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Using MATLAB API Functions in a C# Program

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Overview Example: Using functions engOpen and engEvalString from the MATLAB Engine API in a C# Program

Overview

You include functions from MATLAB APIs, such as the Engine API, in your C# code by using the DllImport attribute to import functions from libeng.dll (written in unmanaged C) and then declaring those functions as C# equivalents. The imported Engine functions are called using the P/Invoke mechanism, as illustrated in the example below.

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Example: Using functions engOpen and engEvalString from the MATLAB Engine API in a C# Program

1. Open Microsoft Visual Studio .NET.

2. Select File > New > Project.

3. Select Visual C# Applications in the left pane and Console Application in the right pane. Click OK.

4. Auto-generated code appears. Replace the auto-generated code with this code and run:

   using System;
   using System.Text;
   using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
   
   namespace ConsoleApplication8
   {
       class MatlabEng
       {
           [DllImport("libeng.dll")]
           static extern IntPtr engOpen(string startcmd);
   
           [DllImport("libeng.dll")]
           static extern IntPtr engEvalString(IntPtr engine, 
                                               string Input);
           
           public MatlabEng()
           {
               IntPtr engine;
               engine = engOpen(null);
               if (engine == IntPtr.Zero)
                   throw new NullReferenceException("Failed to 
                                        Initialize Engine");
   
               engEvalString(engine, "surf(peaks)");
           }
   
           ~MatlabEng()
           {
           }
       }
   
   
       class StartProg
       {
           public static void Main()   
           {  
              MatlabEng mat = new MatlabEng();
           }
       }
   }
   

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Blocking Execution of a Console Application that Creates Figures

Handling Errors

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