Leveraging MATLAB's computational power from JS in a deployment server

I am working on a project where some part needs to leverage the computational cababilties of MATLAB. More specifically, I need to work with MAtrix operations and vector operations for which MATLAB suites. In my server matlab is installed but my main project is written in JS frameworks. So any help on how to use MATLAB's features on my project without need open matlab since they are automated operations and doesn't involve any manual intervension. I have MATLAB intalled in my server.

Answer 1

[Hari]

Hi Vijay,

I understand that you are working on a project that primarily uses JavaScript frameworks but requires leveraging MATLAB's computational capabilities, specifically for matrix and vector operations. And you need a way to automate these operations on a server where MATLAB is installed, without manual intervention.

I assume that your project's architecture allows for calling external programs and that you can handle capturing and processing standard output (stdout) in your JavaScript environment.

Solution for Integrating MATLAB with Your Project:

1. Write MATLAB Scripts: Prepare MATLAB scripts (.m files) that perform the necessary matrix and vector operations. Ensure these scripts are designed to be run non-interactively, with inputs either hardcoded or passed as command-line arguments, and outputs printed to stdout or saved to files.
2. Execute MATLAB Scripts from the Command Line: MATLAB can be invoked from the command line (or from within a JavaScript application using child processes) to run a script. Use the syntax "matlab -batch "your_script"" on Windows or "matlab -r "your_script;exit"" on other platforms. The "-batch" option is preferred as it directly executes the script and exits MATLAB upon completion, without launching the desktop environment.
3. Capture Output: The output from MATLAB, including any results printed to stdout, can be captured by the calling process in your JavaScript application. This allows you to use the computational results in your main application.
4. Automate the Process: Integrate the MATLAB script execution into your application's workflow. This can be done using Node.js's "child_process" module, for example, to spawn a MATLAB process, execute the script, and capture the output.

Example Integration:

Assuming you have a MATLAB script named matrixOps.m that performs certain operations and prints the result:

% matrixOps.m
A = [1, 2; 3, 4];
B = [5; 6];
result = A * B;
disp(result);

You can execute this script from Node.js and capture the output like this:

// JS code
const { exec } = require('child_process');
exec('matlab -batch "matrixOps"', (error, stdout, stderr) => {  
if (error) {
    console.error(`exec error: ${error}`);
    return;
    }
    console.log(`MATLAB Output: ${stdout}`);
    
});

References:

• For more information on running MATLAB from the command line, refer to the documentation of MATLAB command-line options: https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/matlablinux.html.

Hope this helps!