MATLAB: Display special symbol in message box

message box

hi, i use sprintf code but now it can't display the special symbol 'alpha'
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%%Insert value in Matlab
dlg_title = 'Insert Factor Value';
x1 = inputdlg('Enter number of channels:',dlg_title, [1 50]);
n = str2num(x1{:});
x2 = inputdlg('Enter input power for each channel (mW):',dlg_title, [1 50]);
p = str2num(x2{:})*10^-3;
x3 = inputdlg('Enter channel spacing (nm):',dlg_title, [1 50]);
delta_lambda = str2num(x3{:})*10^-9;
CreateStruct.Interpreter = 'tex';
CreateStruct.WindowStyle = 'modal';
choice = menu('Choose optical fiber type','Single-mode fiber ( G.652 )','Dispersion-shifted fiber ( G.653 )','Non-zero dispersion-shifted fiber ( G.655 )');
if choice==1
    alphadb = 0.20;
    dispersion=16;
    slope=0.080;
    A=80;
elseif choice==2
    alphadb = 0.22;
    dispersion=0;
    slope=0.075;
    A=50;
else
    alphadb = 0.23;
    dispersion=3;
    slope=0.050;
    A=72;   
end
h = msgbox({sprintf('Fibre attenuation: \alpha = %g (dB/km)',alphadb)
             'Derivative dispersion coefficient: s = dD/d\lambda = 0.075 (ps/nm^2.km)' },'Standard Values',CreateStruct);

Best Answer

In sprintf, single ‘\’ are control characters for it and will throw an error if sprintf doesn’t recognise a valid control sequence, so to get it to print a ‘\’ that the TeX interpreter will see and interpret requires a double ‘\\’.
This worked for me, displaying both alpha and lambda as special characters:
h = msgbox({sprintf('Fibre attenuation: \\alpha = %g (dB/km)',alphadb)
             'Derivative dispersion coefficient: s = dD/d\lambda = 0.075 (ps/nm^2.km)' },'Standard Values',CreateStruct);
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