Path Issue in Matlab 2014b MCR Deployments with Added Folders - matlab

Question

The compile command mcc -m app.m -a file.ext -a ./dir creates a directory /app containing app.m and file.ext and a directory /dir on the same level as /app containing all the files in /dir. What is the solution to add /dir in the /app directory, not on the same directory level (i.e. /app/dir)?
(Here is why I want to do this: In directory /dir are stored the images that are used by app.m, such as splash screen, button icons, default images, etc. app.m is accessing them using imread('./dir/img.jpg'). Since the compiler is adding the /dir directory one level below where it appears in the Matlab structure at development time, the images are no longer accessible when the standalone software is deployed. Hence I need to use a isdeployed switch to specify the correct path to the images for the development and deployment cases. I would rather avoid this, probably on code aesthetic grounds of an inconsistency of treating added files differently according to whether they are or not on the same directory level as the compiled application [file file.ext is put in /app while the image files from /dir are moved on the same level as /app].)

Answer 1

Instead of adding the path with the compile command, you may be able to use mkdir at run time.
Your command would look like this:
status=mkdir('dir');
The advantage to this is that the dir path is now below your app path, i.e. /app/dir.
The disadvantage is that the user of your program will need the privileges to create that directory.
If you need to compile the directory with the app, you could still use mkdir and then movefile to move all of your files to the new directory from the packaged one.

Answer 2

A possible solution is to use two paths depending on whether the application is deployed or not. Code example:
% path to images directory 'pix'
apppath = mfilename('fullpath');
idx = strfind(apppath,filesep);
if isdeployed
pixdir = [apppath(1:idx(end-1)),'pix',filesep];
else
pixdir = [apppath(1:idx(end)),'pix',filesep];
end
% read image
img = imread(fullfile(pixdir,'logo.jpg'));