MATLAB: How to run a windows command line executable under Matlab

Question

I have an executable of the form main.exe p1 p2 p3 p4 p5 p6 that will run in a command window. It generates two files. It would be very convenient to set up runs and collect the output under Matlab.

Answer 1

result = system('main.exe p1 p2 p3 p4 p5 p6');

You might also see dos() used. On Windows system, dos() and system() are the same. system() is better defined as to what it does on non-Windows systems.