External Interfaces/API

Custom Building MEX-Files

This section discusses in detail the process that the MEX-file build script uses. It covers the following topics:

• Who Should Read This Chapter
• MEX Script Switches
• Default Options File on UNIX
• Default Options File on Windows
• Custom Building on UNIX
• Custom Building on Windows

Who Should Read This Chapter

In general, the defaults that come with MATLAB should be sufficient for building most MEX-files. There are reasons that you might need more detailed information, such as:

• You want to use an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), rather than the provided script, to build MEX-files.
• You want to create a new options file, for example, to use a compiler that is not directly supported.
• You want to exercise more control over the build process than the script uses.

The script, in general, uses two stages (or three, for Microsoft Windows) to build MEX-files. These are the compile stage and the link stage. In between these two stages, Windows compilers must perform some additional steps to prepare for linking (the prelink stage).

Specifying an Options File

MEX Script Switches