Automation is a COM protocol that allows one application (the controller or client) to control objects exported by another application (the server). MATLAB supports COM Automation server capabilities on Microsoft® Windows® operating systems. Any Windows program that can be configured as an Automation client can control MATLAB. Some examples are Microsoft Excel® and Microsoft Access™, as well as Microsoft Visual Basic® and Microsoft Visual C++® programs.
To get started writing applications to call MATLAB as a COM Automation server:
Create a MATLAB server in your application.
Learn how to map MATLAB data to COM types.
To call MATLAB functions, convert COM types to MATLAB types.
To use MATLAB data in your application, convert MATLAB types to COM types.
For examples, see:
If you build client applications using C, C++, or Fortran, then use MATLAB Engine Applications instead of an Automation server. For more information, see Choosing Engine Applications.
To access COM components from MATLAB, see COM Objects in MATLAB.
To use MATLAB as a COM server, register the application in the Windows registry.
To create a server, use a programmatic identifier (ProgID) to identify the server.
Convert MATLAB Types to COM Types
How MATLAB converts data from MATLAB types to COM types.
Convert COM Types to MATLAB Types
How MATLAB converts data from a COM application into MATLAB types.
Call MATLAB Function from C# Client
This example shows how to call a user-defined MATLAB function from a C# application using MATLAB as an Automation server.
Call MATLAB Function from Visual Basic .NET Client
This example calls MATLAB functions from a Microsoft Visual Basic client application.
Pass Complex Data to MATLAB from C# Client
This example creates complex data in a client C# program and passes it to MATLAB.
Waiting for MATLAB Application to Complete
When you call a MATLAB function from another program, the program might display a timeout message while waiting for the MATLAB function to complete.