Calling a software from Matlab - matlab

Question

The command prompt works well in all respect of running the software as well as generating reports and output files. To generate an ouput file containing the desired result, we have to run the executable of the report program which uses a parameter file. For example if I were to implement these steps in command prompt, it would be like this:
“path\report.exe” –f Report.rwd –o Report.rwo
The output file is Report.rwo, this file will contain the variable exported.
Now to implement this in Matlab, below is a small script giving a gist of what I am trying to achieve. It calls the software for each run and extracts the data.
for nr=1:NREAL
dlmwrite(‘file.INC’,file(:,nr),’delimiter’,’\n’); % Writes the data file for each run
system('"path\file.dat"'); % calls software
system('"path\Report.rwd" –o "path\Report.rwo"'); % calls report
[a,b]=textread(‘"path\Report.rwo".rwo’,’%f\t%f’); % Reads the data and store it in the variable b
end
So I have two problems:
1) When I run this script in Matlab, it does not generate output file Report.rwo. Consequently, it gives an error when it reaches the line containing 'textread' function because of absence of the file.
2) Everytime Matlab calls a report (.rwd file), it prompts me to hit enter or type 'q' to quit. If suppose there are hundreds of files to run, then for every file I would be prompted to hit enter to proceed. The following line causes the prompt:
system('"path\Report.rwd" –o "path\Report.rwo"'); % Calls report
OLDER EDIT: There are 2 updates to my problem as follow:
Update 1: It seems that part 2 of my problem above has been resolved by Jacob. It is working fine for one run. However the final outcome will be confirmed only when I am able to run whole of my program which involves running hundreds of files.
Update 2: I can run the software and generate output file using command-prompt as follow:
**“path\mx200810.exe” –f file.dat**
This command reads the report parameter file and generates output file:
“path\report.exe” –f Report.rwd –o Report.rwo
LATEST EDIT:
1) I am able to run the software, avoid the prompt to hit the return key and generate the output file using Matlab through the following commands:
system('report.exe /f Report.rwd /o Report.rwo')
system('mx200810.exe -f file.dat')
However, I was able to do it only after copying my required .exe and .dll files in the same folder where I have my .dat file. So I am running the .m file through the same folder where I have all these files.
2) However there is still one error in Matlab's command window which says this:
"...STOP: Unable to open the following file as data file:
'file.dat'
Check path name for spaces, special character or a total length greater than 256 characters
Cannot find data file named 'file.dat'
Date and Time of End of Run: .....
ans = 0"

Answer 1

Strings enclosed in " .. " are invalid in MATLAB so I do not know how your system functions can even function.
Replace all " with ' and then update your question and include the command line arguments (e.g.-f file.dat) inside the quotes as below:
%# Calls software
system('"path\mx200810.exe" –f file.dat');
%# Calls report
system('"path\report.exe" –f Report.rwd –o Report.rwo');
Update:
Here's a cheap trick to solve your second problem (type q to terminate the program):
%# Calls software
system('"path\mx200810.exe" –f "path\file.dat" < "C:\inp.txt"');
%# Calls report
system('"path\report.exe" –f "path\Report.rwd" –o "path\Report.rwo" < "C:\inp.txt"');
Create a file (e.g. C:\inp.txt) which contains the letter q followed by the return character. You can create this by opening Notepad, typing q, hitting the return key and saving it as C:\inp.txt. This will serve as the "input" report.exe seems to need.
Change all the system calls in your code so that the input from the text file we just made is piped into it. I've included the modified calls above (scroll to the end to see the difference).

Answer 2

Use both outputs to get status of system run and text result, if any will be available.
cmd_line = '“path\report.exe” –f Report.rwd –o Report.rwo';
[status, result] = system(cmd_line);
Continue your script depending on status variable. Stop if it over then zero.
if (status)
error('Error running report.exe')
end
[a,b]=textread(...
If your parameters are variable you can generate the command line string in MATLAB using string concatenation or SPRINTF function.