Compiling and Linking on UNIX :: Importing and Exporting Data (External Interfaces)

External Interfaces

Compiling and Linking on UNIX

Under UNIX at runtime, you must tell the system where the API shared libraries reside. These sections provide the necessary UNIX commands depending on your shell and system architecture.

Setting Runtime Library Path

In C shell, the command to set the library path is

setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH $MATLAB/bin/$ARCH

where $MATLAB is the MATLAB root directory and $ARCH is your system architecture on which MATLAB is supported.

In Bourne shell, the commands to set the library path are

LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$MATLAB/bin/$ARCH:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH

Setting Runtime Library Path on Macintosh

On the Macintosh platform, the library path variable is called DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH. Use the following commands to set the library path:

In C shell, the command to set the library path is

setenv DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH 
   $MATLAB/bin/mac:$MATLAB/sys/os/mac:$DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH

In Bourne shell, the commands to set the library path are

DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=
   $MATLAB/bin/mac:$MATLAB/sys/os/mac:$DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH
export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH

Platform-Specific Environment Variables

Note that the environment variable (LD_LIBRARY_PATH in this example) varies on several platforms. The following table lists the different environment variable names you should use on these systems.

Table 1-5: Environment Variable Names
Architecture
Environment Variable

HP-UX
SHLIB_PATH

Mac OS X
DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH

**Table 1-5: Environment Variable Names**
Architecture	Environment Variable
HP-UX	SHLIB_PATH
Mac OS X	`DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH`

It is convenient to place these commands in a startup script such as ~/.cshrc for C shell or ~/.profile for Bourne shell.

Using the Options File

MATLAB provides an options file, matopts.sh, that lets you use the mex script to easily compile and link MAT-file applications. For example, to compile and link the matcreat.c example, first copy the file

$MATLAB/extern/examples/eng_mat/matcreat.c

(where $MATLAB is the MATLAB root directory) to a directory that is writable, and then use the following command to build it:

mex -f $MATLAB/bin/matopts.sh matcreat.c

If you need to modify the options file for your particular compiler or platform, use the -v switch to view the current compiler and linker settings and then make the appropriate changes in a local copy of the matopts.sh file.

Compiling and Linking MAT-File Programs Compiling and Linking on Windows