Is there a way to write protect an m file.

Hi ,

I have a project with multiple m files. And I am told that I need to write protect it, so that no one can change it. Is there any way to write protect an m file. Thank you.

[Stephen23]

"Is there any way to write protect an m file"

An Mfile is just a text file, so you can use whatever tools your OS has for preventing text files from changing.

Or use P code: https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/pcode.html

[Bruno Luong]

Note that even if the mfile is written protected, someone can copy it elsewhere, modify it and easily make MATLAB to use a modified version by addpath command. Those so called protections are then very weak.

pcode is a little bit harder to crack. You probably have to pcode not only the sensitive mfiles but all the caller function as well.

Answer 1

[Bruno Luong]

You could transform mfile to pfile than depioy it. See pcode command

Answer 2

[Shashi Kiran]

Hi @Govind,

Here are some methods to protect your files from being edited:

1. Protecting Code with P-code Files:

• MATLAB allows you to secure your code using P-code files, which prevents users from viewing or editing the source code.
• To do this, navigate to the directory containing your .m files and add them to the MATLAB path.
• Then, use the "pcode" function to create a P-code file:

pcode file1.m file2.m

Refer this for more information about P-code files

• https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_prog/building-a-content-obscured-format-with-p-code.html

2. File System Permissions:

• You can change the file system permissions using the "fileattrib" command in MATLAB to make the files read-only.
• By using '-w', you remove the write permission, effectively making the file read-only.

fileattrib('file1.m', '-w')

Refer this for more information about "fileattrib"

• https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/fileattrib.html
• https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_prog/protect-your-source-code.html

Hope this helps.