execute system commands in matlab

Hi

I can not figure out how to write the correct input for matlab system (or dos, I have tried both) commands.

That I want to do is to call the program HFSS with certain flags. I have verified that it works correctly in a CMD prompt. Here I use the line:

"C:\Program Files\HFSS11\HFSS11\hfss.exe"  -runscriptandexit "D:\HFSS Projects\read_variable_from_file.vbs”

I can not make it work in matlab, I would appreciate if someone could help me.

My thanks in advance!

BR

Thomas

[Walter Roberson]

What happens if you use

cmd = '"C:\Program Files\HFSS11\HFSS11\hfss.exe"  -runscriptandexit "D:\HFSS Projects\read_variable_from_file.vbs"';
[status, msg] = system(cmd)

[Thomas Schäfer]

I get a -1 status return and HFF program does not start. I tried this before...

[Walter Roberson]

I am having difficulty finding a copy of the documentation for HFSS11 that is not on a crack site, as the software is from February 2009.

Try

2>&1

cmd = '"C:\Program Files\HFSS11\HFSS11\hfss.exe"  -runscriptandexit "D:\HFSS Projects\read_variable_from_file.vbs" 2>&1';
[status, msg] = system(cmd)

and show the msg that results.

[Thomas Schäfer]

Hi

Thanks for puting time into this! I attached the HFSS help documentation for this.

I run the system comand with your input, msg is still empty (0×0 empty char array)

[Walter Roberson]

[status, msg] = system('"C:\Program Files\HFSS11\HFSS11\hfss.exe" -HELP')

and see if you get anything back. That is, we need to start by verifying that we are able to communicate with the program.

Also,

exename = "C:\Program Files\HFSS11\HFSS11\hfss.exe";
if exist(exename, 'file')
  fprintf('okay, executable exists, "%s"\n', exename);
else
    fprintf('executable does not seem to exist, "%s"\n', exename);
end

[Thomas Schäfer]

[status, msg] = system('"C:\Program Files\HFSS11\HFSS11\hfss.exe" -HELP')

status = -1; msg = 0×0 empty char array

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

exename = "C:\Program Files\HFSS11\HFSS11\hfss.exe";

if exist(exename, 'file')

fprintf('okay, executable exists, "%s"\n', exename);

else

fprintf('executable does not seem to exist, "%s"\n', exename);

end

okay, executable exists, "C:\Program Files\HFSS11\HFSS11\hfss.exe"

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

As I said, then I run the comand in CMD pormt it works...

Also in matlab, just: system("C:\Program Files\HFSS11\HFSS11\hfss.exe") opens the HFSS.

[Walter Roberson]

I would tend to suspect DLL seach problems; https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/dlls/dynamic-link-library-search-order . For example that document hints that if there is a DLL loaded by MATLAB, then possibly hfss would attempt to use the already loaded DLL instead of doing any kind of searching for it. That could be a problem if the two DLLs have the same name but are different DLLs or different versions of the same basic DLL.

[Thomas Schäfer]

Okay.

I manage to solve this by running:

system('set path=%path:C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2018b\bin\win64;=% & "C:\Program Files\HFSS11\HFSS11\hfss.exe" -runscriptandexit "D:\HFSS Projects\read_variable_from_file.vbs"');

I find the selution by reading https://se.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/408044-what-is-the-difference-between-a-system-call-from-matlab-using-system-and-a-command-in-a-cmd-ter

I should ad that I am using MATLAB2019

Thanks again for you help!

[Walter Roberson]

Looks good.