Christian:
See the FAQ: https://matlab.fandom.com/wiki/FAQ#My_standalone_executable_won't_run_on_the_target_computer._What_can_I_try?
for some things to consider.
The deployed executable will run the startup.m code that was on the computer that compiled the code into a standalone executable. I'm pretty sure you should not use cd() or savepath() in your deployed code. There are a few reasons why but one of them is that the target computer may not have the same folder structure as your compiling computer. You can use isdeployed in your startup, or anywhere, to conditionally execute code on only target computers or compiling computers. Like
if ~isdeployed
% On development computer -- it's not deployed
newpath = whatever;
savepath(newpath)
else
% On target computer. Don't do anything.
end
Secondly I don't think you should be saving the current path to pathdef.m. It's just not necessary. Why would you want to? I compile and deploy standalone executables all the time and I've never done that. When would that file even ever get read?
In fact I think you should have gotten a compilation warning about using savepath() or cd(), though it's just a warning not a fatal error so it will still complete the compilation for you though the reason for the error may cause an actual error during runtime.
Paths are a tricky thing in deployed standalone executables. I've explained it many times before but basically the "current folder" is not where you think it is. It's not the folder where you placed your .EXE file on the target computer. See the FAQ: https://matlab.fandom.com/wiki/FAQ#Why_can't_my_standalone_compiled_executable_find_my_files?
I think the most likely solution is to explicitly specify the full path name of any file you want to use. The mcc compiler should find any dependent m-files your m-files call so that should not be a problem. However any other kinds of files, like data files, must be fully specified. Do not assume they will be found if you leave off the folder from the filename. Make sure you use fullfile to fully specify the complete path.
If that doesn't solve it, and I've only seen this twice so it's very rare, you can include the "missing" file by using the -a option in your mcc command.
You might also try calling my attached function, GetExecutableFolder, in your app's startup or initialization code (put in your app's m-file, not in your startup.m file).
