Example

> real(2+5j)
        2
> real(0.45+5.4326j)
     0.45
> real(3.32)
     3.32
> a = 100*(rand(2,3)+rand(2,3)*(0+1j))
 a =
 matrix columns 1 thru 3
             100 + 66.5i            64.7 + 20.4i            3.69 + 65.5i
            97.5 + 8.47i            33.3 + 16.7i            16.2 + 12.9i
> real(a)
      100       64.7       3.69  
     97.5       33.3       16.2