Compile and run with Call Scilab

How to compile a native application based on or using Scilab

Compilation

To compile a native code based on Call Scilab, it is necessary to define some arguments, variables and paths.

• CFLAGS. Call Scilab needs to have access to the headers of Scilab core and call Scilab module.

  • Linux/Unix/MacOSX:

    • In the binary version of Scilab, CFLAGS must be set to /path/to/scilab/include/scilab/core/ and /path/to/scilab/include/scilab/call_scilab/
    • In the source tree of Scilab, CFLAGS must be set to /path/to/scilab/modules/core/includes/ and /path/to/scilab/modules/call_scilab/includes/

  • Windows

• LD_LIBRARY_PATH - Paths to libscilab.so and libjavasci.so (or .dll, .jnilib...)

  • Linux/Unix/MacOSX:

    • In the binary version of Scilab, SCI will point to /path/to/scilab/lib/scilab/
    • In the source tree of Scilab, SCI will point to the root of the source tree /path/to/scilab/modules/call_scilab/.libs/ and /path/to/scilab/.libs/

• LDFLAGS - The name of the library to link against

  • Linux/Unix/MacOSX: It is only mandatory to link against scilab. This should include the other libraries.

The following example is a Makefile to build against Scilab binary

# A `sample`_ Makefile building a C code using Call Scilab using Scilab binary
PATH_SCILAB = /path/to/scilab/
# Note that PATH_SCILAB can be /usr/ is using a packaged version of Scilab.
SCILAB_CFLAGS = -I$(PATH_SCILAB)/include/scilab/
SCILAB_LDFLAGS = -lscilab
PATH_TO_LIB_SCILAB = $(PATH_SCILAB)/`lib`_/scilab/
PATH_TO_LIB_CALL_SCILAB = $(PATH_SCILAB)/`lib`_/scilab/

all: simple_call_scilab.c
    export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$(PATH_TO_LIB_SCILAB):$(PATH_TO_LIB_CALL_SCILAB)
    gcc -o myExample $(SCILAB_LDFLAGS) -L$(PATH_TO_LIB_SCILAB) -L$(PATH_TO_LIB_CALL_SCILAB) $(SCILAB_CFLAGS) simple_call_scilab.c

The following example is a Makefile to build against Scilab source tree

# A `sample`_ Makefile building a C code using Call Scilab using Scilab built in it source tree.
PATH_SCILAB = /path/to/scilab/sources/
SCILAB_CFLAGS = -I$(PATH_SCILAB)/modules/core/includes/ -I$(PATH_SCILAB)/modules/call_scilab/includes/
SCILAB_LDFLAGS = -lscilab
PATH_TO_LIB_SCILAB = $(PATH_SCILAB)/modules/.libs/
PATH_TO_LIB_CALL_SCILAB = $(PATH_SCILAB)/modules/call_scilab/.libs/

all: simple_call_scilab.c
    export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$(PATH_TO_LIB_SCILAB):$(PATH_TO_LIB_CALL_SCILAB)
    gcc -o myExample $(SCILAB_LDFLAGS) -L$(PATH_TO_LIB_SCILAB) -L$(PATH_TO_LIB_CALL_SCILAB) $(SCILAB_CFLAGS) simple_call_scilab.c

Running

To run an application based on Call Scilab, there are a few other things to set up.

Some global variables must me set:

• SCI - Path to Scilab files

  • Linux/Unix/MacOSX:

    • In the binary version of Scilab, SCI will point to /path/to/scilab/share/scilab/
    • In the source tree of Scilab, SCI will point to the root of the source tree /path/to/scilab/source/tree/

  • Windows:

• LD_LIBRARY_PATH - Paths to libscilab.so and libjavasci.so (or .dll, .jnilib...)

  • Linux/Unix/MacOSX:

    • In the binary version of Scilab, SCI will point to /path/to/scilab/lib/scilab/
    • In the source tree of Scilab, SCI will point to the root of the source tree /path/to/scilab/modules/javasci/.libs/ and /path/to/scilab/.libs/

• LD_LIBRARY_PATH (Java) - Paths to Java native libraries (libjava.so, libjvm.so, libhpi.so)... It is usually provided by the operating system or by Scilab distribution. Please note that won’t be necessary in Scilab 5.2

  • Linux/Unix:

    • JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/<arch>/, JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/<arch>/server, JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/<arch>/native_threads/ (<arch> can be i386, etc...)

  • Mac OS X:

  • Windows

Note that two environnement variables are taken in account for specific needs:

• SCI_DISABLE_TK=1 Disables Tk (Tcl’s GUI)
• SCI_JAVA_ENABLE_HEADLESS=1 Launch Java in headless mode (no AWT/Swing)

Examples

# Serie of declarations to execute my binary.

# With a Scilab source tree:
$ SCI=<path to Scilab source tree>
$ export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$SCI/modules/.libs/:$SCI/modules/call_scilab/.libs/:$SCI/modules/api_scilab/.libs

# With a Scilab binary:
$ SCI_PATH=<path to Scilab binary>
$ export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$SCI_PATH/`lib`_/scilab/

# Set the path to Java Virtual Machine library; This is mandatory for graphics features
# Don't forget to update arch (i386) `and`_ paths to whatever is necessary
$ export JAVA_HOME=/usr/`lib`_/jvm/java-6-openjdk/
$ export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:$JAVA_HOME/jre/`lib`_/i386/:$JAVA_HOME/jre/`lib`_/i386/server/
$ export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:$JAVA_HOME/jre/`lib`_/i386/native_threads/
$ export SCI=/path/to/scilab/
$ ./myExample
!sample  for the `help`_  !

  - 42.    42.

See Also

• api Scilab api_scilab is the Scilab interface to read/write data from/to Scilab memory
• call_scilab call_scilab is an interface which provides the ability to call Scilab engine from C/C++ code
• StartScilab Initializes and starts Scilab engine in Call Scilab
• SendScilabJob Send a Scilab task from a C/C++ code (call_scilab)
• SendScilabJobs Send Scilab tasks from a C/C++ code (call_scilab)
• Double Management How to manage Scilab’s variable read and write process using call_scilab and api_scilab
• Boolean Management How to manage Scilab’s boolean read and write process using call_scilab and api_scilab
• Complex Management How to manage Scilab’s complex variable read and write process using call_scilab
• String Management How to manage Scilab’s String read and write process using call_scilab and api_scilab