Run a MATLAB file from Python 2.7 Shell

Question

Is there a way to run a Matlab.m file from Python 2.7 Shell or a .py code? I tried using the following code:

import os   
os.chdir(r'D:\The_folder_where_the_file_is')                             
os.startfile("The_desired_Matlab_file.m")

but then , it just opens the .m file, without running it ( as if when you press F5 in Editor Matlab).What shall i do ?
(I've already downloaded pymat and win32, if that helps)

An example to run MATLAB with the -r option from Python can be found here — BHF
– BHF, Commented Jan 12, 2014 at 14:04

Dan · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-11 23:15:37Z

2

Python can't run .m files directly, you need to use matlab or octave. Python can run external commands with the subprocess.Popen() function. Try something like this:

import subprocess, os
os.chdir(r'D:\The_folder_where_the_file_is')
subprocess.Popen(['matlab','The_desired_Matlab_file.m'])

You mentioned you have pymat installed and want to use that. In that case, the correct way to open a .m file is to first use the pymat.open() function to start a session, then to run any commands with the pymat.eval() function. See the documentation here for an example and more details.

edited Jan 11, 2014 at 23:15

answered Jan 11, 2014 at 23:08

Dan

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2 Comments

p_a321 Over a year ago

Actually, I'm sorry, i wanted to say Numpy instead of pymat . I tried to install pymat, but it seems to not run in version beyond python 2.2 and right now i am using 2.7 . Thank you very much for your help, i'll look in subprocess library for the proper function

Dan Over a year ago

Subprocess is part of the standard library. You don't have to separately install anything.

Xin-Feng Li · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-14 13:51:29Z

0

Recently, I have encounted the same problem, finally I crack it under this way. I work on Windows 7 64bit

First, You need put your 'matlab.exe' into your system path 'Path'

Second, try this code

    import os, subprocess
    os.chdir(r'D:\the-fold-where-your-m-file-is')
    print os.listdir(os.curdir)
    returnCode = subprocess.call("matlab -r your-m-file-name.m")
    print "Return Code: ", returnCode

Hope this answer will help others, thank you !

answered May 14, 2015 at 13:51

Xin-Feng Li

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