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Function List:

C++ API

: max (x)
: max (x, [], dim)
: [w, iw] = max (x)
: max (x, y)

Find maximum values in the array x.

For a vector argument, return the maximum value. For a matrix argument, return a row vector with the maximum value of each column. For a multi-dimensional array, max operates along the first non-singleton dimension.

If the optional third argument dim is present then operate along this dimension. In this case the second argument is ignored and should be set to the empty matrix.

For two matrices (or a matrix and a scalar), return the pairwise maximum.

Thus, 

max (max (x))

returns the largest element of the 2-D matrix x, and 

max (2:5, pi)
   ⇒  3.1416  3.1416  4.0000  5.0000

compares each element of the range 2:5 with pi, and returns a row vector of the maximum values.

For complex arguments, the magnitude of the elements are used for comparison. If the magnitudes are identical, then the results are ordered by phase angle in the range (-pi, pi]. Hence, 

max ([-1 i 1 -i])
   ⇒ -1

because all entries have magnitude 1, but -1 has the largest phase angle with value pi.

If called with one input and two output arguments, max also returns the first index of the maximum value(s). Thus, 

[x, ix] = max ([1, 3, 5, 2, 5])
   ⇒  x = 5
       ix = 3

See also: min, cummax, cummin.

Package: octave