[Octave-bug-tracker] [bug #55742] fminsearch does not pass extra arguments to objective function, undocumented old Matlab behavior

[anonymous]

Follow-up Comment #2, bug #55742 (project octave):

Thanks for the quick response and the diligent testing on different releases.
And thanks for the work-around example using the anonymous function syntax.
And I can hardly find words to express my appreciation for all of the work
that so many people are doing to make Octave so beautiful.

I am trying to port a large and complex system from Matlab to Octave. It is
not too bad if only a few changes are required, especially if those changes
are well-contained, straight-forward, and well-documented. But if the number
and complexity of required changes gets too large, then we users will become
overwhelmed, throw our hands into the air and declare that Octave code and
Matlab code are not compatible.

At some point it might be good to leave Matlab in the dust, and abandon the
goal of compatibility. The problem is that Matlab has done a very good job of
infiltrating colleges and universities, with their temporary licenses
(subsidized rentals) for students. What is needed here is a big push to
promote Octave to universities and colleges. Then following Matlab
compatibility would become unnecessary.

There is Matlab documentation that describes the syntax of adding extra
parameters to the fminsearch call. Octave documentation also describes this
syntax, if you type “help fminsearch” in the command prompt.

For these reasons, I recommend fixing it, unless the fix is complex and is not
easy to propagate to future releases. If you choose not to fix it, then I
suggest changing the Octave documentation and also adding a comment that
explains that this Matlab syntax is not supported, and pointing to a separate
page on how to use the anonymous function call to pass extra parameters to the
function.


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