Error: Too many output arguments.

I am trying to call a function to calculate timber lengths however every time i do it returns the error of 'Too many output arguments'. I am running Matlab R2017a.

% Calculate total timber lengths needed
total_length = no_of_wall_studs * GET_NEAREST_LENGTH(wall_height);
total_length = total_length + (top_plates * GET_NEAREST_LENGTH(wall_width));

% Function to calculate timber length
function GET_NEAREST_LENGTH(length)
timber_length = MAX_WALL_WIDTH;
% Check is length is minimum
if length <= MIN_TIMBER_LENGTH
    length = MIN_TIMBER_LENGTH;
end
% Start at 5.4 and work down to find the correct length
while length < (timber_length-INC)
    timber_length = timber_length-INC;
end
end

any help is appreciated

Answer 1

[James Tursa]

Your function isn't coded to return anything. Try this:

function timber_length = GET_NEAREST_LENGTH(length)

Btw, "length" is the name of a built-in MATLAB function ... to avoid confusion in your code you should consider using a different name.

[Jason Froome]

Thanks, that cleared the output error, however now i am getting a different error that tells me "Undefined function or variable 'MAX_WALL_WIDTH'."

even though MAX_WALL_WIDTH is defined as 5.4 at the top of my script.

I changed the name "length" as well after doing some google searches to ensure the new name wasnt a matlab function.

Also thanks for editing the question to show the code correctly

[James Tursa]

Functions have their own workspace that generally isn't shared with the caller workspace (unless you do something to make it shared, like nested functions). So your function can't see the variables at your script level. You could simply pass them in as arguments, which is actually good code design to make your function self-contained and only dependent on input arguments. E.g.,

function timber_length = GET_NEAREST_LENGTH( length, MAX_WALL_WIDTH, INC )

Just be sure to include these arguments when calling the function.

[Jason Froome]

Thanks James your a champion.