Why do I get a Linker error (LNK2019) when trying to compile a MEX file using MATLAB 7.8 (R2009a)?

I have C and Fortran MEX files that I was able to compile without problems in releases prior to R2009a. When I now try to compile them, I get errors such as the following:

ERROR: mexFunction.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "_MXISSTRING" in function "_MEXFUNCTION".
mexFunction.mexw32 : fatal error LNK1120: 1 unresolved externals

C:\MATLAB\R2009A\BIN\MEX.PL: Error: Link of 'mexFunction.mexw32' failed.

??? Error using ==> mex at 218
Unable to complete successfully.

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

The support for all the MATLAB 4.0 and 5.0 MEX APIs was deprecated starting with MATLAB 6 (R13) and has been fully removed with MATLAB 7.8 (R2009a).

The documentation for these functions was removed in R2006a. The following page in the documentation lists the obsolete functions and their replacements:

Obsolete Functions No Longer Documented

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/release-notes.html#f34-1014013

The obsolete functions are listed below by category:

- MAT-File Access

matDeleteArray (C and Fortran)

matDeleteMatrix (C and Fortran)

matGetArray (C and Fortran)

matGetArrayHeader (C and Fortran)

matGetFull (C and Fortran)

matGetMatrix (C and Fortran)

matGetNextArray (C and Fortran)

matGetNextArrayHeader (C and Fortran)

matGetNextMatrix (C and Fortran)

matGetString (C and Fortran)

matPutArray (C and Fortran)

matPutArrayAsGlobal (C and Fortran)

matPutFull (C and Fortran)

matPutMatrix (C and Fortran)

matPutString (C and Fortran)

- MX Array Manipulation

mxClearLogical (C and Fortran)

mxCreateFull (C and Fortran)

mxCreateScalarDouble (C and Fortran)

mxFreeMatrix (C and Fortran)

mxGetName (C and Fortran)

mxIsFull (C and Fortran)

mxIsString (C and Fortran)

mxSetLogical (C and Fortran)

mxSetName (C and Fortran)

- MEX-Files

mexAddFlops (C)

mexGetArray (C and Fortran)

mexGetArrayPtr (C and Fortran)

mexGetEps (C and Fortran)

mexGetFull (C and Fortran)

mexGetGlobal (C and Fortran)

mexGetInf (C and Fortran)

mexGetMatrix (C and Fortran)

mexGetMatrixPtr (C and Fortran)

mexGetNaN (C and Fortran)

mexIsFinite (C and Fortran)

mexIsInf (C and Fortran)

mexIsNaN (C and Fortran)

mexPutArray (C and Fortran)

mexPutFull (C and Fortran)

mexPutMatrix (C and Fortran)

- MATLAB Engine

engGetArray (C and Fortran)

engGetFull (C and Fortran)

engGetMatrix (C and Fortran)

engPutArray (C and Fortran)

engPutFull (C and Fortran)

engPutMatrix (C and Fortran)

engSetEvalCallback (C)

engSetEvalTimeout (C)

engWinInit (C)