How to call MATLAB functions from the Linux command line?

Question

Basically I have an m file which looks like

function Z=myfunc()
    % Do some calculations
    dlmwrite('result.out',Z,',');
end

I just want to execute it from the command line without getting into MATLAB. I tried several options (-nodisplay, -nodesktop, -nojvm, -r, etc.), none of them worked. I end up getting into MATLAB and have to type "quit" to exit.

What is the solution?

Answer 1

MATLAB can run scripts, but not functions from the command line. This is what I do:

File matlab_batcher.sh:

#!/bin/sh

matlab_exec=matlab
X="${1}(${2})"
echo ${X} > matlab_command_${2}.m
cat matlab_command_${2}.m
${matlab_exec} -nojvm -nodisplay -nosplash < matlab_command_${2}.m
rm matlab_command_${2}.m

Call it by entering:

./matlab_batcher.sh myfunction myinput

Answer 2

Use:

matlab -nosplash -nodesktop -logfile remoteAutocode.log -r matlabCommand

Make sure matlabCommand has an exit as its last line.

Answer 3

You can call functions like this:

matlab -r "yourFunction(0)"

Answer 4

Here's a simple solution that I found.

I have a function func(var) that I wanted to run from a shell script and pass it the first argument for var. I put this in my shell script:

matlab -nodesktop -nosplash -r "func('$1')"

That worked like a treat for me. The trick is that you have to use double quotes with the "-r" command for MATLAB and use single quotes in order to pass the bash argument to MATLAB.

Just make sure that the last line of your MATLAB script is "exit" or that you run

matlab -nodesktop -nosplash -r "func('$1'); exit"

Answer 5

You can run an arbitrary function from the commandline by passing a command to Matlab, like this:

matlab -nodisplay -r "funcname arg1 arg2 arg3 argN"

This will execute the Matlab command funcname('arg1', 'arg2', 'arg3', 'argN'). Ergo, all arguments will be passed as strings and your function needs to handle this, but then again, this applies to command-line options in any other language as well.

Answer 6

nohup matlab -nodisplay -nodesktop -nojvm -nosplash -r script.m > output &

Answer 7

You could compile myfile into a standalone program and run that instead. Use Matlab's compiler mcc for that (if you have it), more information is provided in this question.

This answer was copied from my answer to another question.

Answer 8

I have modified Alex Cohen's answer for my own needs, so here it is.

My requirements were that the batcher script could handle string and integer/double inputs, and that Matlab should run from the directory from which the batcher script was called.

#!/bin/bash

matlab_exec=matlab

#Remove the first two arguments
i=0
for var in "$@"
do
 args[$i]=$var
 let i=$i+1
done
unset args[0]

#Construct the Matlab function call
X="${1}("
for arg in ${args[*]} ; do
  #If the variable is not a number, enclose in quotes
  if ! [[ "$arg" =~ ^[0-9]+([.][0-9]+)?$ ]] ; then
    X="${X}'"$arg"',"
  else
    X="${X}"$arg","
  fi
done
X="${X%?}"
X="${X})"

echo The MATLAB function call is ${X}

#Call Matlab
echo "cd('`pwd`');${X}" > matlab_command.m
${matlab_exec} -nojvm -nodisplay -nosplash < matlab_command.m

#Remove the matlab function call
rm matlab_command.m

This script can be called like (if it is on your path): matlab_batcher.sh functionName stringArg1 stringArg2 1 2.0

Where, the final two arguments will be passed as numbers and the first two as strings.