MATLAB: How to avoid recompiling all the MATLAB files that the main MATLAB file calls

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I am writing an MATLAB file application that relies on a lot of helper functions. Because the MATLAB compiler automatically compiles all the helper functions, the compile time can be considerably long. This can get even worse when I make changes to my MATLAB files and have to recompile all the MATLAB files. Is there a way to work around this problem? That is, is there a way to avoid recompiling all the helper MATLAB files each time I make changes to my MATLAB files?

Best Answer

The following solution works only for MATLAB compiler versions older than 4.0 (R14). For R14 and later there is no workaround for this problem.

There is no compiler option to only "re-compile what is required". However, what you can do is build a static library/object to hold all of the functions except the ones that you are changing most often and then recompile your application using the .mlib file.

For example, if you want to create a static library/object files from an MATLAB file that you will not need to recompile, called myfigure.m, you can do the following:

mcc -t -W lib:libmyfigure -T compile:lib myfigure.m

Now, if you type "ls", you can see that one of the files created is called libmyfigure.mlib. So if for example you have to recompile another MATLAB file, plot_test.m that calls myfigure.m, you can do this:

mcc -B sgl  plot_test.m mfigure.o libmyfigure.mlib

This way, myfigure.m is a static object and will not be recompiled because of the .mlib file that's specified. If you are working with a lot of files it might be more convenient to implement this by using a make file.

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MATLAB: Do I receive errors when trying to compile LOADLIBRARY or run an application that uses LOADLIBRARY with MATLAB Compiler 4.0 (R14)

This change has been incorporated into the documentation in Release 2011a (R2011a). For previous releases, read below for any additional information:

With MATLAB Compiler 4.0 (R14) and later, you can use MATLAB file prototypes as described below to load your library in a compiled application. Note that loading libraries using H-file headers is not supported in compiled applications.

This behavior occurs when LOADLIBRARY is compiled with the header argument as in the statement below:

loadlibrary(library, header)

In order to workaround this issue, execute the following command at the MATLAB commmand prompt:

loadlibrary(library, header, 'mfilename', 'mHeader');

... where mHeader is the name of a MATLAB file (in this case mHeader.m) that you would like to use when loading this library. This step only needs to be performed once to generate an MATLAB file for the library.

Now, in the code that is be compiled, you can call LOADLIBRARY with the following format:

loadlibrary(library, @mHeader, 'alias', alias)

With MATLAB Compiler versions 4.0.1 (R14+) and above, the generated MATLAB file mHeader.m will automatically be included in the CTF file as part of the compilation process. For versions 4.0 of the Compiler (R14) and later, include your library MATLAB file in the compilation with the '-a' option with MCC.

Note: With the MATLAB Compiler 3.0 (R13SP1) and earlier versions you cannot compile calls to LOADLIBRARY because of general restrictions and limitations of the MATLAB Compiler.

If you do not have a header file, the prototype file can be created manually. Follow the example in the documentation to generate a prototype file and modify it to suit the shared library you would like to use:

web([docroot,'/techdoc/ref/loadlibrary.html'])

MATLAB: Cannot find MEX function when executing C

The mex command does not perform magic tricks, it simply starts the compiler. Unfortunately mex has grown to a very obfuscated piece of code since Matlab 4. It are some M-, Perl- and BAT-files, while the last are not executed, but parsed by teh Perl functions.

If you find out the parameters used for starting the compiler, you can start the compiler by a single system call also.

Best Answer

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MATLAB: Do I receive errors when trying to compile LOADLIBRARY or run an application that uses LOADLIBRARY with MATLAB Compiler 4.0 (R14)

MATLAB: Cannot find MEX function when executing C

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