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Create a C# Client

This example shows how to write a C# application to call a MATLAB® function deployed to MATLAB Production Server™. The C# application uses the MATLAB Production Server .NET client library.

A .NET application programmer typically performs this task. The tutorial assumes that you have Microsoft® Visual Studio® and .NET installed on your computer.

Create Microsoft Visual Studio Project

  1. Open Microsoft Visual Studio.

  2. Click File > New > Project.

  3. In the New Project dialog box, select the template you want to use. For example, if you want to create a C# console application in Visual Studio 2017, select Visual C# > Windows Desktop in the left navigation pane, then select the Console App (.Net Framework).

  4. Type the name of the project in the Name field (for example, Magic).

  5. Click OK. Your Magic source shell is created, typically named Program.cs, by default.

Create Reference to Client Runtime Library

Create a reference in your Magic project to the MATLAB Production Server client runtime library. In Microsoft Visual Studio, perform the following steps:

  1. In the Solution Explorer pane within Microsoft Visual Studio (usually on the right side), right-click your Magic project, select Add > Browse.

  2. Browse to the MATLAB Production Server .NET client runtime library location.

    The library is located in matlabroot\toolbox\compiler_sdk\mps_clients\dotnet. Select the MathWorks.MATLAB.ProductionServer.Client.dll file.

    The client library is also available for download at https://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab-production-server/client-libraries.html.

  3. Click OK. Your Microsoft Visual Studio project now references the MathWorks.MATLAB.ProductionServer.Client.dll.

Deploy MATLAB Function to Server

Write a MATLAB function mymagic that uses the magic function to create a magic square, package mymagic into a deployable archive called mymagic_deployed, then deploy it to a server. The function mymagic takes a single int input and returns a magic square as a 2-D double array. The example assumes that the server instance is running at http://localhost:9910.

function m = mymagic(in)
    m = magic(in);

Design .NET Interface in C#

Invoke the deployed MATLAB function mymagic from a .NET client through a .NET interface. Design a C# interface Magic to match the MATLAB function mymagic.

  • The .NET interface has the same number of inputs and outputs as the MATLAB function.

  • Since you are deploying one MATLAB function on the server, you define one corresponding .NET method in your C# code.

  • Both the MATLAB function and the .NET interface process the same data types—input type int and output type 2-D double.

  • In your C# client program, use the interface Magic to specify the type of the proxy object reference in the CreateProxy method. The CreateProxy method requires the URL to the deployable archive that contains the mymagic function (http://localhost:9910/mymagic_deployed) as an input argument.

 public interface Magic 
        {
          double[,] mymagic(int in1);
        }

Write, Build, and Run .NET Application

  1. Open the Microsoft Visual Studio project Magic that you created earlier.

  2. In the Program.cs tab, paste in the code below.

    using System;
    using System.Net;
    using MathWorks.MATLAB.ProductionServer.Client;
    
    namespace Magic
    {
        public class MagicClass
        {
    
            public interface Magic
            {
                double[,] mymagic(int in1);
            }
    
            public static void Main(string[] args)
            {
                MWClient client = new MWHttpClient();
                try
                {
                    Magic me = client.CreateProxy<Magic>
                              (new Uri("http://localhost:9910/mymagic_deployed"));
                    double[,] result1 = me.mymagic(4);
                    print(result1);
                }
                catch (MATLABException ex)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("{0} MATLAB exception caught.", ex);
                    Console.WriteLine(ex.StackTrace);
                }
                catch (WebException ex)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("{0} Web exception caught.", ex);
                    Console.WriteLine(ex.StackTrace);
                }
                finally
                {
                    client.Dispose();
                }
                Console.ReadLine();
            }
    
            public static void print(double[,] x)
            {
                int rank = x.Rank;
                int[] dims = new int[rank];
    
                for (int i = 0; i < rank; i++)
                {
                    dims[i] = x.GetLength(i);
                }
    
                for (int j = 0; j < dims[0]; j++)
                {
                    for (int k = 0; k < dims[1]; k++)
                    {
                        Console.Write(x[j, k]);
                        if (k < (dims[1] - 1))
                        {
                            Console.Write(",");
                        }
                    }
                    Console.WriteLine();
                }
            }
        }
    }

    The URL value ("http://localhost:9910/mymagic_deployed") used to create the proxy contains three parts.

    • the server address (localhost).

    • the port number (9910).

    • the archive name (mymagic_deployed).

  3. Build the application. Click Build > Build Solution.

  4. Run the application. Click Debug > Start Without Debugging. The program returns the following console output.

    16,2,3,13
    5,11,10,8
    9,7,6,12
    4,14,15,1 

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