External Interfaces

MATLAB Interface to Generic DLLs

A shared library is a collection of functions that are available for use by one or more applications running on a system. MATLAB supports dynamic linking of external libraries on 32-bit MS-Windows systems and on 32-bit Linux systems.

You precompile the library into a dynamic link library file (.dll) on Windows and a shared object file (.so) on Linux. At run-time, the library is loaded into memory and made accessible to all applications. The MATLAB Interface to Generic DLLs enables you to interact with functions in dynamic link libraries directly from MATLAB.

This chapter covers the following topics.

Overview
Provides a brief introduction to the interface.

Loading and Unloading the Library
Describes functions to use in loading the library into MATLAB memory and later releasing that memory.

Getting Information About the Library
Shows several ways of obtaining information about the functions contained in a library.

Invoking Library Functions
Tells you how to make a call to any function in the library.

Passing Arguments
Explains how to construct MATLAB arguments that are compatible with the argument types found in the library functions.

Data Conversion
Describes how to convert MATLAB data to C data types when you need to do the conversion manually.

Required Files from Third-Party Sources Overview

Overview	Provides a brief introduction to the interface.
Loading and Unloading the Library	Describes functions to use in loading the library into MATLAB memory and later releasing that memory.
Getting Information About the Library	Shows several ways of obtaining information about the functions contained in a library.
Invoking Library Functions	Tells you how to make a call to any function in the library.
Passing Arguments	Explains how to construct MATLAB arguments that are compatible with the argument types found in the library functions.
Data Conversion	Describes how to convert MATLAB data to C data types when you need to do the conversion manually.