Learn more about MATLAB

Programming Interfaces

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Call MATLAB Software from C and Fortran Programs Call C and Fortran Programs from MATLAB Command Line Call Sun Java Commands from MATLAB Command Line Call Functions in Shared Libraries Import and Export Data

Call MATLAB Software from C and Fortran Programs

Use the MATLAB engine library to call MATLAB from C and Fortran programs. When you call MATLAB from your own programs, MATLAB acts as a computation engine. For example, you can:

• Use MATLAB as a programmable mathematical subroutine library.

• Build an application with a front end (GUI) programmed in C and a back end (analysis) programmed in MATLAB.

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Call C and Fortran Programs from MATLAB Command Line

Use MEX-files to call your own C or Fortran subroutines from the MATLAB command line as if they were built-in functions. For example, you can:

• Call preexisting C and Fortran programs from MATLAB without having to rewrite them as M-files.

• Code bottleneck computations that do not run fast enough in MATLAB in C or Fortran for efficiency.

The mxArray access library creates and manipulates MATLAB arrays. The mex library performs operations in the MATLAB environment.

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Call Sun Java Commands from MATLAB Command Line

Every installation of MATLAB software includes Java Virtual Machine (JVM™) software. The JVM software allows you to use the MATLAB interpreter with Java commands and to create and access Java objects. For example, you can:

• Access Java API class packages that support I/O and networking.

• Access third-party Java classes.

• Construct Java objects in MATLAB.

• Call Java methods, using either Java or MATLAB syntax.

• Pass data between MATLAB variables and Java objects.

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Call Functions in Shared Libraries

Use the MATLAB interface to generic DLLs to interact with functions in a dynamic link library (.dll) on Microsoft Windows platforms, a shared object file (.so) on The Open Group UNIX and Linus Tovald's Linux^® platforms, or a dynamic shared library (.dylib) on Apple Macintosh platforms based on Intel^® technology.

MATLAB supports any shared library written in C, or in any language that can provide a C interface.

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Import and Export Data

MAT-files and the MAT-file access library provide a convenient mechanism for moving MATLAB binary data between platforms, and for importing and exporting data to stand-alone MATLAB applications.

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External Interfaces

Interface to .NET Framework

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