Pass Structures and Cell Arrays in C MEX File

Passing structures and cell arrays into MEX files is like passing any other data type, except the data itself in the C Matrix API is of type mxArray. In practice, mxGetField (for structures) and mxGetCell (for cell arrays) return pointers of type mxArray. You treat the pointers like any other pointers of type mxArray. To pass the data contained in the mxArray to a C routine, use an API function such as mxGetData to access it.

This MEX file example uses the C Matrix API. For a C++ MEX file example using the MATLAB Data API for C++, see phonebook.cpp. For information about creating MEX files with this API, see C++ MEX Functions.

This example takes an m-by-n structure matrix as input and returns a new 1-by-1 structure that contains these fields:

  • Text input generates an m-by-n cell array

  • Numeric input (noncomplex, scalar values) generates an m-by-n vector of numbers with the same class ID as the input, for example int, double, and so on.

To build this example, at the command prompt type:

mex phonebook.c

To see how this program works, create this structure:

friends(1).name = 'Jordan Robert';
friends(1).phone = 3386;
friends(2).name = 'Mary Smith';
friends(2).phone = 3912;
friends(3).name = 'Stacy Flora';
friends(3).phone = 3238;
friends(4).name = 'Harry Alpert';
friends(4).phone = 3077;

Call the MEX file:

phonebook(friends)

ans = 
     name: {1x4 cell  }
    phone: [3386 3912 3238 3077]

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