compiler.build.standaloneWindowsApplication

Create a standalone application for deployment outside MATLAB that does not launch a Windows command prompt

Syntax

compiler.build.standaloneWindowsApplication(AppFile)

compiler.build.standaloneWindowsApplication(AppFile,Name,Value)

compiler.build.standaloneWindowsApplication(opts)

results = compiler.build.standaloneWindowsApplication(___)

Description

Caution

This function is only supported on Windows^® operating systems.

compiler.build.standaloneWindowsApplication(AppFile) creates a standalone Windows only application using a MATLAB^® function, class, or app specified by AppFile. The application does not open a Windows command prompt on execution, and as a result, no console output is displayed. The executable file extension on Windows is .exe.

compiler.build.standaloneWindowsApplication(AppFile,Name,Value) creates a standalone Windows application with additional options specified as one or more name-value pairs. Options include the executable name, version number, and icon and splash images.

compiler.build.standaloneWindowsApplication(opts) creates a standalone Windows application with additional options specified by a compiler.build.StandaloneApplicationOptions object opts. If you use a StandaloneApplicationOptions object, you cannot specify any other options using name-value pairs.

results = compiler.build.standaloneWindowsApplication(___) returns build information as a compiler.build.Results object using any of the input arguments in previous syntaxes. Build information includes the build type, paths to the compiled files, and build options.

Examples

Create Standalone Windows Application

Create a graphical standalone application that displays a plot on a Windows system.

Write a MATLAB function that plots the values 1 to 10. Save the function in a file named myPlot.m.

function myPlot()
plot(1:10)

Build a standalone Windows application using the compiler.build.standaloneWindowsApplication command.

compiler.build.standaloneWindowsApplication('myPlot.m');

This generates the following files within a folder named myPlotstandaloneApplication in your current working directory:

• myPlot.exe—Executable file.

• mccExcludedFiles.log—Log file that contains a list of any toolbox functions that were not included in the application. For more information on non-supported functions, see MATLAB Compiler Limitations.

• readme.txt—Readme file that contains information on deployment prerequisites and the list of files to package for deployment.

• requiredMCRProducts.txt—Text file that contains product IDs of products required by MATLAB Runtime to run the application.

• splash.png—File that contains the splash image that displays when the application is run.

To run myPlot.exe, execute !myPlotstandaloneApplication\myPlot.exe in the MATLAB command window or execute myPlot.exe at the Windows command prompt. The application displays a splash image followed by a MATLAB figure of a line plot.

Figure 1 (myPlot.exe)

Customize a Windows Application Using Name-Value Pairs

Customize a graphical standalone application on a Windows system using name-value pairs to specify the executable name and automatically include a MAT-file.

Create xVal as a vector of linearly spaced values between 0 and 2π. Use an increment of π/40 between the values. Create yVal as sine values of x. Save the variables in a MAT-file named myVars.mat.

xVal = 0:pi/40:2*pi;
yVal = sin(xVal);
save('myVars.mat','xVal','yVal');

Create a function file named myPlot.m to create a line plot of the xVal and yVal variables.

function myPlot()
load('myVars.mat');
plot(1:10)

Build the standalone application using name-value pair arguments to specify additional options.

compiler.build.standaloneWindowsApplication('myPlot.m',...
    'AutoDetectDataFiles','On',...
    'ExecutableName','SineWaveApp')

The following files are generated within a folder named SineWaveAppstandaloneApplication in your current working directory:

• SineWaveApp.exe

• mccExcludedFiles.log

• readme.txt

• requiredMCRProducts.txt

• splash.png

To run SineWaveApp.exe, double-click SineWaveApp.exe from the file browser, execute !SineWaveAppstandaloneApplication\SineWaveApp.exe in the MATLAB command window, or execute SineWaveApp.exe at the Windows command prompt.

The application displays a splash image followed by a MATLAB figure of a sine wave plot.

Figure 1 (SineWaveApp.exe)

Customize Multiple Windows Applications Using Options Object

Customize multiple standalone Windows applications using a compiler.build.StandaloneApplicationOptions object on a Windows system to specify a common output directory and display progress information during the build process.

Write a MATLAB function that plots the values 1 to 10. Save the function in a file named myPlot.m.

function myPlot()
plot(1:10)

Create a StandaloneApplicationOptions object using myPlot.m and additional options specified as name-value pairs.

opts = compiler.build.StandaloneApplicationOptions('myPlot.m',...
    'OutputDir','D:\Documents\MATLAB\work\WindowsApps',...
    'Verbose','On')

opts =

  StandaloneApplicationOptions with properties:

            ExecutableName: 'myPlot'
        CustomHelpTextFile: ''
              EmbedArchive: on
            ExecutableIcon: 'C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2020b\toolbox\compiler\resources\default_icon_48.png'
    ExecutableSplashScreen: 'C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2020b\toolbox\toolbox\compiler\resources\default_splash.png'
         ExecutableVersion: '1.0.0.0'
                   AppFile: 'myPlot.m'
      TreatInputsAsNumeric: on
           AdditionalFiles: {}
       AutoDetectDataFiles: on
                 OutputDir: 'D:\Documents\MATLAB\work\WindowsApps'
                   Verbose: on

Pass the StandaloneApplicationOptions object as an input to the build function.

compiler.build.standaloneWindowsApplication(opts);

Use dot notation to change the input file of an existing StandaloneApplicationOptions object.

opts.AppFile = 'myPlot2.m';

This allows you to compile multiple applications using the same options object.

Get Build Information From Standalone Windows Application

Create a standalone Windows application and save information about the build type, included files, and build options to a compiler.build.Results object on a Windows system.

Save the compiler.build.standaloneWindowsApplication information to a Results object by declaring an output variable.

results = compiler.build.standaloneWindowsApplication('mymagic.m','AdditionalFiles',["myvars.mat","mysubfunction.m"])

results = 

  Results with properties:

            BuildType: 'standaloneWindowsApplication'
                Files: {3×1 cell}
              Options: [1×1 compiler.build.StandaloneApplicationOptions]

The Files property contains the paths to the generated standalone executable, splash image, and readme files.

Input Arguments

AppFile — Path to main file

character vector | string scalar

Path to the main file used to build the application, specified as a row character vector or a string scalar. The file must be a MATLAB function, class, or app of one of the following types: .m, .p, .mlx, .mlapp, or a valid MEX file.

Example: 'mymagic.m'

Data Types: char | string

opts — Standalone application build options

compiler.build.StandaloneApplicationOptions object

Standalone application build options, specified as a compiler.build.StandaloneApplicationOptions object.

Name-Value Pair Arguments

Specify optional comma-separated pairs of Name,Value arguments. Name is the argument name and Value is the corresponding value. Name must appear inside quotes. You can specify several name and value pair arguments in any order as Name1,Value1,...,NameN,ValueN.

Example: 'EmbedArchive','on'

'AdditionalFiles' — Additional files

character vector | string scalar | cell array of character vectors | string array

Additional files to be included in the standalone application, specified as a character vector, a string scalar, a string array, or a cell array of character vectors. File paths can be relative to the current working directory or absolute.

Example: 'AdditionalFiles',["myvars.mat","myfunc.m"]

Data Types: char | string | cell

'AutoDetectDataFiles' — Flag to automatically include data files

'on' (default) | on/off logical value

Flag to automatically include data files, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

• If you set this property to 'on', then data files that are provided as inputs to certain functions (load, fopen, etc) are automatically included in the standalone application.

• If you set this property to 'off', then data files must be added to the application using the AdditionalFiles property.

Example: 'AutoDetectDataFiles','Off'

Data Types: logical

'CustomHelpTextFile' — Path to help file

'' (default) | character vector | string scalar

Path to a help file containing help text for the end user of the application, specified as a character vector or a string scalar. The path can be relative to the current working directory or absolute.

Example: 'CustomHelpTextFile','D:\Documents\MATLAB\work\helpfile.txt'

Data Types: char | string

'EmbedArchive' — Flag to embed deployable archive (.ctf file) in application

'on' (default) | on/off logical value

Flag to embed the standalone archive, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

• If you set this property to 'on', then the standalone archive is embedded into the standalone executable.

• If you set this property to 'off', then the standalone archive is generated as a separate file.

Note

This property is ignored for Java libraries.

Example: 'EmbedArchive','Off'

Data Types: logical

'ExecutableIcon' — Path to icon image

matlabroot\toolbox\compiler\resources\default_icon_48.png (default) | character vector | string scalar

Path to an icon image, specified as a character vector or a string scalar. The image is used as the icon for the standalone application executable. The path can be relative to the current working directory or absolute. Accepted image types are .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .bmp, and .gif.

Example: 'ExecutableIcon','D:\Documents\MATLAB\work\images\myIcon.png'

Data Types: char | string

'ExecutableName' — Name of generated application

'AppFile' (default) | character vector | string scalar

Name of the generated application, specified as a character vector or a string scalar. The default value is the file name of AppFile. Target output names must begin with a letter or underscore character and contain only alpha-numeric characters or underscores.

Example: 'ExecutableName','MagicSquare'

Data Types: char | string

'ExecutableSplashScreen' — Path to splash image

matlabroot\toolbox\toolbox\compiler\resources\default_splash.png (default) | character vector | string scalar

Path to the splash image, specified as a character vector or a string scalar. The image is used as the splash screen for the standalone application. The path can be relative to the current working directory or absolute. Accepted image types are .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .bmp, and .gif. The image is resized to 400 pixels by 400 pixels.

Example: 'ExecutableSplashScreen','D:\Documents\MATLAB\work\images\mySplash.png'

Data Types: char | string

'ExecutableVersion' — Executable version

'1.0.0.0' (default) | character vector | string scalar

Executable version, specified as a character vector or a string scalar.

Note

This is only used on Windowsoperating systems.

Example: 'ExecutableVersion','4.0'

Data Types: char | string

'OutputDir' — Path to output directory

'ExecutableNamestandaloneApplication' (default) | character vector | string scalar

Path to the output directory where the build files are saved, specified as a character vector or a string scalar. The path can be relative to the current working directory or absolute.

If no path is specified, a build folder named ExecutableNamestandaloneApplication is created in the current working directory.

Example: 'OutputDir','D:\Documents\MATLAB\work\MagicSquarestandaloneApplication'

Data Types: char | string

'TreatInputsAsNumeric' — Flag to interpret command line inputs

'off' (default) | on/off logical value

Flag to interpret command line inputs as numeric values, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

• If you set this property to 'on', then command line inputs are treated as numeric MATLAB doubles.

• If you set this property to 'off', then command line inputs are treated as MATLAB character vectors.

Example: 'TreatInputsAsNumeric','On'

Data Types: logical

'Verbose' — Flag to control build verbosity

'off' (default) | on/off logical value

Flag to control build verbosity, specified as 'on' or 'off', or as numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false). A value of 'on' is equivalent to true, and 'off' is equivalent to false. Thus, you can use the value of this property as a logical value. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.OnOffSwitchState.

• If you set this property to 'on', then the MATLAB command window displays progress information indicating code generation stages and compiler output during the build process.

• If you set this property to 'off', then the command window does not display progress information.

Example: 'Verbose','On'

Data Types: logical

Output Arguments

results — Build results

compiler.build.Results object

Build results, returned as a compiler.build.Results object. The Results object contains the build type, the paths to the compiled files, and the build options, specified as a StandaloneApplicationOptions object.

Limitations

• This function is only supported on Windows operating systems.

• The application does not open a Windows command prompt on execution, and as a result, no console output is displayed.