Restore MATLAB functions e.g. openfig.m

Dear all,

I was playing around with openfig.m the other day. I kept a back-up copy of the file just in case something went wrong. However, I have managed to mess something up so that even with the back-up file reinstated, .fig files will no longer open and I get the error "Undefined variable "matlab" or class "matlab.graphics.internal.convertStringToCharArgs".

A general question: If the user somehow manages to "break" an M-file in the MATLAB root (like openfig.m), is there any way to restore the original M-files without reinstalling MATLAB? All of my project code is under version control, but this is not the case for the files under the root folder.

Best regards,

Louis

[Walter Roberson]

Only if you have a backup to restore from. Otherwise you need to reinstall.

Backing up your drive regularly is recommended.

[Louis Vallance]

As I feared. Thanks for your help!

[Stephen23]

Getting burnt once is usually a good way to learn to keep your hand out of the fire.

Not fiddling around with files in the MATLAB installation is the best solution. Instead simply copy them to your working directory, change their name/s, and then make any edits you want... no harm will be done.

Note that Windows (if you use it) might well have "previous versions" saved for that directory, so you could always try restoring from that.

[Louis Vallance]

Hi Stephen,

This is a very good tip. I've done this in the past and will double-down on my efforts.

Answer 1

[Matt J]

After re-instating the backup, did you try restarting MATLAB? You could also try rehash() and/or

 >> clear classes

[Louis Vallance]

Unfortunately this did not help. Actually, even after reinstalling MATLAB the issue still persists. I have written more information about the issue in Undefined variable "matlab" or class when opening MATLAB figure.