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Generating C code with MATLAB Coder: a Quick Start Guide

(R2012a) Whats the difference between Static/Dynamic Library and Executable? As far as the generated C code is concerned, there is no difference. Static (resp. Dynamic) Library Executable MATLAB Coder builds a static (resp. dynamic) library, which you can link against in a C-based project. Location: codegen/lib/<topLevelName> (resp. dll) You must provide a main function. MATLAB Coder then builds an executable file that calls the generated code. Location: codegen/exe/<topLevelName>

MATLAB Coder lets you generate C code from your MATLAB code. You can generate stand-alone ANSI-C code or C code that includes the necessary interfaces to run within MATLAB as compiled MEX file. This quick start guide focuses on how to generate stand-alone ANSI-C code. Refer to Preparing MATLAB Code for MATLAB Coder: a Quick Start Guide [1] for information about how to make your MATLAB code compliant.

Steps to Generating Stand-Alone C Code

When you generate stand-alone C code, the first step is always to generate a MEX file and check that it runs correctly in MATLAB before generating the stand-alone C code. The MEX file includes checks that make detecting and correcting a run-time error much easier. Refer to [1] for more detail. Generate a MEX file and verify behavior [1] Generate the initial stand-alone C code Understand the generated C code in an external C project Customize the generated C code Integrate the generated C code

Understand the Generated C Code

Comments
It is often helpful to add the original MATLAB Code as a comment in the C code to more easily understand where the C code is coming from. Under More Settings-> Code Appearance:

Generating the Initial Stand-Alone C Code

To generate stand-alone C Code, switch to the Build pane in MATLAB Coder and select C/C++ Static Library, C/C++ Dynamic Library or C/C++ Executable.

Feedback/Questions: email matlab-coder-expert@mathworks.com Memory Allocation

MATLAB Coder distinguishes between 3 types or arrays: Fixed-size arrays such as 12 by 3 Unknown size arrays with known maximum size (max-size arrays) Truly unknown size arrays (no known maximum size) MATLAB Coder always allocates memory on the stack or as static is there is no room on the stack If your code does not include any truly unknown size array, you can select to never use dynamic memory allocation, use if for all variable-size arrays or only for those that are larger than a given size: under More Settings -> Memory (see below) Memory allocation for truly unknown size arrays always happens at run time (dynamic memory allocation via emxEnsureCapacity calls) C always passes arrays by reference. Depending on the context, MATLAB Coder may have to make a local copy of the variable before passing it to a sub-function. Tip: use in-place syntax a = foo(a) both at the calling site and at function declaration to avoid a necessary local copy x = foo(x,b) function a = foo(a,b) . The input and output names are the same both at the call site and the function declaration. MATLAB Coder does not need to make a local copy of x and truly passes it by reference y = foo(x,b) function a = foo(a,b) . The call site uses two different names for the input and output variables. Hence, variables x and y both exist after the call to foo: MATLAB Coder must duplicate the memory

Use logical array indexing sparingly

Customize the C Code

You can obtain more efficient C code by following those best practices: Ensure that all arrays have a maximum size (if appropriate)

Logical array indexing is the ability to perform operations on sub-elements of an array based on a logical index. For example: you can clip all elements larger than 255 with: x(x>255) = 255; Rewriting it as follows generally yields better code: for ii=1:numel(x), if (x(ii)>255), x(ii) = 255; end, end

Add information about array sizes where needed. For example: assert(N < 25); y = zeros(1,N); See also Optimize indexing below for another practice that may help. Ensure that the generated code passes arguments by reference Optimize indexing

MATLAB Coder may not be able to recognize that (i:i+9) has a fixed length of 10. Rewrite it as i + (0:9) to give the necessary hint to MATLAB Coder. Enforce scalar typing

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There are cases where MATLAB Coder cannot know that x is a scalar. For example, you know that a always has at least one positive element. So, x = find(a>0, 1,'first') is scalar but MATLAB Coder types it as :1 because it cant know that it wont be empty Enforce scalar typing by modifying the line to: x = find(a>0, 1,'first'); x = x(1); to the Atoms demo in the documention at: MATLAB Coder -> Demos -> Generating C Code from MATLAB Code -> Atoms Simulation for more detail

FAQs
Do I need Embedded Coder? Embedded Coder lets you customize the C code generated for a standalone target. The main advantages to Embedded Coder are the ability to: Target Code Replacement Libraries (CRL) for embedded targets Generate code for specific targets (e.g. TI DSP) and co-simulate with IDEs Generate reentrant code Customize the code style such as defining name rules for variables

Integrate the Code in an External C Project

Files to Use
Get all the .c and .h files from the target directory (static lib example: codegen/lib/<topLevelName>). They represent all the files needed to proceed in most cases.

Memory Layout
MATLAB is column-major: consecutive elements in a 2D matrix correspond to elements in a column. On the other hand, C is row-major. The C code that MATLAB Coder generates mimics the MATLAB behavior. Consequently, if any of the input (resp. output) arguments is a multidimensional (2D or more) matrix, you may need to transpose your input (resp. output) to match an external C testbench.

File I/O Support

MATLAB Coder does not directly support load or fopen. While there is limited direct support for file I/O (Video and Audio file reader system objects), you can find an example of how to read from and write to generic files by looking at the example for coder.opaque Command-line equivalent

Argument Types
Input and output arguments map to the following C function arguments Fixed-size arrays Max-size array not dynamic Dynamically allocated arrays Pointer to array: x[10] Pointer to array along with array with actual runtime sizes: x_data[10] and x_sizes[2] emxArrays, which are special types defined in a .h file produced. MATLAB Coder provides helper functions to create and destroy those arrays. Refer

You can generate code and set all options from the command line. See codegen and coder.config Clashing function names when generating code for multiple functions

If you generate code independently for several functions, MATLAB Coder may generate C functions that have the same name but different behavior for some of the sub-functions. When you try to merge the files for all functions into one directory, this may lead to a conflict.

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Solution: If you generate code simultaneously for several functions, MATLAB Coder generates C code with the awareness of all other parts of your design and avoids name clashes. Simply use the multiple entry-point files capability, which is to define several top-level functions to the project:

Useful Functions
Refer to the documentation for details coder.ceval coder.cstructname coder.inline Call an external C function, which you already have, from the generated C code Specify the name of the C structure generated for your MATLAB structure Enforce of prevent inlining of sub-functions. When you use coder.inline(always) in a MATLAB sub-function, the corresponding code is inlined in the generated C code Reserved variable, which is empty when running the MATLAB interpreter. Lets you define different processing in code generation and MATLAB mode: if isempty(coder.target) % This happens in MATLAB else % This happens in code generation end Suppresses the initialization statement for a variable defined as zeros. This results in slightly faster code, but you must ensure that all slices of the variable are written to before read from Create a configuration object to set all the necessary options when generating C code from the command line with the codegen command

coder.target Using Target-Specific Libraries

MATLAB Coder lets you replace operators and functions with targetspecific implementations. This capability is described in the documentation under the heading Code Replacement Library (CRL) and requires Embedded Coder. Generating re-entrant / thread-safe code? coder.nullcopy

This capability requires Embedded Coder. Under More Settings -> Memory Generating C++ code? coder.config

MATLAB Coder always generates C code. When you select the C++ option, MATLAB Coder generates C code (with a .cpp extension) that a C++ compiler can compile. Select C++ under More Settings -> General -> Language