Minor clean-up of build, readme, and engine code

README.md

@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ Generally, this package is comprised of two aspects:
 
 **Important**: The procedure to setup this package consists of the following steps.
 
-By default, `MATLAB.jl` uses the MATLAB installation with the greatest version number. To specify that a specific MATLAB installation should be used, set the environment variable `MATLAB_HOME`.
+By default, `MATLAB.jl` uses the MATLAB installation with the greatest version number. To specify that a specific MATLAB installation should be used, set the environment variable `MATLAB_ROOT`.
 
 ### Windows
 
@@ -34,12 +34,12 @@ By default, `MATLAB.jl` uses the MATLAB installation with the greatest version n
 
 ### Linux
 
-1. Make sure ``matlab`` is in executable path. 
+1. Make sure ``matlab`` is in executable path.
+
+2. Make sure ``csh`` is installed. (Note: MATLAB for Linux relies on ``csh`` to open an engine session.)
 
-2. Make sure ``csh`` is installed. (Note: MATLAB for Linux relies on ``csh`` to open an engine session.) 
-
 	To install ``csh`` in Debian/Ubuntu/Linux Mint, you may type in the following command in terminal:
-	
+
 	```bash
 	sudo apt-get install csh
 	```
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ One can use the function ``mxarray`` to create MATLAB variables (of type ``MxArr
 
 ```julia
 mxarray(Float64, n)   # creates an n-by-1 MATLAB zero array of double valued type
-mxarray(Int32, m, n)  # creates an m-by-n MATLAB zero array of int32 valued type 
+mxarray(Int32, m, n)  # creates an m-by-n MATLAB zero array of int32 valued type
 mxarray(Bool, m, n)   # creates a MATLAB logical array of size m-by-n
 
 mxarray(Float64, (n1, n2, n3))  # creates a MATLAB array of size n1-by-n2-by-n3
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ You may access attributes and data of a MATLAB variable through the functions pr
 ```julia
 # suppose x is of type MxArray
 nrows(x)    # returns number of rows in x
-ncols(x)    # returns number of columns in x 
+ncols(x)    # returns number of columns in x
 nelems(x)   # returns number of elements in x
 ndims(x)    # returns number of dimensions in x
 size(x)     # returns the size of x as a tuple
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ read_matfile(filename)    # returns a dictionary that maps each variable name
 write_matfile(filename; name1=v1, name2=v2, ...)  # writes all variables given in the
                                                   # keyword argument list to a MAT file
 ```
-Both ``read_matfile`` and ``write_matfile`` will close the MAT file handle before returning. 
+Both ``read_matfile`` and ``write_matfile`` will close the MAT file handle before returning.
 
 **Examples:**
 
@@ -209,11 +209,11 @@ struct S
     z::Vector{Float64}
 end
 
-write_matfile("test.mat"; 
-    a = Int32[1 2 3; 4 5 6], 
-    b = [1.2, 3.4, 5.6, 7.8], 
-    c = [[0.0, 1.0], [1.0, 2.0], [1.0, 2.0, 3.0]], 
-    d = Dict("name"=>"MATLAB", "score"=>100.0), 
+write_matfile("test.mat";
+    a = Int32[1 2 3; 4 5 6],
+    b = [1.2, 3.4, 5.6, 7.8],
+    c = [[0.0, 1.0], [1.0, 2.0], [1.0, 2.0, 3.0]],
+    d = Dict("name"=>"MATLAB", "score"=>100.0),
     s = "abcde",
     ss = [S(1.0, true, [1., 2.]), S(2.0, false, [3., 4.])] )
 ```
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ As with ordinary string literals, you can also interpolate whole Julia expressio
 
 ##### `eval_string`
 
-You may also use the `eval_string` function to evaluate MATLAB code as follows		
+You may also use the `eval_string` function to evaluate MATLAB code as follows
  ```julia
 eval_string("a = sum([1,2,3])")
 ```
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ xx, yy = mxcall(:meshgrid, 2, x, y)
 
 ##### `@mget` and `@mput`
 
-The macro `@mget` can be used to extract the value of a MATLAB variable into Julia 
+The macro `@mget` can be used to extract the value of a MATLAB variable into Julia
 ```julia
 julia> mat"a = 6"
 julia> @mget a
@@ -360,4 +360,3 @@ r2 = jarray(r2_mx)
 close(s1)  # close session s1
 close(s2)  # close session s2
 ```
-

deps/build.jl

@@ -2,22 +2,22 @@ import Libdl
 
 const depsfile = joinpath(@__DIR__, "deps.jl")
 
-# Determine MATLAB library path and provide facilities to load libraries with
-# this path
-
-function find_matlab_homepath()
-    matlab_home = get(ENV, "MATLAB_HOME", nothing)
-    if isnothing(matlab_home)
+function find_matlab_root()
+    # Determine MATLAB library path and provide facilities to load libraries with this path
+    matlab_root = get(ENV, "MATLAB_ROOT",
+                        get(ENV, "MATLAB_HOME", nothing))
+    if isnothing(matlab_root)
         matlab_exe = Sys.which("matlab")
-        matlab_home = !isnothing(matlab_exe) ? dirname(dirname(matlab_exe)) : nothing
-        if isnothing(matlab_home)
+        if !isnothing(matlab_exe)
+            matlab_root = dirname(dirname(matlab_exe))
+        else
             if Sys.isapple()
                 default_dir = "/Applications"
                 if isdir(default_dir)
                     dirs = readdir(default_dir)
                     filter!(app -> occursin(r"^MATLAB_R[0-9]+[ab]\.app$", app), dirs)
                     if !isempty(dirs)
-                        matlab_home = joinpath(default_dir, maximum(dirs))
+                        matlab_root = joinpath(default_dir, maximum(dirs))
                     end
                 end
             elseif Sys.iswindows()
@@ -26,57 +26,47 @@ function find_matlab_homepath()
                     dirs = readdir(default_dir)
                     filter!(dir -> occursin(r"^R[0-9]+[ab]$", dir), dirs)
                     if !isempty(dirs)
-                        matlab_home = joinpath(default_dir, maximum(dirs))
+                        matlab_root = joinpath(default_dir, maximum(dirs))
                     end
                 end
             end
         end
     end
-    if isnothing(matlab_home)
-        return nothing
-    else
-        @info("Found MATLAB home path at $matlab_home")
-        return matlab_home
-    end
+    !isnothing(matlab_root) && isdir(matlab_root) && @info("Detected MATLAB root folder at \"$matlab_root\"")
+    return matlab_root
 end
 
-function find_matlab_libpath(matlab_home)
+function find_matlab_libpath(matlab_root)
     # get path to MATLAB libraries
-    matlab_lib_dir = if Sys.islinux()
+    matlab_libdir = if Sys.islinux()
         Sys.WORD_SIZE == 32 ? "glnx86" : "glnxa64"
     elseif Sys.isapple()
         Sys.WORD_SIZE == 32 ? "maci" : "maci64"
     elseif Sys.iswindows()
         Sys.WORD_SIZE == 32 ? "win32" : "win64"
     end
-    matlab_libpath = joinpath(matlab_home, "bin", matlab_lib_dir)
-    if !isdir(matlab_libpath)
-        @warn("The MATLAB library path could not be found.")
-    end
+    matlab_libpath = joinpath(matlab_root, "bin", matlab_libdir)
+    isdir(matlab_libpath) && @info("Detected MATLAB library path at \"$matlab_libpath\"")
     return matlab_libpath
 end
 
-function find_matlab_cmd(matlab_home)
-    if !Sys.iswindows()
-        matlab_cmd = joinpath(matlab_home, "bin", "matlab")
-        if !isfile(matlab_cmd)
-            @warn("The MATLAB path is invalid. Ensure the \"MATLAB_HOME\" evironmental variable to the MATLAB root directory.")
-        end
-        matlab_cmd = "exec $(Base.shell_escape(matlab_cmd))"
-    elseif Sys.iswindows()
-        matlab_cmd = joinpath(matlab_home, "bin", (Sys.WORD_SIZE == 32 ? "win32" : "win64"), "MATLAB.exe")
-        if !isfile(matlab_cmd)
-            error("The MATLAB path is invalid. Ensure the \"MATLAB_HOME\" evironmental variable to the MATLAB root directory.")
-        end
+function find_matlab_cmd(matlab_root)
+    if Sys.iswindows()
+        matlab_cmd = joinpath(matlab_root, "bin", (Sys.WORD_SIZE == 32 ? "win32" : "win64"), "matlab.exe")
+        isfile(matlab_cmd) && @info("Detected MATLAB executable at \"$matlab_cmd\"")
+    else
+        matlab_exe = joinpath(matlab_root, "bin", "matlab")
+        isfile(matlab_exe) && @info("Detected MATLAB executable at \"$matlab_exe\"")
+        matlab_cmd = "exec $(Base.shell_escape(matlab_exe))"
     end
     return matlab_cmd
 end
 
-matlab_homepath = find_matlab_homepath()
+matlab_root = find_matlab_root()
 
-if !isnothing(matlab_homepath)
-    matlab_libpath = find_matlab_libpath(matlab_homepath)
-    matlab_cmd = find_matlab_cmd(matlab_homepath)
+if !isnothing(matlab_root)
+    matlab_libpath = find_matlab_libpath(matlab_root)
+    matlab_cmd = find_matlab_cmd(matlab_root)
     libmx_size = filesize(Libdl.dlpath(joinpath(matlab_libpath, "libmx")))
     open(depsfile, "w") do io
         println(io,
@@ -115,5 +105,5 @@ elseif get(ENV, "JULIA_REGISTRYCI_AUTOMERGE", nothing) == "true" || get(ENV, "CI
             println(io, "const libmx_size = $libmx_size")
     end
 else
-    error("MATLAB cannot be found. Set the \"MATLAB_HOME\" environment variable to the MATLAB root directory and re-run Pkg.build(\"MATLAB\").")
+    error("MATLAB cannot be found. Set the \"MATLAB_ROOT\" environment variable to the MATLAB root directory and re-run Pkg.build(\"MATLAB\").")
 end

src/engine.jl

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ const default_startflag = "" # no additional flags
 const default_matlabcmd = matlab_cmd * " -nosplash"
 # pass matlab flags directly or as a Vector of flags, i.e. "-a" or ["-a", "-b", "-c"]
 startcmd(flag::AbstractString = default_startflag) = isempty(flag) ? default_matlabcmd : default_matlabcmd * " " * flag
-startcmd(flags::AbstractVector{T}) where {T<:AbstractString} = isempty(flags) ? default_matlabcmd : default_matlabcmd * " " * join(flags, " ")
+startcmd(flags::AbstractVector{<:AbstractString}) = isempty(flags) ? default_matlabcmd : default_matlabcmd * " " * join(flags, " ")
 
 # 64 K buffer should be sufficient to store the output text in most cases
 const default_output_buffer_size = 64 * 1024