Application compiler: How do I pass a file as Command line Input type argument

I am using Application compiler for generating a standalone application. I'm following the documenttaion available here

https://in.mathworks.com/help/compiler/create-and-install-a-standalone-application-from-matlab-code.html

Example,

function m = magicsquare(n)
if ischar(n)
    n=str2double(n);
end
m = magic(n);
disp(m)

On the command line, I do !magicsquare 5, to run the executable.

But when I want to pass a file (e.g excel or json file) as an input argument while running the executable generated for my use case, how do I pass an input file?

Answer 1

[Kojiro Saito]

File object itself cannot pass in command line, but you can pass file path.

Below is a sample code.

function myFileOpenTest(inputFileName)
    result = isfile(inputFileName);
    if result
        t = readtable(inputFileName);
        disp(t)
    else
        error('File not found')
    end
end

You can run the exe with file name as an input argument.

myFileOpenTest.exe myData.xlsx

By default, standalone application does not show disp result in Command Prompt, so you need to uncheck the following option.

[Deepa Maheshvare]

@Kojiro Saito

Thanks a lot again. This helped me. I also realize that one could avoid passing the input file to the executable by saving the inputFile in the same folder in which the executable is found.

readtable(inputFileName) reads the file from the current directory.

[Kojiro Saito]

@Deepa Maheshvare

You can also specify the full path of input files and relative path to the folder.

For example,

myFileOpenTest.exe C:\Work\myData.xlsx

and

myFileOpenTest.exe ..\input\myData.xlsx

[Deepa Maheshvare]

@Kojiro Saito,

Can we also specify urls instead of absolute or relative paths?

[Kojiro Saito]

If URL is a cloud storage service such as Amazon S3 or Azure Blob, you can also use readtable or datastore.

Work with Remote Data

If URL is external web site, you can use webread.

[Walter Roberson]

Current versions of readtable() also support URLs; https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/readtable.html#btx_238-1_sep_mw_0c943b7b-3930-4683-b320-a361b8774ece

load() of a .mat file supports URLs but only for -v7.3 files, not for -v7 or -v5 .mat files.

The ability of readtable() to support URLs has been very convenient here on MATLAB Answers; the volunteers can now refer directly to the poster's attached file, instead of having to download the file and upload it to attach it to their own post.

[Deepa Maheshvare]

@Kojiro Saito Could you please have a look at this https://in.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/1437704-how-to-pass-a-class-to-matlab-executablke if possible?

Answer 2

[Image Analyst]

You need to wrap your filename in single or double quotes, expecially if there is a space, otherwise it will think you're passing two arguments. You should be able to do

!magicsquare("c:/users/Deepa/my data.xlsx"); % Run the .exe file (not the m-file)