How to convert a MATLAB App to standalone .exe file?

Hi,

I developed a MATLAB App using App Designer, and I want to convert it to a standalone .exe file so people without MATLAB can use it, any hints how that can be possible?

note: I am using MATLAB 2017b,

Thanks

Answer 1

[Rik]

This answer should still be valid.

[AbuYusuf]

Ok, now I have created the .exe standalone file. But, it still requires MATLAB to make the computation. Is that how it usually works? I thought I could run the generated .exe file without having MATLAB installed which is the case of some users

[Rik]

.exe files generated with Matlab will generally require the Matlab Compiler Runtime (MCR), which you should be able package along with the exe when you make it, or your users can download it for free. (when I looked into it, as far as I understood it, you're even free to distribute it yourself, but you should confirm that by reading the license carefully, especially if you have something commercial in mind)

[AbuYusuf]

Perfect! You are right, I just missed that. Now it's OK.

last concern, the .exe file is too big, it's around 1.38GB including the MCR. Any way to reduce the size? it seems the MCR is fixed at 1GB of size, but I want to see if someone has hints on this?

[Rik]

I don't think there is a way to reduce that size without direct help from Mathworks, which I don't think they will be willing to offer. (i.e. making a custom MCR with only the parts that you need) Another point is that the MCR is meant to cover all cases, so you just need one copy to use every compiled program, even from different sources.

If you are willing to debug your code all over again and implement what likely amounts to dozens of workarounds, you could give Octave a try. It's much slower, but the zip version comes at 280MB (which expands to just over 1GB).

[Image Analyst]

You don't need the full MATLAB development environment to be installed. You just need the MCR (run-time library).

See the FAQ: http://matlab.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ#How_can_I_make_a_standalone_executable_from_my_MATLAB_code.3F

[Rik]

Yes, and the MCR for 64 bit Windows is 1.3GB, so if you include the MCR in the setup for the exe that probably compiles to a few MB, it will total that 1.38GB AbuYusuf reports.