How to create a function with multiple calculations

I have matlab code with 3 different calculations and I am unsure how to put it into a function (I want to solve the code using a function rather than have the calculations embedded in the code.)

a = sqrt((x1-x2)^2+(y1-y2)^2);
b = sqrt((x2-x3)^2+(y2-y3)^2);
c = sqrt((x1-x3)^2+(y1-y3)^2);

s=(a+b+c)/2;

k=sqrt(s.*(s-a).*(s-b).*(s-c));

Answer 1

[YT]

So I think you're looking for something like this

function [k] = myawesomefunction(x1,x2,x3,y1,y2,y3)
%MYAWESOMEFUNCTION with 6 input arguments x1, x2, x3, y1, y2, y3 and 1
%output argument k

   a = sqrt((x1-x2)^2+(y1-y2)^2); b = sqrt((x2-x3)^2+(y2-y3)^2); c = sqrt((x1-x3)^2+(y1-y3)^2);

   s=(a+b+c)/2;

   k=sqrt(s.*(s-a).*(s-b).*(s-c));

end

If you also want the other variables a, b, c and s, you can just change it to this

function [a, b, c, s, k] = myawesomefunction(x1,x2,x3,y1,y2,y3)

You need to save the file with the same name as you gave the function, so in this case save it as 'myawesomefunction.m'

You can call your function in your main file like so:

myoutputK = myawesomefunction(12,23,45,56,78,91); %if you only have 1 output argument
[outputA,outputB,outputC,ouputS,outputK] = myawesomefunction(12,23,45,56,78,91); %if you have more than 1 output

[Ahmed Raza Syed]

thanks a lot... i got the same problem and it helped me a lot

[mahroo shiranzaei]

Hello and thanks for the great explanation.

[Tony]

but if you are using myawesomefunction as a function from file in the problem-based Optimize live editor, outputB/outputC/outputS/outputK will not be considered in the problem. How to overcome this issue if I really would like to combine all my constraints in one function file?

Answer 2

[James Tursa]

Create a file called triangle_area.m on your path (e.g. in your working directory) and inside that function have this code:

% Put a description of the function here with purpose, syntax, etc.
function k = triangle_area(x1,y1,x2,y2,x3,y3)
% insert your calculation code here
end

You might consider changing your side distance formulas so they are vectorized for arrays of x1, y1, etc. E.g.,

a = sqrt((x1-x2).^2+(y1-y2).^2);

etc.