[Octave-bug-tracker] [bug #33533] strvcat Matlab compatibility issue

[Rik]

Follow-up Comment #6, bug #33533 (project octave):

I'm not certain this is the correct fix.  According to the documentation
(http://www.mathworks.com/help/techdoc/ref/strvcat.html) strvcat can operate
on (strings or char arrays) or (cellstrs).

The example given by the issue reporter


a = {};
strvcat(a{:}) 


is really an empty cell array and not an emtpy cellstr array.  Thus, I would
like Octave to error out and tell me that I am feeding it incorrect inputs. 
Feeding an empty cellstr array to strvcat, by contrast, does not generate an
error.


a = {""};
strvcat(a{:}) 


In general, Matlab's philosophy seems to be less stringent in checking its
inputs.  That's fine, but it is a design choice that Octave hasn't followed in
the past.  In fact, I try and add input validation to functions whenever I can
to avoid Garbage In/Garbage Out.  In this case, I don't think it makes sense
to have a one-off exception to Octave's coding philosophy.

Also, if we decide to keep the new changeset then, at a minimum, strcat() and
char() need to be changed to accept empty cell arrays.

To address the reporter's concern.  It is still easy to write portable code by
using isempty().


if (! isempty (a))
  b = strvcat (a{:})
endif

OR if you're tight for space and like one-liners
! isempty (a) && (b = strvcat (a{:}));




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