compiler.build.dotNETAssembly

Create .NET assembly for deployment outside MATLAB

Since R2021a

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Syntax

compiler.build.dotNETAssembly(Files)
compiler.build.dotNETAssembly(Files,Name,Value)
compiler.build.dotNETAssembly(ClassMap)
compiler.build.dotNETAssembly(ClassMap,Name,Value)
compiler.build.dotNETAssembly(opts)
results = compiler.build.dotNETAssembly(___)

Description

compiler.build.dotNETAssembly(Files) creates a .NET assembly using the MATLAB® functions specified by Files.

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compiler.build.dotNETAssembly(Files,Name,Value) creates a .NET assembly with additional options specified using one or more name-value arguments. Options include the class name, output directory, and additional files to include.

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compiler.build.dotNETAssembly(ClassMap) creates a .NET assembly with a class mapping specified using a container.Map object ClassMap.

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compiler.build.dotNETAssembly(ClassMap,Name,Value) creates a .NET assembly using ClassMap and additional options specified using one or more name-value arguments. Options include the assembly name, output directory, and additional files to include.

example

compiler.build.dotNETAssembly(opts) creates a .NET assembly with options specified using a compiler.build.DotNetAssemblyOptions object opts. You cannot specify any other options using name-value arguments.

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results = compiler.build.dotNETAssembly(___) returns build information as a compiler.build.Results object using any of the input argument combinations in previous syntaxes. The build information consists of the build type, paths to the compiled files, and build options.

example

Examples

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Create a .NET assembly on a Windows® system using a function file that generates a magic square.

In MATLAB, locate the MATLAB function that you want to deploy as a .NET assembly. For this example, use the file magicsquare.m located in matlabroot\extern\examples\compiler.

appFile = which('magicsquare.m');

Build a .NET assembly using the compiler.build.dotNETAssembly command.

compiler.build.dotNETAssembly(appFile);

The build function generates the following files within a folder named magicsquaredotNETAssembly in your current working directory:

  • GettingStarted.html — HTML file that contains information on integrating your assembly.

  • includedSupportPackages.txt — Text file that lists all support files included in the assembly.

  • magicsquare.dll — Dynamic-link library file that can be accessed using the mwArray API.

  • magicsquare.xml — XML file that contains documentation for the mwArray assembly.

  • magicsquare_overview.html — HTML file that contains requirements for accessing the component and for generating arguments using the mwArray class hierarchy.

  • magicsquareNative.dll — Dynamic-link library file that can be accessed using the native API.

  • magicsquareNative.xml — XML file that contains documentation for the native assembly.

  • magicsquareVersion.cs — C# file that contains version information.

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

  • readme.txt — Text file that contains packaging and interface information.

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

  • unresolvedSymbols.txt — Text file that contains information on unresolved symbols.

Create a .NET assembly on a Windows system and customize it using name-value arguments.

For this example, use the files flames.m and flames.mat located in matlabroot\extern\examples\compiler.

appFile = which('flames.m');
MATFile = which('flames.mat');

Build a .NET assembly using the compiler.build.dotNETAssembly command. Use name-value arguments to specify the assembly name and version, add a MAT file, and enable verbose output.

compiler.build.dotNETAssembly(appFile,'AssemblyName','FlamesComp', ...
'AssemblyVersion','2.0', ...
'AdditionalFiles',MATFile, ...
'Verbose','on');

Create a .NET assembly on a Windows system using a class map and multiple function files.

Create a containers.Map object whose keys are class names and whose values are the locations of function files.

cmap = containers.Map;
cmap('Class1') = {'exampleFcn1.m','exampleFcn2.m'};
cmap('Class2') = {'exampleFcn3.m','exampleFcn4.m'};

Build a .NET assembly using the compiler.build.dotNETAssembly command.

compiler.build.dotNETAssembly(cmap);

Alternatively, you can specify additional options using name-value arguments when you build the .NET assembly.

compiler.build.dotNETAssembly(cmap, ...
'AssemblyName','MyExampleComp', ...
'AssemblyVersion','2.0', ...
'Verbose','on');

Create multiple .NET assemblies on a Windows system using a compiler.build.DotNETAssemblyOptions object.

For this example, use the file magicsquare.m located in matlabroot\extern\examples\compiler.

appFile = which('magicsquare.m');

Create a DotNETAssemblyOptions object using appFile. Use name-value arguments to specify a common output directory, generate the assembly archive separately, and enable verbose output.

opts = compiler.build.DotNETAssemblyOptions(appFile, ...
'OutputDir','D:\Documents\MATLAB\work\dotNETBatch', ...
'EmbedArchive','off', ...
'Verbose','on')
opts = 

  DotNETAssemblyOptions with properties:

             AssemblyName: 'example.magicsquare'
                 ClassMap: [1×1 containers.Map]
               DebugBuild: off
           EnableRemoting: off
         FrameworkVersion: '4.0'
    SampleGenerationFiles: {}
        StrongNameKeyFile: ''
          AssemblyVersion: '1.0.0.0'
             EmbedArchive: off
                Interface: 'mwarray'
          AdditionalFiles: {}
      AutoDetectDataFiles: on
    ExternalEncryptionKey: [0×0 struct]
         ObfuscateArchive: off
          SecretsManifest: ''
          SupportPackages: {'autodetect'}
                  Verbose: on
                OutputDir: 'D:\Documents\MATLAB\work\dotNETBatch'

   Class Map Information
         magicsquareClass: {'C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2025b\extern\examples\compiler\magicsquare.m'}

Build the .NET Assembly using the DotNETAssemblyOptions object.

compiler.build.dotNETAssembly(opts);

To compile using the function file hello.m with the same options, use dot notation to modify the ClassMap of the existing COMComponentOptions object before running the build function again.

remove(opts.ClassMap, keys(opts.ClassMap));
opts.ClassMap('helloClass') = which('hello.m');
compiler.build.dotNETAssembly(opts);

By modifying the ClassMap argument and recompiling, you can compile multiple components using the same options object.

Create a .NET assembly on a Windows system and save information about the build type, generated files, included support packages, and build options to a compiler.build.Results object.

Compile using the file magicsquare.m.

results = compiler.build.dotNETAssembly('magicsquare.m')
results = 

  Results with properties:

              BuildType: 'dotNETAssembly'
                  Files: {4×1 cell}
IncludedSupportPackages: {}
                Options: [1×1 compiler.build.DotNETAssemblyOptions]
    RuntimeDependencies: [1×1 compiler.runtime.Dependencies]

The Files property contains the paths to the following compiled files:

  • magicsquare.dll

  • magicsquareNative.dll

  • magicsquare_overview.dll

  • GettingStarted.html

Input Arguments

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Files implementing MATLAB functions, 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. Files must have one of the following extensions: .m, .p, .mlx, or .mexa64.

Example: ["myfunc1.m","myfunc2.m"]

Data Types: char | string | cell

Class map, specified as a containers.Map object. Map keys are class names and each value is the set of files mapped to the corresponding class. Files must have one of the following extensions: .m, .p, .mlx, or .mexa64.

Example: cmap

.NET assembly build options, specified as a compiler.build.DotNETAssemblyOptions object.

Name-Value Arguments

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Specify optional pairs of arguments as Name1=Value1,...,NameN=ValueN, where Name is the argument name and Value is the corresponding value. Name-value arguments must appear after other arguments, but the order of the pairs does not matter.

Before R2021a, use commas to separate each name and value, and enclose Name in quotes.

Example: 'Verbose','on'

Additional files and folders to include in the .NET assembly, specified as a character vector, a string scalar, a string array, or a cell array of character vectors. Paths can be relative to the current working directory or absolute.

Example: 'AdditionalFiles',["myvars.mat","data.txt"]

Data Types: char | string | cell

Name of the .NET assembly, specified as a character vector or a string scalar. Specify 'AssemblyName' as a namespace, which is a period-separated list, such as companyname.groupname.component. The name of the generated library is set to the last entry of the period-separated list. The name must begin with a letter and contain only alphabetic characters and periods.

Example: 'AssemblyName','mathworks.dotnet.mymagic'

Data Types: char | string

Assembly version, specified as a character vector or a string scalar. This option is only used with the MWArray API.

For information on versioning using MATLAB Compiler SDK™, see Versioning.

Example: 'AssemblyVersion','4.0'

Data Types: char | string

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 you provide as inputs to certain functions (such as load and fopen) are automatically included in the .NET assembly.

  • If you set this property to 'off', then you must add data files to the assembly using the AdditionalFiles option.

Example: 'AutoDetectDataFiles','off'

Data Types: logical

Name of the .NET class, specified as a character vector or a string scalar. You cannot specify this option if you use a ClassMap input. Class names must meet the .NET class name requirements.

The default value is the name of the first file listed in the Files argument appended with Class.

Example: 'ClassName','magicsquareClass'

Data Types: char | string

Flag to enable debug symbols, 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 debugging symbol information is included in the compiled artifact. This option also causes mbuild to pass appropriate debugging flags to the system compiler. The debug option lets you back trace up to the point where you can identify if the failure occurred in the initialization of MATLAB Runtime, the function call, or the termination routine. This option does not let you debug your MATLAB files with an external debugger.

  • If you set this property to 'off', then debug symbols are not included. This is the default option.

Example: 'DebugBuild','on'

Data Types: logical

Flag to embed the deployable 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 function embeds the deployable archive in the .NET assembly.

  • If you set this property to 'off', then the function generates the deployable archive as a separate file.

This option is only used with the MWArray API.

Example: 'EmbedArchive','off'

Data Types: logical

Flag to control the remoting type of the assembly, 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 function builds a remotable assembly.

  • If you set this property to 'off', then the function builds an assembly that is not remotable.

Example: 'EnableRemoting','on'

Data Types: logical

Since R2024b

Paths to the external AES encryption key and MEX key loader files, specified as a scalar struct with exactly two row char vector or string scalar fields named EncryptionKeyFile and RuntimeKeyLoaderFile, respectively. Both struct fields are required. File paths can be relative to the current working directory or absolute.

For example, specify the encryption key as encrypt.key and loader file as loader.mexw64 using struct keyValueStruct.

keyValueStruct.EncryptionKeyFile='encrypt.key'; keyValueStruct.RuntimeKeyLoaderFile='loader.mexw64'

The encryption key file must be in one of the following supported formats:

  • Binary 256-bit AES key, with a 32 byte file size

  • Hex encoded AES key, with a 64 byte file size

The MEX file loader retrieves the decryption key at runtime and must be an interface with the following arguments:

  • prhs[0] — Input, char array specified as the static value 'get'

  • prhs[1] — Input, char array specified as the CTF component UUID

  • plhs[0] — Output, 32 byte UINT8 numeric array or 64 byte hex encoded char array, depending on the key format

Avoid sharing the same key across multiple CTFs.

Example: 'ExternalEncryptionKey',keyValueStruct

Data Types: struct

Specify '4.0' to target any version of the .NET Framework from 4.6.2 upwards, regardless of minor version increments. To target the cross-platform .NET 5.0 or later, specify '5.0'.

Example: 'FrameworkVersion','5.0'

Data Types: char | string

Data API used for handling data exchange between a .NET application and deployed MATLAB code.

  • mwarray — MWArray API. This API works with .NET Framework. This is the default interface on Windows.

  • matlab-data — MATLAB Data API for .NET. This API requires .NET 5.0 or higher. This is the default interface on macOS.

MathWorks® recommends using the MATLAB Data API for .NET.

Example: 'Interface','matlab-data'

Data Types: char | string

Flag to obfuscate the deployable archive, specified as 'on'/1/true or 'off'/0/false. The value is stored as an on/off logical value of type matlab.lang.onoffSwitchState.

If you set this property to 'on', then folder structures and file names in the deployable archive are obfuscated from the end user, and user code and data contained in .m, .mlapp, .p, .mat, MLX, SFX, and MEX files are placed into a user package within the archive. Additionally, all .m files are converted to P-files before packaging.

During runtime, MATLAB code and data is decrypted and loaded directly from the user package rather than extracted to the file system. MEX files are temporarily extracted from the user package before being loaded.

To manually include additional file types in the user package, add each file type in a separate extension tag to the file matlabroot/toolbox/compiler/advanced_package_supported_files.xml.

The following are not supported:

  • ver function

  • Calling external libraries such as DLLs

  • Out-of-process MATLAB Runtime (C++ shared library for MATLAB Data Array)

  • Out-of-process MEX file execution (mexhost, feval, matlab.mex.MexHost)

  • Before R2023b: .mat files other than v7.3

Enabling this option is equivalent to using mcc with -j and -s specified.

If you set this property to 'off', then the deployable archive is not obfuscated. This is the default behavior.

Example: 'ObfuscateArchive','on'

Data Types: logical

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.

The default name of the build folder is the assembly name appended with dotNETAssembly.

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

Data Types: char | string

MATLAB sample files used to generate sample .NET driver files for functions included within the assembly, specified as a character vector, a string scalar, a string array, or a cell array of character vectors. Paths can be relative to the current working directory or absolute. Files must have a .m extension. For more information and limitations, see Create Sample Code to Call Exported Function.

Example: 'SampleGenerationFiles',["sample1.m","sample2.m"]

Data Types: char | string | cell

Since R2024b

Path to a secret manifest JSON file that specifies the secret keys to be embedded in the deployable archive, specified as a character vector or a string scalar. The path can be relative to the current working directory or absolute.

If your MATLAB code calls the getSecret, getSecretMetadata, or isSecret function, you must specify the secret keys to embed in the deployable archive in a JSON secret manifest file. If your code calls getSecret and you do not specify the SecretsManifest option, MATLAB Compiler™ issues a warning and generates a template JSON file in the output folder named <component_name>_secrets_manifest.json. Modify this file by specifying the secret key names in the Embedded field.

The setSecret function is not deployable. To embed secret keys in a deployable archive, you must call setSecret in MATLAB before you build the archive.

For more information on deployment using secrets, see Handle Sensitive Information in Deployed Applications.

Example: 'SecretsManifest','D:\Documents\MATLAB\work\mycomponent\mycomponent_secrets_manifest.json'

Data Types: char | string

Path to the encryption key file used to sign the shared assembly, specified as a character vector or a string scalar. If the value is empty, the function creates a private assembly. The file path can be relative to the current working directory or absolute.

Example: 'StrongNameKeyFile','sgKey.snk'

Data Types: char | string

Support packages to include, specified as one of the following options:

  • 'autodetect' (default) — The dependency analysis process detects and includes the required support packages automatically.

  • 'none' — No support packages are included. Using this option can cause runtime errors.

  • A string scalar, character vector, or cell array of character vectors — Only the specified support packages are included. To list installed support packages or those used by a specific file, see compiler.codetools.deployableSupportPackages.

Example: 'SupportPackages',{'Deep Learning Toolbox Converter for TensorFlow Models','Deep Learning Toolbox Model for Places365-GoogLeNet Network'}

Data Types: char | string | cell

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 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

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Build results, returned as a compiler.build.Results object. The Results object consists of:

  • The build type, which is 'dotNETAssembly'

  • Paths to the following compiled files:

    • AssemblyName.dll

    • AssemblyNameNative.dll

    • AssemblyName_overview.dll

    • GettingStarted.html

  • A list of included support packages

  • Build options, specified as a DotNETAssemblyOptions object

  • A list of required and optional dependencies, specified as a Dependencies object

Limitations

  • In R2023a: In addition to Windows, this function is supported on Linux® and macOS operating systems.

Version History

Introduced in R2021a

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See Also

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