. About this package {R.matlab}R Documentation

About this package

Description

This package provides methods to read and write MAT files. It also makes it possible to communicate (evaluate code, send and retrieve objects etc.) with Matlab v6 or higher running locally or on a remote host. The auxillary Java class provides static methods to read and write Java data types.

In brief, this package provides a one-directional interface from R to Matlab, with communication taking place via a TCP/IP connection and with data transferred either through another connection or via the file system. On the Matlab side, the TCP/IP connection is handled by Java.

The methods for reading and writing MAT files are stable. The R to Matlab interface is less prioritized and should be considered a beta version.

Installation

To install this package do

install.packages(c("R.oo", "R.matlab"))

To get the "devel" version, use

install.packages("R.classes", contriburl="http://www.maths.lth.se/help/R/")

Update

To update this package do

update.packages()

Dependancies and other requirements

This package depends on the R.oo package. The readMat() and writeMat() methods do not require a Matlab installation. To connect to Matlab, Matlab v6 or higher is required. It does not work with Matlab v5 or before. This is a cross-platform package implemented in pure R.

To get started

To get started, see:

  1. readMat() and writeMat().
  2. Matlab.

Miscellaneous

A related initiative is RMatlab by Duncan Temple Lang and Omegahat. It provides a bi-directional interface between the R and Matlab languages. For more details, see http://www.omegahat.org/RMatlab/.

How to cite this package

Whenever using this package, please cite [1] as

@TECHREPORT{BengtssonH_2005,
  author = {Bengtsson, Henrik},
  title = {{R.matlab} - Local and remote {M}atlab connectivity in {R}},
  institution = {Mathematical Statistics, Centre for Mathematical Sciences,
                 Lund University, Sweden},
  year = {2005},
  type = {{Preprint in Mathematical Sciences (manuscript in progress)}},
  note = {[manuscript in progress]},
  url = {http://www.maths.lth.se/help/R/R.matlab/},
}

Wishlist

Here is a list of features that would be useful, but which I have too little time to add myself. Contributions are appreciated.

If you consider implement some of the above, make sure it is not already implemented by downloading the latest "devel" version!

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank the following people who contributed with valuable feedback, suggestions, and code:

References

[1] Henrik Bengtsson, R.matlab - Local and remote Matlab connectivity in R, Mathematical Statistics, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Lund University, Sweden, 2005. (manuscript in progress).

Author(s)

Henrik Bengtsson http://www.braju.com/R/


[Package R.matlab version 1.0 Index]