perl

R2026b

Call Perl script using operating system executable

Syntax

result = perl(perlfile)

result = perl(perlfile,arg1,...,argN)

[result,status] = perl(___)

Description

result = perl(perlfile) calls the Perl script perlfile and returns the script output.

On Microsoft^® Windows^® systems, MATLAB^® ships with Perl, which is available from the Perl website. For information about using the Perl programming language, Perl source code, and a standard distribution of Perl, see https://www.perl.org/.

On Linux^® and macOS systems, MATLAB calls the Perl interpreter available with the operating system.

result = perl(perlfile,arg1,...,argN) calls the script with the arguments arg1,...,argN.

[result,status] = perl(___) returns the exit status in status. You can specify two output arguments with any of the input argument combinations in the previous syntaxes.

Examples

Run Perl Script

Create a file named hello.pl that contains these Perl statements:

$input = $ARGV[0]; 
print "Hello $input.";

Save the file on your MATLAB path.

From the MATLAB command line, run the Perl script with the input "World".

result = perl("hello.pl","World")

result =
'Hello World.'

Input Arguments

perlfile — Perl script filename

string scalar | character vector

Perl script filename, specified as a string scalar or character vector.

Example: "myscript.pl"

arg1,...,argN — Perl script input arguments

string scalars | character vectors

Perl script input arguments 1 through N (if any) required by perlfile, specified as string scalars or character vectors. The Perl script uses these specified arguments.

Output Arguments

result — Script output

character vector

Script output, returned as a character vector. If the Perl script runs successfully, the status value is 0.

status — Script exit status

integer

Script exit status, returned as an integer.

Tips

• Consider using Perl scripts instead of MATLAB code when:

  • You want to use an existing Perl script.

  • You want to preprocess data quickly. MATLAB reads Perl script formatting more easily than other formatting.

  • Perl has features not supported by MATLAB.

Version History

Introduced before R2006a

R2026b: MATLAB ships with Perl version 5.44.0

For information about using this version on Windows, go to https://www.perl.org/ and select Perl version 5.44.0.

R2025b: MATLAB ships with Perl version 5.42.2 (July 2026)

For information about using this version on Windows, go to https://www.perl.org/ and select Perl version 5.42.2.

R2025b: MATLAB ships with Perl version 5.42.0 (January 2026)

For information about using this version on Windows, go to https://www.perl.org/ and select Perl version 5.42.0.

R2024a: MATLAB ships with Perl version 5.38.2

To use the perl command on Windows platforms, go to https://www.perl.org/ and select Perl version 5.38.2 for information about using this version.

R2023b: MATLAB ships with Perl version 5.38.0

To use the perl command on Windows platforms, go to https://www.perl.org/ and select Perl version 5.38.0 for information about using this version.

MATLAB also supports an updated version of HTML::Parser, version 3.81. For a standard distribution of HTML::Parser, source code, and information about using HTML::Parser, see https://perldoc.perl.org/perl.

R2023a: MATLAB ships with Perl version 5.36.0

To use the perl command on Windows platforms, go to https://www.perl.org/ and select Perl version 5.36.0 for information about using this version.

MATLAB also supports an updated version of HTML::Parser, version 3.78. For a standard distribution of HTML::Parser, source code, and information about using HTML::Parser, see https://metacpan.org/pod/HTML::Parser.

R2021b: MATLAB ships with Perl version 5.32.1

To use the perl command on Windows platforms, go to https://www.perl.org/ and select Perl version 5.32.1 for information about using this version.

R2021a: MATLAB ships with Perl version 5.32.0

To use the perl command on Windows platforms, go to https://www.perl.org/ and select Perl version 5.32.0 for information about using this version.

R2019b: MATLAB ships with Perl version 5.30.1

To use the perl command on Windows platforms, go to https://www.perl.org/ and select Perl version 5.30.1 for information about using this version.

R2018a: MATLAB ships with Perl version 5.26.1

To use the perl command on Windows platforms, go to https://www.perl.org/ and select Perl version 5.26.1 for information about using this version.

R2017b: MATLAB ships with Perl version 5.24.1

To use the perl command on Windows platforms, go to https://www.perl.org/ and select Perl version 5.24.1 for information about using this version.