CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javamatlab
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rst

Reputation: 2714

How can Java Applications communicate with MATLAB

I have some mex files that urgently need to be called via MATLAB, there is currently no way around. However, I really despise MATLAB's GUI (in)possibilities and would like to create some e.g. JavaFX Apps.

My question: how can a Java app's communicate with a running MATLAB instance?

I know that you can include Java objects into MATLAB, however I would prefere to have a standalone Java app.

Upvotes: 2

Views: 651

Answers (2)

Julian
Julian

Reputation: 1732

I would suggest to start a server in Matlab that listens on a specific port to send/receive data to/from a Java client. By using the eval Matlab command you could even invoke scripts/command/etc. remotely controlled by a Java client.

You might want to have a look at this code example.

Upvotes: 0

Dmitry
Dmitry

Reputation: 121

Java can execute commands via command line for example:

 Process process = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(command);
 process.waitFor();

So it is possible to execute a MATLAB script via command line in Java.

In MATLAB it is possible to write files with any data needed. I don't remember the exact way you may do this. http://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/fprintf.html gives an example:

x = 0:.1:1;
A = [x; exp(x)];

fileID = fopen('exp.txt','w');
fprintf(fileID,'%6s %12s\n','x','exp(x)');
fprintf(fileID,'%6.2f %12.8f\n',A);
fclose(fileID);

It is some kind of a workaround but it should work and it is not really hard to implement.

Update.

If Matlab is already running and you want to communicate with it in another application (Java), it may be done using a network connection through the localhost. Matlab may listen to some predefined port (for code example see http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/11802-matlab-tcp-ip-code-example ) and do some action when a "start" trigger is sent via Java (or even some data along with the trigger). In Java you may use the Socket class (some code example may be found here http://www.javaworld.com/article/2077322/core-java/core-java-sockets-programming-in-java-a-tutorial.html ).

Also it may be done writing data into files. For example, Java adds some command to some file with predefined name (command.txt). Matlab scans this file in a loop and when something is found there it starts calculation (and Java application waits for results in some results.txt file).

Upvotes: 2

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