Matlab C++ Integration

I’m currently working on integrating some Matlab Algorithms into a larger C++ project using the Matlab Compiler. It works rather well however I stumbled across a couple of quirks and caveats. First two facts that make integrating Matlab difficult: in Matlab indexes start at 1 and Matlab arrays are column-major ordered. As a result if you want to use data fields in both C/C++ and Matlab you have to transpose the fields. If the fields contain indexes you might also have to increment and decrement the values of the fields.

Another caveat I found is also related to array indexes. When using a Matlab function that takes as parameters matrix indexes you might think of creating an mwArray of type mxUINT32_CLASS. Wrong. You have to pass indices – as strange as it sounds – as doubles so you should use mxDOUBLE_CLASS.

One custom Matlab function I wanted to use in C++ took as an argument a cell array. A cell array is an array containing other arrays. In Matlab you create a cell array like this:

a = magic(5);
b = ones(3);
z{1} = a;
z{2} = b;

If you look at z now you will get something like this:

z = 
    [5x5 double]    [3x3 double]

An array of arrays. Easy. Well if you want to construct a cell array in C++ you have to do something like this:

mwArray a(5, 5, mxDOUBLE_CLASS);
mwArray b(3, 3, mxINT16_CLASS);
mwArray z(1, 2, mxCELL_CLASS);
z.Get(1,1).Set(a);                        // Sets z(1) = a
z.Get(1,2).Set(b);                        // Sets z(2) = b

You can find the description on this page.
If you get used to those little quirks however the Matlab Compiler is a very powerful tool to include your crazy Matlab scripts in a stand alone C++ application. One of the next things I would like to investigate are free (open source) Matlab Compiler alternatives such as the Octave C++ integration and compiler.

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