MATLAB(1L)

NAME
matlab - script file for invoking MATLAB

SYNOPSIS
matlab     [-h | -help] | [-n]
    [[-c licensefile] -display hostname:display] [-debug]
    [-Debugger [options]]

DESCRIPTION
matlab is a Bourne shell script that starts the MATLAB executable (note lower case matlab refers here to the script and upper case MATLAB refers to the application program). Before actually initiating the execution of MATLAB, this script configures the runtime environment by:

    •   Determining the MATLAB root directory

    •   Determining the host machine architecture

    •   Processing any options specified

    •   Reading the MATLAB startup file, .matlabrc.sh

    •   Setting MATLAB environment variables

There are two ways in which you can control the way the matlab script works:

    •   By specifying command-line options

    •   By assigning values in the MATLAB startup file, .matlabrc.sh

The file .matlabrc.sh is a shell script that contains definitions for a number of variables that the matlab script uses. These variables are defined within the matlab script, but can be redefined in .matlabrc.sh. When called, matlab looks for the first occurance of .matlabrc.sh in the current directory, in the $HOME directory, and in the matlab/bin directory (where the template version of .matlabrc.sh is located).

You can edit the template file to redefine information used by the matlab script. You can copy the edited version to your current or home directory if you do not want your changes applied system wide. Ensure that you edit the section that applies to your machine architecture.

The .matlabrc.sh file defines the following variables:

    ______________________________________________________
    Variable What It Defines
    ------------------------------------------------------
    MATLAB    The MATLAB root directory

    AUTOMOUNT_MAP    Path prefix map for automounting

    DISPLAY    The hostname of the X Window display
                MATLAB uses for output

    ARCH    The machine architecture as determined
                by the arch utility script

    LM_LICENSE_FILE
                The FLEXlm license file (not used
                by Convex or Cray platforms).

    TOOLBOX    Path to the $MATLAB/toolbox directory

    MATLABPATH    The MATLAB search path

    XAPPLRESDIR    The X application resource directory
                $MATLAB/app-defaults

    XKEYSYMDB    The X keysym database file
                $MATLAB/app-defaults/XKeysymDB

    SHELL    The shell to use when "!" is issued in
                MATLAB

    -------------------------------------------------------

The matlab script determines the path of the MATLAB root directory by looking up the directory tree from the matlab/bin directory (where the matlab script is located). The $MATLAB variable is then used to locate all files within the MATLAB directory tree.

You can change the definition of $MATLAB, if for example, you want to run a different version of MATLAB or if, for some reason, the path determined by the matlab script is not correct (this may happen when certain types of automounting schemes are used by your system). You can also set $MATLAB as an argument to the matlab script.

$AUTOMOUNT_MAP is used to modify the MATLAB root directory path. Whatever pathname that is assigned to $AUTOMOUNT_MAP is deleted from the front for the MATLAB root path. (It is unlikely that you will need to use this option.)

See the comments in the .matlabrc.sh file for more explanation on these variables.

OPTIONS

-h, -help
    This option shows matlab command usage. MATLAB is not started when you specify this option.

-n  This option causes matlab to display the values of the environment variables used by MATLAB. MATLAB is not started when you specify this option.

-c licensefile
    Sets the value of the LM_LICENSE_FILE variable to licensefile. This setting supersedes values specified in .matlabrc.sh and the default values defined within the matlab script.

    When you start MATLAB with this option, only the file licensefile used. If you want to specify multiple license files (for exammple, if you have beta software with demo licenses), you can concatenate the file names using colons to separate each path. For example,

matlab/etc/license.dat:matlab/etc/license.dat.DEMO.signal

If you do not use the -c option, MATLAB automatically concatenates all the license.dat
    files in the matlab/etc directory.

-display hostname:display
    The X display used for MATLAB output. For example, matlab -display falstaff:0 cause MATLAB output to be displayed on the host named falstaff. The value specified with this option supersedes the value of the DISPLAY environment variable and the display variable defined in .matlabrc.sh.

-debug
    Provides debugging information, especially for X-based problems. Note that your should use this option only in conjunction with a Technical Support Representative from The MathWorks, Inc.

-Ddebugger options
    Start MATLAB with the specified debugger (e.g., dbx, xdb, gdb, ups, etc.). Any debugger options you want to use should be specified in options. Using the -D options sets the environment variable:

    MATLAB_DEBUG=debugger

Note that for certain debuggers, such as gdb, the SHELL environment variable is always set to /bin/sh.

This option is useful for using a debugger on MEX-files, which are subroutines linked to MATLAB. You should build the MEX-file using the -g option. (See the cmex and fmex manual pages for information on building MEX-files. See the MATLAB Release Notes Version 4.2 for information on debugging MEX-files).

FURTHER INFORMATION
See the MATLAB Installation Guide for information on installing MATLAB. See the MATLAB Reference Manual and the MATLAB User's Guide for information on using MATLAB or contact,

     The MathWorks, Inc.
     Cochituate Place
     24 Prime Park Way
     Natick, MA 01760

     508-653-1415

     info@mathworks.com

SEE ALSO
CMEX(1), FMEX(1), LMHOSTID(1), LMSTART(1), LMDOWN(1), LMBOOT(1), LMSTAT(1), LMREREAD(1), LMREMOVE(1)