Line Count Utility (MATLAB)

Overview

This small MATLAB utility recursively counts code, comment and blank lines across files in a folder (or for a supplied file list) and writes a plain-text report named lineCount.txt.

Repository layout

• countLines.m — Main function that scans files, classifies lines, and writes lineCount.txt (also contains the helper parseFile sub-function).
• main.m — Example runner that demonstrates how to call countLines.
• lineCount.txt — Example output generated by the utility.

Requirements

• MATLAB (R2019b or later recommended for arguments validation).
• No additional toolboxes required.

Usage

Call the function from the MATLAB command window, from a script, or use the provided main.m example. Examples:

% Count all .m files under a folder and write report to current folder
countLines('C:\path\to\project')

% Specify file types and an output directory
countLines('C:\path\to\project', {'.m', '.cpp'}, {}, 'C:\out')

% Provide an explicit list of files
countLines({'file1.m', 'file2.cpp'}, {'.m', '.cpp'})

Function signature

countLines(inputPath, fileTypes, ignoreFiles, saveDir)

• inputPath (char|string|cell): A folder path (to search recursively) or a cell array of file paths to analyze.
• fileTypes (cell): Cell array of extensions to include, e.g. {'.m', '.cpp'}. Default: {'.m'}.
• ignoreFiles (cell): Filenames (name+ext) to ignore. Default: {}.
• saveDir (char|string): Directory where lineCount.txt will be written. Default: current working directory.

Output

lineCount.txt contains one line per file with counts and a grand total section. Example layout:

File : Code | Comments | Blank | Total
------------------------------------------------------
C:\path\to\file1.m : 100 | 20 | 10 | 130

Grand Totals:
Code     : 100
Comments : 20
Blank    : 10
Total    : 130

Heuristics and limitations

• Lines beginning with % (MATLAB) or // (C/C++) are considered comment lines.
• Block C/C++ comments using /* ... */ are tracked and counted as comment lines.
• Block MATLAB comments using %{ ... %} are tracked and counted as comment lines.
• Count “mixed” lines (code + inline comment).
• Inline comments on the same line as code are counted as code lines.
• The function uses simple heuristics and may misclassify complex constructs.

Extending the utility

• To add support for additional file types, provide their extensions in fileTypes.
• To change classification behavior (for example, to treat inline comments differently), edit the parseFile sub-function inside countLines.m.
• To change output format (CSV, JSON), modify the write section in countLines.m where lineCount.txt is created.

License

This project is provided under the MIT license. See LICENSE.