Create Standalone Application from MATLAB

Supported platform: Windows^®, Linux^®, Mac

This example shows how to generate a standalone application from MATLAB^®. You package the prewritten function that prints a magic square to the command prompt of a computer. MATLAB Compiler™ produces an installer that installs both the standalone application and all the required dependencies on a target system. The target system does not require a licensed copy of MATLAB.

Create Function in MATLAB

In MATLAB, examine the MATLAB code that you want deployed as a standalone application. For this example, open magicsquare.m located in matlabroot\extern\examples\compiler.

function m = magicsquare(n)

if ischar(n)
    n=str2double(n);
end
m = magic(n)

At the MATLAB command prompt, enter magicsquare(5).

The output is:

    17    24     1     8    15
    23     5     7    14    16
     4     6    13    20    22
    10    12    19    21     3
    11    18    25     2     9

Create Standalone Application Using Application Compiler App

1. On the MATLAB Apps tab, on the far right of the Apps section, click the arrow. In Application Deployment, click Application Compiler.

   

   Alternately, you can open the Application Compiler app by entering applicationCompiler at the MATLAB prompt.

2. In the MATLAB Compiler project window, specify the main file of the MATLAB application that you want to deploy.

   1. In the Main File section of the toolstrip, click .

   2. In the Add Files window, browse to matlabroot\extern\examples\compiler, and select magicsquare.m. Click Open.

      The function magicsquare.m is added to the list of main files.

3. Decide whether to include the MATLAB Runtime installer in the generated application by selecting one of the two options in the Packaging Options section:

   • Runtime downloaded from web — Generates an installer that downloads the MATLAB Runtime and installs it along with the deployed MATLAB application.

   • Runtime included in package — Generates an installer that includes the MATLAB Runtime installer.

4. Customize the packaged application and its appearance:

   

   • Application information — Editable information about the deployed application. You can also customize the standalone applications appearance by changing the application icon and splash screen. The generated installer uses this information to populate the installed application metadata. See Customize the Installer.

   • Command line input type options — Selection of input data types for the standalone application. For more information, see Determine Data Type of Command-Line Input (For Packaging Standalone Applications Only).

   • Additional installer options — Edit the default installation path for the generated installer and selecting custom logo. See Change the Installation Path .

   • Files required for your application to run — Additional files required by the generated application to run. These files are included in the generated application installer. See Manage Required Files in Compiler Project.

   • Files installed for your end user — Files that are installed with your application. These files include:

     • Generated readme.txt

     • Generated executable for the target platform

     See Specify Files to Install with Application.

   • Additional runtime settings — Platform-specific options for controlling the generated executable. See Additional Runtime Settings.

5. To generate the packaged application, click Package.

   In the Save Project dialog box, specify the location to save the project.

6. In the Package dialog box, verify that Open output folder when process completes is selected.

   When the packaging process is complete, examine the generated output.

   • Three folders are generated in the target folder location: for_redistribution, for_redistribution_files_only, and for_testing.

     For further information about the files generated in these folders, see Files Generated After Packaging MATLAB Functions.

   • PackagingLog.txt — Log file generated by MATLAB Compiler.

Install and Run MATLAB Generated Standalone Application

1. To install the standalone application, in the for_redistribution folder, double-click the MyAppInstaller_web executable.

   Note

   The file extension varies depending on the platform on which the installer was generated.

2. If you want to connect to the Internet using a proxy server, click Connection Settings. Enter the proxy server settings in the provided window. Click OK.

   To complete installation, follow the instructions on the user interface.

   Note

   On Linux and Mac OS X, you do not have the option of adding a desktop shortcut.

3. To run your standalone application:

   1. Open a terminal window.

   2. Navigate to the folder into which you installed the application.

      If you accepted the default settings, you can find the folder in one of the following locations:

      Windows	C:\Program Files\magicsquare
      Mac OS X	/Applications/magicsquare
      Linux	/usr/magicsquare

   3. Run the application using one of the following commands:

      Windows	application\magicsquare 5
      Mac OS X	You must set the DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable in the command window for the standalone application to work as follows: $export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH = MCR_ROOT/v92/runtime/maci64:MCR_ROOT/v92/sys/os/maci64:MCR_ROOT/v92/bin/maci64 Now run the application: ./magicsquare.app/Contents/MacOS/magicsquare 5
      Linux	./magicsquare 5

      A 5-by-5 magic square is displayed in the console:

          17    24     1     8    15
          23     5     7    14    16
           4     6    13    20    22
          10    12    19    21     3
          11    18    25     2     9