MATLAB: Is there a way to reduce the number of DLLs MATLAB ships with an EXE or DLL

MATLAB Compiler

I would like to reduce the number of DLLs MATLAB ships with an EXE or DLL.

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MathWorks has spent a lot of time modularizing our code base, but the libraries that MATLAB requires are still very significant.

We recommend that you run the MGLinstaller.exe on each machine that will receive the distributed application once and set up the system PATH correctly. For more information on how to run the MGLinstaller, see the Related Solution.

If you do this step, then you need only to redistribute the single DLL (or EXE) that you built with the compiler and any .dll mex files that it depends on that are not part of the standard distribution (usually no MEX files are required).

You can distribute multiple applications by giving the single DLL (or EXE) file.

We are currently working on COM integration that will make callling compiler-generated applications easier on NT, and on an installer that will enable other parties to install the required libraries more simply.

Related Solutions

MATLAB: How to reduce the size or footprint of a stand-alone application I bundle for deployment using MATLAB Compiler 3.0.1 (R13SP2) or earlier

Note that the MATLAB Compiler was re-architected between MATLAB R13 and MATLAB R14. Thus this solution applies only for stand-alone applications created using the MATLAB Compiler 3.0 (R13) or earlier.

The footprint of MATLAB Compiler generated applications is larger than necessary because the shipped libraries have most of the functionality of MATLAB in them, and MATLAB is a big program. The libraries also have a very complicated set of interdependencies. It is very unlikely that you will be able to simply remove (or replace with an empty dummy file) any of the libraries.

However, to theoretically reduce the footprint size (and it is NOT easy) you must find all the libraries that your application does not need and replace them with dummy DLLs of the same name. These DLLs need only have the standard DLL functions in them (DllMain, etc). You can only make this replacement if you eliminate all the DLLs that depend on this DLL as well (Note that this is the hard part and we do not have such a list in-house). For an expert C programmer, this could easily take more than two weeks, if not a full month, to complete.

The interdependencies also will vary for different MATLAB applications. The tradeoff is that you have the ability to build robust applications using the advanced mathematical and graphic capabilities of MATLAB with relative ease.

Note that if you are deploying multiple stand-alone MATLAB applications on the same computer, you will need only one installation of the MGLINSTALLER. Essentially, once the MGLINSTALLER has been made available on a particular computer, you will only need to distribute the .exe, data files, the bin directory and custom MEX-files required by the executable.

NOTE: The developers at MathWorks are aware of this and MATLAB R2016a Prerelease addresses this limitation in that, if the function that is being deployed contains only mathematical computations, it will bundled with a smaller version of the MCR.

MATLAB: After installing the stand-alone application, why do I get the error : “ERROR: Failed to find MEX-File on path : foo/bar/library.dll.”

During program generation, the MATLAB Compiler embeds the absolute path to MEX-files inside the application. When the application is run on another machine, it will look in a predefined location for required MEX libraries.

The MGLINSTALLER adds commonly used MEX-files to a target machine. However, some MEX-files are not distributed. These may include:

1. User generated MEX-files

2. MEX-files hidden in private directories

3. MEX-files included with MATLAB toolboxes that were not shipped on the installation CD

In order to ensure proper execution of a distributed application, MEX-files of the aforementioned type must be manually installed along with the program. The files must be placed in the 'bin' directory, which is the same directory as the executable.

MEX-files installed under a private directory in MATLAB must also be installed in a private directory with the distributed application. Here is an example:

If your program makes use of MEX-files found on the development machine in the following location:

$MATLAB\toolbox\foo\bar1.dll

$MATLAB\toolbox\foo\private\bar2.dll

(where $MATLAB is the root MATLAB installation directory)

then the files 'bar1.dll' and 'bar2.dll' must be installed with the application at the following location:

$APPLICATION\foobar.exe

$APPLICATION\bin\bar1.dll

$APPLICATION\bin\foo\private\bar2.dll

(where $APPLICATION is the root application installation directory)

To determine the MEX-files used by an application, look for generated files with the name of the form mex_interface.c. In the previous example, the compiler would generate bar1_mex_interface.c and images_private_bar2_mex_interface.c.

NOTE: The above workaround does not work for compiled applications that make use of functions from the Image Processing Toolbox. Please reference the following solution if this is the case:

Solution 1-1A3JV: Why does my stand-alone application fail to find MEX-files from 'private' folders in the MATLAB toolboxes when deployed?

http://www.mathworks.com/support/solutions/data/1-1A3JV.html

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Related Solutions

MATLAB: How to reduce the size or footprint of a stand-alone application I bundle for deployment using MATLAB Compiler 3.0.1 (R13SP2) or earlier

MATLAB: After installing the stand-alone application, why do I get the error : “ERROR: Failed to find MEX-File on path : foo/bar/library.dll.”

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