Re: "Matlab to Scilab for Dummies" anywhere?

Joerg wrote:

Hello Tim,


After finding some possibly useful routines to calculate filters (wave digital in this case) I got stuck because these are for Matlab. I only have Scilab and next to no experience with it. The files are mostly *.m, some *.p and a few graphics GUI files *.fig. Scilab doesn't understand any of these.

Is there a text somewhere, along the lines of "Matlab to Scilab file conversion for dummies"?

The brief instructions for routines like "loadmatfile" on Scilab's site are simply not verbose enough for an analog guys like me :-(

Octave is quite compatible with MatLab.

I like the SciLab syntax and environment better, but it's _not_ friendly to beginners (but then neither are MatLab or Octave).

SciLab does have routines to translate a matlab script into a scilab script. Typing 'help matlab' at the command line will get you quite a few hits. The conversion covers the *.m files, but I'm not sure what the *.p or *.fig files do, or if SciLab can handle them. There is a SciLab newsgroup on which you can post your questions -- comp.soft-sys.scilab.org.


That's what I had tried, using the "loadmatfile" routine. I tried several m-files and got errors and aborts on all of them.

In the old days things were easier. Universities would compile everything into a nice DOS executable like the program by Prof.Mildenberger's team. It has a wave digital filter section which is what I am after. I had bought this program from them around 1990. Fair price and most of the money went to good cause. Later it became shareware but now he is retired and his site is down.

Nowadays they often post vast piles of files, either for some obscure operating system system or for a math program that they happened to have. I really don't understand why they don't walk the last mile and create a nice stand alone package. They could make money from that and most faculties are in dire need of funds. That would also serve as a teaching tool to students and Ph.D. candidates so they learn project management, proper documentation, and what it takes to create a saleable product.


Absent considerations of being compatible with industry, I recommend SciLab over MatLab - even if both were free. If you're going to do a lot of work with customers who want m files then you're kind of stuck with MatLab or Octave, but I haven't had that happen to me more than once in the last three years.


Well, mostly I am stuck with industry standards. For example, I must create my docs in Word. In this case I'd just like to try out some filter design software but I am finding that the efforts to create an environment for these to run might outweigh the benefits. Might as well go back to notepad, sliderule and HP calculator. Plus maybe some Excel spreadsheeting.

Email me the files -- I'll give it a whirl and either let you know or send you working ones.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

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