Documentation

C++ Shared Library Wrapper

The C++ library wrapper option allows you to create a shared library from an arbitrary set of MATLAB^® files. MATLAB Compiler SDK™ generates a wrapper file and a header file. The header file contains all of the entry points for all of the compiled MATLAB functions.

C++ Shared Library Example

This example rewrites the C shared library example using C++. The procedure for creating a C++ shared library from MATLAB files is identical to the procedure for creating a C shared library, except you use the cpplib wrapper. Enter the following command on a single line:

mcc -W cpplib:libmatrixp -T link:lib addmatrix.m multiplymatrix.m eigmatrix.m -v

The -W cpplib:<libname> option tells MATLAB Compiler SDK to generate a function wrapper for a shared library and call it <libname>. The -T link:lib option specifies the target output as a shared library. Note the directory where the product puts the shared library because you will need it later.

Writing the Driver Application

Note   Due to name mangling in C++, you must compile your driver application with the same version of your third-party compiler that you use to compile your C++ shared library.

In the C++ version of the matrixdriver application matrixdriver.cpp, arrays are represented by objects of the class mwArray. Every mwArray class object contains a pointer to a MATLAB array structure. For this reason, the attributes of an mwArray object are a superset of the attributes of a MATLAB array. Every MATLAB array contains information about the size and shape of the array (i.e., the number of rows, columns, and pages) and either one or two arrays of data. The first array stores the real part of the array data and the second array stores the imaginary part. For arrays with no imaginary part, the second array is not present. The data in the array is arranged in column-major, rather than row-major, order.

Caution   Avoid issuing cd commands from the driver application prior to calling mclInitializeApplication. Failure to do so can cause a failure in MATLAB Runtime initialization.

For information about how MATLAB Compiler SDK uses a proxy layer for the libraries that an application must link, see Understand the mclmcrrt Proxy Layer.

Compiling the Driver Application

To compile the matrixdriver.cpp driver code, you use your C++ compiler. By executing the following mbuild command that corresponds to your development platform, you will use your C++ compiler to compile the code.

mbuild matrixdriver.cpp libmatrixp.lib            (Windows)
mbuild matrixdriver.cpp -L. -lmatrixp -I.         (UNIX)

Note   This command assumes that the shared library and the corresponding header file are in the current working directory. On Windows®, if this is not the case, specify the full path to libmatrixp.lib, and use a -I option to specify the directory containing the header file. On UNIX®, if this is not the case, replace the "." (dot) following the -L and -I options with the name of the directory that contains these files, respectively.

Incorporating a C++ Shared Library into an Application

There are two main differences to note when using a C++ shared library:

• Interface functions use the mwArray type to pass arguments, rather than the mxArray type used with C shared libraries.

• C++ exceptions are used to report errors to the caller. Therefore, all calls must be wrapped in a try-catch block.

Exported Function Signature

The C++ shared library target generates two sets of interfaces for each MATLAB function. The first set of exported interfaces is identical to the mlx signatures that are generated in C shared libraries. The second set of interfaces is the C++ function interfaces. The generic signature of the exported C++ functions is as follows:

MATLAB Functions with No Return Values.  

bool MW_CALL_CONV <function-name>(<mwArray_lists>); 

MATLAB Functions with at Least One Return Value.  

bool MW_CALL_CONV <function-name>(int <number_of_return_values>,
     <mxArray_pointers>, <mwArray_lists>);

In this case, mwArray_lists represents a comma-separated list of type const mwArray& and mxArray_pointers represents a comma-separated list of pointers of type mwArray&. For example, in the libmatrix library, the C++ interfaces to the addmatrix MATLAB function is generated as:

void addmatrix(int nargout, mwArray& a , const mwArray& a1,  
               const mwArray& a2);

Error Handling

C++ interface functions handle errors during execution by throwing a C++ exception. Use the mwException class for this purpose. Your application can catch mwExceptions and query the what() method to get the error message. To correctly handle errors when calling the C++ interface functions, wrap each call inside a try-catch block.

	try
{
		...
		(call function)
		...
}
catch (const mwException& e)
{
		...
		(handle error)
		...
}

The matrixdriver.cppmatrixdriver.cpp application illustrates the typical way to handle errors when calling the C++ interface functions.

Working with C++ Shared Libraries and Sparse Arrays

The MATLAB Compiler SDK C/C++ API includes static factory methods for working with sparse arrays.

For a complete list of the methods, see C++ Utility Classes.