Deployment Product Terms

Add-in — A Microsoft^® Excel^® add-in is an executable piece of code that can be actively integrated into a Microsoft Excel application. Add-ins are front-ends for COM components, usually written in some form of Microsoft Visual Basic^®.

Application program interface (API) — A set of classes, methods, and interfaces that is used to develop software applications. Typically an API is used to provide access to specific functionality. See MWArray.

Application — An end user-system into which a deployed function or solution is ultimately integrated. Typically, the end goal for the deployment customer is integration of a deployed MATLAB^® function into a larger enterprise environment application. The deployment products prepare the MATLAB function for integration by wrapping MATLAB code with enterprise-compatible source code, such as C, C++, C# (.NET), F#, and Java^® code.

Assembly — An executable bundle of code, especially in .NET.

Binary — See Executable.

Boxed Types — Data types used to wrap opaque C structures.

Build — See Compile.

Class — A user-defined type used in C++, C#, and Java, among other object-oriented languages, that is a prototype for an object in an object-oriented language. It is analogous to a derived type in a procedural language. A class is a set of objects which share a common structure and behavior. Classes relate in a class hierarchy. One class is a specialization (a subclass) of another (one of its superclasses) or comprises other classes. Some classes use other classes in a client-server relationship. Abstract classes have no members, and concrete classes have one or more members. Differs from a MATLAB class

Compile — In MATLAB Compiler™ and MATLAB Compiler SDK™, to compile MATLAB code involves generating a binary that wraps around MATLAB code, enabling it to execute in various computing environments. For example, when MATLAB code is compiled into a Java package, a Java wrapper provides Java code that enables the MATLAB code to execute in a Java environment.

COM component — In MATLAB Compiler, the executable back-end code behind a Microsoft Excel add-in. In MATLAB Compiler SDK, an executable component, to be integrated with Microsoft COM applications.

Console application — Any application that is executed from a system command prompt window.

Data Marshaling — Data conversion, usually from one type to another. Unless a MATLAB deployment customer is using type-safe interfaces, data marshaling—as from mathematical data types to MathWorks^® data types such as represented by the MWArray API—must be performed manually, often at great cost.

Deploy — The act of integrating MATLAB code into a larger-scale computing environment, usually to an enterprise application, and often to end users.

Deployable archive — The deployable archive is embedded by default in each binary generated by MATLAB Compiler or MATLAB Compiler SDK. It houses the deployable package. All MATLAB-based content in the deployable archive uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) cryptosystem.

DLL — Dynamic link library. Microsoft's implementation of the shared library concept for Windows^®. Using DLLs is much preferred over the previous technology of static (or non-dynamic) libraries, which had to be manually linked and updated.

Empties — Arrays of zero (0) dimensions.

Executable — An executable bundle of code, made up of binary bits (zeros and ones) and sometimes called a binary.

Fields — For this definition in the context of MATLAB Data Structures, see Structs.

Fields and Properties — In the context of .NET, Fields are specialized classes used to hold data. Properties allow users to access class variables as if they were accessing member fields directly, while actually implementing that access through a class method.

Integration — Combining deployed MATLAB code's functionality with functionality that currently exists in an enterprise application. For example, a customer creates a mathematical model to forecast trends in certain commodities markets. In order to use this model in a larger-scale financial application (one written with the Microsoft .NET Framework, for instance) the deployed financial model must be integrated with existing C# applications, run in the .NET enterprise environment.

Instance — For the definition of this term in context of MATLAB Production Server™ software, see MATLAB Production Server Server Instance.

JAR — Java archive. In computing software, a JAR file (or Java Archive) aggregates many files into one. Software developers use JARs to distribute Java applications or libraries, in the form of classes and associated metadata and resources (text, images, etc.). Computer users can create or extract JAR files using the jar command that comes with a Java Development Kit (JDK).

Java-MATLAB Interface — Known as the JMI Interface, this is the Java interface built into MATLAB software.

JDK — The Java Development Kit is a product which provides the environment required for programming in Java.

JMI Interface — see Java-MATLAB Interface.

JRE — Java Run-Time Environment is the part of the Java Development Kit (JDK) required to run Java programs. It comprises the Java Virtual Machine, the Java platform core classes, and supporting files. It does not include the compiler, debugger, or other tools present in the JDK™. The JRE™ is the smallest set of executables and files that constitute the standard Java platform.

Magic Square — A square array of integers arranged so that their sum is the same when added vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.

MATLAB Runtime — An execution engine made up of the same shared libraries. MATLAB uses these libraries to enable the execution of MATLAB files on systems without an installed version of MATLAB.

MATLAB Runtime singleton — See Shared MATLAB Runtime instance.

MATLAB Runtime workers — A MATLAB Runtime session. Using MATLAB Production Server software, you have the option of specifying more than one MATLAB Runtime session, using the --num-workers options in the server configurations file.

MATLAB Production Server Client — In the MATLAB Production Server software, clients are applications written in a language supported by MATLAB Production Server that call deployed functions hosted on a server.

MATLAB Production Server Configuration — An instance of the MATLAB Production Server containing at least one server and one client. Each configuration of the software usually contains a unique set of values in the server configuration file, main_config. For more details, see Server Configuration Properties (MATLAB Production Server).

MATLAB Production Server Server Instance — A logical server configuration created using the mps-new command in MATLAB Production Server software.

MATLAB Production Server Software — Product for server/client deployment of MATLAB programs within your production systems, enabling you to incorporate numerical analytics in enterprise applications. When you use this software, web, database, and enterprise applications connect to MATLAB programs running on MATLAB Production Server via a lightweight client library, isolating the MATLAB programs from your production system. MATLAB Production Server software consists of one or more servers and clients.

Marshaling — See Data Marshaling.

mbuild — MATLAB Compiler SDK command that compiles and links C and C++ source files into standalone applications or shared libraries. For more information, see the mbuild (MATLAB Compiler SDK) function reference page.

mcc — The MATLAB command that invokes the compiler. It is the command-line equivalent of using the compiler apps.

Method Attribute — In the context of .NET, a mechanism used to specify declarative information to a .NET class. For example, in the context of client programming with MATLAB Production Server software, you specify method attributes to define MATLAB structures for input and output processing.

mxArray interface — The MATLAB data type containing all MATLAB representations of standard mathematical data types.

MWArray interface — A proxy to mxArray. An application program interface (API) for exchanging data between your application and MATLAB. Using MWArray, you marshal data from traditional mathematical types to a form that can be processed and understood by MATLAB data type mxArray. There are different implementations of the MWArray proxy for each application programming language.

Package — The act of bundling the deployed MATLAB code, along with the MATLAB Runtime and other files, into an installer that can be distributed to others. The compiler apps place the installer in the for_redistribution subfolder. In addition to the installer, the compiler apps generate a number of lose artifacts that can be used for testing or building a custom installer.

PID File — See Process Identification File (PID File).

Pool — A pool of threads, in the context of server management using MATLAB Production Server software. Servers created with the software do not allocate a unique thread to each client connection. Rather, when data is available on a connection, the required processing is scheduled on a pool, or group, of available threads. The server configuration file option --num-threads sets the size of that pool (the number of available request-processing threads) in the master server process.

Process Identification File (PID File) — A file that documents informational and error messages relating to a running server instance of MATLAB Production Server software.

Program — A bundle of code that is executed to achieve a purpose. Programs usually are written to automate repetitive operations through computer processing. Enterprise system applications usually consist of hundreds or even thousands of smaller programs.

Properties — For this definition in the context of .NET, see Fields and Properties.

Proxy — A software design pattern typically using a class, which functions as an interface to something else. For example, MWArray is a proxy for programmers who need to access the underlying type mxArray.

Server Instance — See MATLAB Production Server Server Instance.

Shared Library — Groups of files that reside in one space on disk or memory for fast loading into Windows applications. Dynamic-link libraries (DLLs) are Microsoft's implementation of the shared library concept for Microsoft Windows.

Shared MATLAB Runtime instance — When using MATLAB Compiler SDK, you can create a shared MATLAB Runtime instance, also known as a singleton. When you invoke MATLAB Compiler with the -S option through the compiler (using either mcc or a compiler app), a single MATLAB Runtime instance is created for each COM component or Java package in an application. You reuse this instance by sharing it among all subsequent class instances. Such sharing results in more efficient memory usage and eliminates the MATLAB Runtime startup cost in each subsequent class instantiation. All class instances share a single MATLAB workspace and share global variables in the deployed MATLAB files. MATLAB Compiler SDK creates singletons by default for .NET assemblies. MATLAB Compiler creates singletons by default for the COM components used by the Excel add-ins.

State — The present condition of MATLAB, or the MATLAB Runtime. MATLAB functions often carry state in the form of variable values. The MATLAB workspace itself also maintains information about global variables and path settings. When deploying functions that carry state, you must often take additional steps to ensure state retention when deploying applications that use such functions.

Structs — MATLAB Structures. Structs are MATLAB arrays with elements that you access using textual field designators. Fields are data containers that store data of a specific MATLAB type.

System Compiler — A key part of Interactive Development Environments (IDEs) such as Microsoft Visual Studio^®.

Thread — A portion of a program that can run independently of and concurrently with other portions of the program. See pool for additional information on managing the number of processing threads available to a server instance.

Type-safe interface — An API that minimizes explicit type conversions by hiding the MWArray type from the calling application.

Web Application Archive (WAR) —In computing, a Web Application Archive is a JAR file used to distribute a collection of JavaServer pages, servlets, Java classes, XML files, tag libraries, and static web pages that together constitute a web application.

Webfigure — A MathWorks representation of a MATLAB figure, rendered on the web. Using the WebFigures feature, you display MATLAB figures on a website for graphical manipulation by end users. This enables them to use their graphical applications from anywhere on the web, without the need to download MATLAB or other tools that can consume costly resources.

Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) — The Windows Communication Foundation™ is an application programming interface in the .NET Framework for building connected, service-oriented, web-centric applications. WCF is designed in accordance with service oriented architecture principles to support distributed computing where services are consumed by client applications.