Definition of function

Hi, I made a function to read data from Excel. I wrote this code and saved it as a .m file with the name of readExcel.m

function [a] = readExcel(filename) a=xlsread(filename); end

When I run the code I get this message:

??? function [a] = readExcel(filename) | Error: Function definitions are not permitted in this context.

What's the problem?

Thanks.

[Andrew Newell]

What command are you using to run the code?

Answer 1

[Matt Tearle]

Are there any lines of code above the function definition line? That will generate that error message. For example:

filename = 'foo';
function [a] = readExcel(filename) 
a=xlsread(filename); 
end

In the Command Window:

>> readExcel('myfile')
??? Error: File: readExcel.m Line: 2 Column: 1
Function definitions are not permitted in this context.

A function file must contain nothing but that function (and any subfunctions below it).

As an aside: why make a function that just calls a built-in MATLAB function? Just curious.

[VQ]

No, there aren't any lines of code above the function definition line.

Well, my function is not only designed to read data from excel. I want to open the .xls file and work with the data in the differents columns.

Thank you.

[Matt Tearle]

Can you please do a direct, exact copy-&-paste of (1) your file, (2) the command you used to call it, and (3) the error message. You can edit your question and use the markup options to format your code as code.