Why do I get the "Unable to initialize the source control provider" error message when I modify the MATLAB Preferences file in MATLAB 7.1 (R14SP3)?

I made changes to the MATLAB preferences file 'matlab.prf' that exists at the following location:

C:\WINNT\Profiles\<username>\Application Data\MathWorks\MATLAB\R14

In particular, I made changes to the 'SourceControlSystem' node in the 'matlab.prf' file. The changes to the Source Control System can also be made via the Preferences dialog window as described below:

On the MATLAB main window, please select 'Preferences' in the 'File' menu. In the 'Preferences' dialog window, click on 'General' to expand the tree, and click on 'Source Control'.

After I make changes to the Source Control by either of the above methods, on executing any MATLAB function, I obtain the following error message:

Unable to initialize the source control provider

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

This error is received when a source control application is specified in the MATLAB preference file (matlab.prf), but that source control application is actually not installed or at least not in the registry.

The workaround is to set the 'Source Control System' to 'None' in the Preferences Dialog window. This can be done as follows:

1. Select 'File -> Preferences' from the menu bar in the MATLAB main window.

2. In the Preferences dialog window, click on 'General' to expand the tree.

3. Select 'Source Control'.

4. From the dropdown for 'Source Control System', select 'None'.

Alternatively, regenerating the MATLAB Preferences directory could help resolve this issue. The MATLAB Preferences directory could be regenerated as follows:

1. Start MATLAB and type the following at the MATLAB command prompt:

prefdir

On the Windows Operating System, the output should look like:

C:\WINNT\Profiles\<username>\Application Data\MathWorks\MATLAB\R14

This is where your "matlab.prf" file is located. Please note that the above path may be different depending on how the system is setup.

2. Make sure that MATLAB is closed and rename the preferences directory of your current MATLAB version (and all older versions of MATLAB) to something else. For example, rename the above 'R14' directory to 'R14old'.

3. Restart MATLAB. A new preferences directory will be created for the MATLAB version that is launched.