Start MATLAB Sessions from C++

You can start MATLAB® engine sessions from C++ using the MATLAB Engine API for C++.

These examples show how to start a MATLAB engine session from your C++ program synchronously or asynchronously and in-process or out-of-process. To start the session, use one of these utility functions, which are defined in the matlab::engine namespace:

For setup and build instructions, see Requirements to Build C++ Engine Applications.

Start MATLAB Session Synchronously

Start MATLAB from C++ synchronously and out-of-process. startMATLAB returns a unique pointer to the MATLABEngine instance.

#include "MatlabEngine.hpp"

void startMLSession() {
    using namespace matlab::engine;

    // Start MATLAB engine synchronously
    std::unique_ptr<MATLABEngine> matlabPtr = startMATLAB();
}

Start MATLAB Session In-Process

By default, MATLAB runs out-of-process. You can run MATLAB in the same process as your C++ application by calling either matlab::engine::startMATLAB or matlab::engine::startMATLABAsync with mode set to MATLABApplicationMode::IN_PROCESS. To explicitly call MATLAB out-of-process, set mode to MATLABApplicationMode::OUT_OF_PROCESS. For more information about mode, see matlab::engine::startMATLAB Parameters. (since R2026a)

For example, start MATLAB from C++ in-process.

#include "MatlabEngine.hpp"

void startMLSession() {
    using namespace matlab::engine;

    // Start MATLAB engine in-process
    std::unique_ptr<MATLABEngine> matlabPtr = startMATLAB(MATLABApplicationMode::IN_PROCESS);
}

Start MATLAB Session Asynchronously

Start MATLAB from C++ asynchronously and out-of-process. Use FutureResult::get to retrieve the unique pointer to the MATLABEngine instance returned by startMATLABAsync.

#include "MatlabEngine.hpp"

void startMLSessionAsync() {
    using namespace matlab::engine;

    // Start MATLAB engine asynchronously out-of-process
    FutureResult<std::unique_ptr<MATLABEngine>> matlabFuture = startMATLABAsync();
    std::unique_ptr<MATLABEngine> matlabPtr = matlabFuture.get();
}

Start MATLAB with Startup Options

You can start a MATLAB session using supported MATLAB startup options. For general startup options, see Commonly Used Startup Options. For options supported by the engine, see matlab::engine::MATLABEngine.

This example starts MATLAB using the -r startup option and the matlab.engine.ShareEngine option. Create a vector with each option as an element.

#include "MatlabEngine.hpp"

void startMLOptions() {
    using namespace matlab::engine;

    // Create an option vector with the
    // startup option -r and the
    // matlab.engine.ShareEngine option

    std::vector<String> optionVec;
    optionVec.push_back(u"-r");
    optionVec.push_back(u"matlab.engine.shareEngine");
    
    // Start MATLAB out-of-process 
    std::unique_ptr<MATLABEngine> matlabPtr = startMATLAB(optionVec);
}

See Also

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