Is it possible to use "userpath" as a normal variable in MATLAB 7.6 (R2008a)?

When I execute the following code

userpath(1:end-1)

I receive the following error message:

 ??? Error: The end operator must be used within an array index

 expression.

Also

cd userpath

gives error message:

 ??? Error using ==> cd

 Cannot CD to userpath (Name is nonexistent or not a directory).

I would like userpath to behave like a normal variable which I can index into and also change directories based on userpath.

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

This change has been incorporated into the documentation in Release 2011b (R2011b). For previous releases, read below for any additional information:

"userpath" is a reserved function name in MATLAB and is needed to reference the MATLAB path. Creating a variable with a same name shadows the userpath function. Therefore the ability to use userpath as a normal MATLAB variable, and index or cd into it is not available in MATLAB.

To work around this issue, store the result of userpath in a variable and then perform the desired operation on it.

For instance:

a=userpath;

a=a(1:end-1);

cd(a);