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<h3 class="section" id="Ignoring-Arguments-1"><span>11.7 Ignoring Arguments<a class="copiable-link" href="#Ignoring-Arguments-1"> &para;</a></span></h3>

<p>In the formal argument list, it is possible to use the dummy placeholder
<code class="code">~</code> instead of a name.  This indicates that the corresponding argument
value should be ignored and not stored to any variable.
</p>
<div class="example">
<div class="group"><pre class="example-preformatted">function val = pick2nd (~, arg2)
  val = arg2;
endfunction
</pre></div></div>

<p>The value of <code class="code">nargin</code> is not affected by using this declaration.
</p>
<p>Return arguments can also be ignored using the same syntax.  For example, the
sort function returns both the sorted values, and an index vector for the
original input which will result in a sorted output.  Ignoring the second
output is simple&mdash;don&rsquo;t request more than one output.  But ignoring the first,
and calculating just the second output, requires the use of the <code class="code">~</code>
placeholder.
</p>
<div class="example">
<div class="group"><pre class="example-preformatted">x = [2, 3, 1];
[s, i] = sort (x)
&rArr;
s =

   1   2   3

i =

   3   1   2

[~, i] = sort (x)
&rArr;
i =

   3   1   2
</pre></div></div>

<p>When using the <code class="code">~</code> placeholder, commas&mdash;not whitespace&mdash;must be used
to separate output arguments.  Otherwise, the interpreter will view <code class="code">~</code> as
the logical not operator.
</p>
<div class="example">
<div class="group"><pre class="example-preformatted">[~ i] = sort (x)
parse error:

  invalid left hand side of assignment
</pre></div></div>

<p>Functions may take advantage of ignored outputs to reduce the number of
calculations performed.  To do so, use the <code class="code">isargout</code> function to query
whether the output argument is wanted.  For example:
</p>
<div class="example">
<div class="group"><pre class="example-preformatted">function [out1, out2] = long_function (x, y, z)
  if (isargout (1))
    ## Long calculation
    ...
    out1 = result;
  endif
  ...
endfunction
</pre></div></div>

<a class="anchor" id="XREFisargout"></a><span style="display:block; margin-top:-4.5ex;">&nbsp;</span>


<dl class="first-deftypefn">
<dt class="deftypefn" id="index-isargout"><span><code class="def-type"><var class="var">tf</var> =</code> <strong class="def-name">isargout</strong> <code class="def-code-arguments">(<var class="var">k</var>)</code><a class="copiable-link" href="#index-isargout"> &para;</a></span></dt>
<dd><p>Within a function, return a logical value indicating whether the argument
<var class="var">k</var> will be assigned to a variable on output.
</p>
<p>If the result is false, the argument has been ignored during the function
call through the use of the tilde (~) special output argument.  Functions
can use <code class="code">isargout</code> to avoid performing unnecessary calculations for
outputs which are unwanted.
</p>
<p>If <var class="var">k</var> is outside the range <code class="code">1:max (nargout)</code>, the function returns
false.  <var class="var">k</var> can also be an array, in which case the function works
element-by-element and a logical array is returned.  At the top level,
<code class="code">isargout</code> returns an error.
</p>
<p><strong class="strong">See also:</strong> <a class="ref" href="Multiple-Return-Values.html#XREFnargout">nargout</a>, <a class="ref" href="Variable_002dlength-Return-Lists.html#XREFvarargout">varargout</a>, <a class="ref" href="Multiple-Return-Values.html#XREFnthargout">nthargout</a>.
</p></dd></dl>


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