Is possible to use toolbox from previous MATLAB version?

Hi,

I have matlab 2010 and matlab 2008 installed on my pc. Problem is, that the MATLAB Report Generator toolbox is installed only in matlab 2008 and not in matlab 2010. I wanted to know if there's any way I can use the "report" function from the rtpgen (MATLAB Report Generator) toolbox in the matlab 2010 although it's installed on matlab 2008?

Edited:

Thanks Andreas for the reply. I need the report function in order to export some report (figures+charts+text) to pdf format (can be also be doc file).

Any ideas or walkarounds are welcomed,

Shahar

[Andreas Goser]

I gave an answer below, however, there is value in knowning why you consider this.

[Andreas Goser]

Speculating bit, but when you have both products in your license, you can install them for the same release. Even in case you dropped maintenance for some reason, you can then install MATLAB and MATLAB Report Generator in R2008b.

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

I would suggest saving the relevant data to a mat file from the 2010 version, then firing up the 2008 version to read the data and run the report generator.

Answer 2

[Andreas Goser]

I can only discourage you from even trying that. I have seen people trying it and ending up with the need for a new installation.

As some toolboxes are significantly based on MATLAB code, people who try may even think they are successful - for a little while...

[Walter Roberson]

To add to that answer:

What is being asked is not supported. There are internal protections to try to prevent this. Some people try to crack the protections in various ways; as Andreas points out, doing so can provide the illusion of success, but usually ends up causing a lot of trouble.

Toolboxes use internal Matlab routines that can change meaning between releases, so using a toolbox mismatched with the main Matlab version can corrupt Matlab's internal state.

Answer 3

[Christian]

So I need to pay twice for one toolbox with more or less exactly the same functionality to keep my programs running in a new Matlab version? That sounds like a definition of rip-off!

[Andreas Goser]

No you don't. This here is a description of technical compatibility. With an active license you can always download and install all products (toolboxes) for the current release and many older releases and install them in parallel.

[Walter Roberson]

When I was an active software developer, one of the most difficult, time consuming, and expensive parts was in maintaining backwards compatibility.

You end up having to write code that not only does the task correctly for the current release but which also has to detect which previous version of code is being used and then have to lie to that previous version in order to avoid triggering the bugs it used to have that will lead to instability.

And woe be you if your new version does not reproduce the exact coloring or spacing the previous version used because someone is definitely relying on the exact coloring or spacing.

But those previous bugs? You also have to reproduce the ones that are not fatal. People want it to be Bug-For-Bug Compatible

It is a complete pain to work with as a software developer: every time you make a change you need take into account how the change will affect every previous version. Which means you have to know exactly how every previous version worked, and you have to know every bug report for every previous version.

It is really miserable work. Most developers cannot do it. Many developers refuse to do it. And the ones who are willing to take it on often find that they can't get promoted... because the organization needs them where they are. And the work is not exciting at all, so the developers who are willing to take it on are perceived as not being innovative or especially competent. "How hard can it be to keep things from failing??!" Developers burn out. (I burned out rather badly, where I was.)

We still get people here asking for support for MATLAB 6.5, which was released in 2002, and sometimes we get people asking for support for MATLAB 5.3 from 1999. Where is the limit? It costs real time and real money and real mental stress to developers to keep that kind of backwards compatibility.

[Christian]

Thanks, I do understand the problems associated with it, but that's the case with every part of Matlab, right? Why should only the users of toolboxes pay for the compatibility?

Just that I get it right: The solution would be to install the release, that I have the toolbox for and use that?

[Andreas Goser]

The solution is to install the complete set of tools you need - MATLAB and the toolboxes - from the same release. Ideally the most recent release, but in case portions of the license(s) you use are out of maintenance, use the newest release where all products are under maintenance.

You can always contact MathWorks Support.

[Walter Roberson]

"but that's the case with every part of Matlab, right?"

No, because Mathworks keeps a limited lifecycle for code. Backwards compatibility is kept for longer periods for some key interfaces (like .mat file format), but for some other interfaces the new release of code does not even need to support the immediately previous release. Mathworks gets rid of functions, even public features. The internals of toolboxes are not required to be compatible with the internals of previous releases -- as long as the documented calling methods still work, Mathworks often does not even mention that the internals have changed. If a developer decides that the implementation of (say) the Mapping Toolbox was cruddy, then the developer can rewrite it without having to worry about keeping routines or data structures used by any previous release of the toolbox, and without having to worry about making "shims" to allow the previous versions to call into the new version: it is promised that previous versions will not call into the new version.