Install Matlab Engine API in Python

Matlab Engine API allows calling Matlab functions from Python code.

These commands are executed from Terminal / PowerShell, not from Matlab. Go to the Matlab Engine directory:

cd $(matlab -batch "disp(matlabroot)")/extern/engines/python

Setup Matlab Engine, where “python” starts the desired Python executable.

  • MacOS or Linux:

    python setup.py build --build-base=$(mktemp -d) install --user

  • Windows / PowerShell:

    python setup.py build --build-base=$env:temp install --user

Root / admin permissions are NOT needed.

A simple example of using Matlab from Python:

import matlab.engine
eng = matlab.engine.start_matlab('-nojvm')
y = eng.asin(1.)

eng.quit()

The Matlab Engine should take about 1 second for Matlab Engine to start when called from Python. For Matlab functions requiring JVM remove the “-nojvm” option.

Many Matlab numeric classes (single, double, logical) can be converted to Python types like:

numpy.asarray(x)

Python floats pass into Matlab Engine by including a period . after the number.

  • asin(1) fails
  • asin(1.) works

Python can pass N-dimensional arrays to Matlab.

Matlab Engine provides asynchronous call with background=True

References:

Related: