers to test the new release.

[Chad Greene]

p.s., I've actually found this summer to be quite mild. :)

[Image Analyst]

Chad, it should only be 2-3 weeks before the official release of R2014b.

[Chad Greene]

Good to know, thanks!

Answer 2

[Chad Greene]

This is now up: http://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab/matlab-graphics/tools-for-transitioning-to-R2014b-graphics.html

Answer 3

[Daniel Shub]

I received an email from TMW, which I think borders on spam, about some of the new functionality in R2014b. As I have not downloaded the prerelease and it was an unsolicited email that did not suggest the information should not be circulated, I am pretty sure this is not covered by any sort of NDA

· Call MATLAB from Python- You will find documentation on the MATLAB Engine for Python under the MATLAB API for Other Languages in Advanced Software Development. See MATLAB Engine for Python.

· Call Python functionality from MATLAB - You will find documentation on the MATLAB Interface to Python under Calling External Functions in Advanced Software Development. See Call Python Libraries.

[Star Strider]

Apparently, axis tick text rotation will be available: Label Rotation in MATLAB 2014.

set(gca, 'XTickLabelRotation', 45);

EDIT — The Answer I was referring to was removed, so I suspect it is confidential information and should not have been released.

Answer 4

[Sean de Wolski]

Chad, the change you have to make is that handles in R2014b are no longer numbers. Thus checking isnumeric of a handle will no longer work:

assert(isnumeric(h)==1,'Input handle(s) h must be numeric.')
assert(isempty(get(0,'children'))==0,'No current axes are open.')

Instead, check:

ishghandle(h)  % this works in <14b too

And 0 has been replaced by groot to represent the root object but 0 still works.

[Chad Greene]

Interesting. So in R2014b, if I run

h = plot(x,y);

What then is value of h? Are figure handles still numeric?

[Sean de Wolski]

h will be a Line. A figure will be a, surprise(!), Figure. Using ishandle() or ishghandle() is the right way to test "handleness" in <14b too since pi is numeric and probably not an active handle.

h = plot(1:10)
h = 
Line with properties:

              Color: [0 0.4470 0.7410]
          LineStyle: '-'
          LineWidth: 0.5000
             Marker: 'none'
         MarkerSize: 6
    MarkerFaceColor: 'none'
              XData: [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10]
              YData: [1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10]
              ZData: [1x0 double]

Show all properties

Answer 5

[Andrew Reibold]

Release notes can be found here

http://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/release-notes.html

They are not yet available for 2014b.

Answer 6

[Image Analyst]

Did you get an email about downloading the prerelease version? If so, do that and check it out yourself.

[Chad Greene]

I did get the email, but installation does not work with the type of license my lab uses. I would expect the Mathworks to make it clear how these major changes will affect our codes, but it seems they're opting for surprise.

Answer 7

[Royi Avital]

MATLAB R2014b is out.

I'm so disappointed Mathworks does nothing to improve the language speed.

Moreover, they are still stuck with CUDA instead of moving on to OpenCL for the GPU support.

What are they waiting for?

Julia is much faster and gaining traction and its Toolboxes are improving by day.

Very Disappointing.