BATCH_STRINGS explanation of the batch string format Batch strings are the format in which options must be specified for the MEX files in the psychometric functions toolbox. See below for an example that illustrates the format. Batch strings in MATLAB are horizontal string vectors, containing newline characters, suitable for reading from and writing to ordinary text files. The rules for construction of a batch string follow. If using MATLAB 5, you do not need to worry about this because the function BATCH will construct the string for you from ordinary MATLAB matrices and variables. Batch strings are used rather than MATLAB structs in order to allow the MEX files to be used with MATLAB 4, and also to retain compatibility with the UNIX command-line and stand-alone versions of the software. Note that most of the accompanying M-files, by contrast, are NOT compatible with MATLAB 4. As a result, if MATLAB 5 is unavailable, batch strings will be more conveniently read from text files, instead of being generated on the command line. Variables are recorded in a batch string in key/value pairs. Keys must be prefixed by the character #, and must be the first word of a line. There should be no whitespace between the # and they key word, because this causes the variable to be ignored: entries can be "commented out" conveniently in this way. Values are separated from their keys by whitespace. There are two sorts of values: strings, and lists of numbers. Strings variables within a batch string can contain any characters. Quotes are not needed, and are undesirable in most cases because they will be interpreted literally. Numbers may be expressed in a variety of formats, as illustrated in the example below. Numbers in a list may be delimited by commas, semicolons or whitespace. Brackets are not required, but a single pair encompassing the whole list is permitted: {}, [] or (). See BATCH, BATCH2STRUCT and STRUCT2BATCH for a convenient interface with MATLAB 5. Example of a batch string: #name NJH #eyes 2 #colour brown #glasses true #favourite_food #-browns #favourite_numbers [ -INF, 0, 1, 3.1415927, 6.02e23; EPS 65536, NAN 2/3 25] # oops this field will not be read, because of the whitespace between the # and the key word Part of the psignifit standalone distribution version 2.5.6. Copyright (c) J.Hill 1999-2005. Please read the LICENSE and NO WARRANTY statement in Legal.txt mailto:psignifit@bootstrap-software.org http://bootstrap-software.org/psignifit/