MATLAB: Dbstop doesn’t stop if the line at which is supposed to stop is something like `’else’

Question

If you save the code below to, say, mwe.m then at the command prompt type

dbstop in mwe at 4

then call the function, it will ignore the `else` line at which it is asked to stop, and continue on to the end. Is there a way to fix this problem, and make it stop at line 5 rather than 4?

function mwe
if 1 < 2;
	disp('true');
else
	disp('false');
end
disp('should not get to here');

Answer 1

The if condition is true, so Matlab executes disp('true'); then jumps to end. Lines 4 and 5 are never executed because only one block of an if-statement is ever executed, and Matlab had already determined the first block would be executed. Try

function mwe
if 3 < 2
	disp('true');
else
	disp('false');
end
disp('should not get to here');

This stops at line 4 with the dbstop command you used.