External Interfaces/API

The Engine Library

The engine library contains the following routines for controlling the MATLAB computation engine. Their names all begin with the three-letter prefix eng. These tables list all the available engine functions and their purposes.

C Engine Routines

Function	Purpose
engOpen	Start up MATLAB engine
engClose	Shut down MATLAB engine
engGetVariable	Get a MATLAB array from the MATLAB engine
engPutVariable	Send a MATLAB array to the MATLAB engine
engEvalString	Execute a MATLAB command
engOutputBuffer	Create a buffer to store MATLAB text output
engOpenSingleUse	Start a MATLAB engine session for single, nonshared use
engGetVisible	Determine visibility of MATLAB engine session
engSetVisible	Show or hide MATLAB engine session

Fortran Engine Routines

Function	Purpose
engOpen	Start up MATLAB engine
engClose	Shut down MATLAB engine
engGetVariable	Get a MATLAB array from the MATLAB engine
engPutVariable	Send a MATLAB array to the MATLAB engine
engEvalString	Execute a MATLAB command
engOutputBuffer	Create a buffer to store MATLAB text output

The MATLAB engine also uses the mx prefixed API routines discussed in Creating C Language MEX-Files and Creating Fortran MEX-Files.

Communicating with MATLAB

On UNIX, the engine library communicates with the MATLAB engine using pipes, and, if needed, rsh for remote execution. On Microsoft Windows, the engine library communicates with MATLAB using a Component Object Model () interface. COM and DDE Support contains a detailed description of COM.

Using the MATLAB Engine

GUI-Intensive Applications