Script Files :: Working with mcc (MATLAB Compiler)

MATLAB Compiler

Script Files

Converting Script M-Files to Function M-Files

MATLAB provides two ways to package sequences of MATLAB commands:

Function M-files
Script M-files

These two categories of M-files differ in two important respects:

You can pass arguments to function M-files but not to script M-files.
Variables used inside function M-files are local to that function; you cannot access these variables from the MATLAB interpreter's workspace unless they are passed back by the function. By contrast, variables used inside script M-files are shared with the caller's workspace; you can access these variables from the MATLAB interpreter command line.

The MATLAB Compiler cannot compile script M-files, however, it can compile function M-files that call scripts. You may not specify a script M-file explicitly on the mcc command line, but you may specify function M-files that include scripts themselves.

Converting a script into a function is usually fairly simple. To convert a script to a function, simply add a function line at the top of the M-file.

For example, consider the script M-file houdini.m.

m = magic(4); % Assign 4x4 magic square to m. 
t = m .^ 3;   % Cube each element of m.
disp(t);      % Display the value of t.

Running this script M-file from a MATLAB session creates variables m and t in your MATLAB workspace.

The MATLAB Compiler cannot compile houdini.m because houdini.m is a script. Convert this script M-file into a function M-file by simply adding a function header line.

function houdini(sz)
m = magic(sz); % Assign magic square to m.
t = m .^ 3;    % Cube each element of m.
disp(t)        % Display the value of t.

The MATLAB Compiler can now compile houdini.m. However, because this makes houdini a function, running houdini.m no longer creates variables m and t in the MATLAB workspace. If it is important to have m and t accessible from the MATLAB workspace, you can change the beginning of the function to

```
function [m,t] = houdini(sz)
```

The function now returns the values of m and t to its caller.

Using Pragmas Including Script Files in Deployed Applications