Return perl array to MATLAB

Question

Is there a way to return a perl array to MATLAB? Or do I just have to return a string and parse it? I'm using a call from MATLAB to a perl script to interface with a MySQL database. After I get the results of a query, I want to pass it back to MATLAB.

EDIT: I'm using a modified version of perl.m to call the perl script. It calls the version of perl with DBI I installed, rather than the copy that comes with MATLAB.

I changed line 65 of perl.m from

perlCmd = fullfile(matlabroot, 'sys\perl\win32\bin\');

to

perlCmd = 'C:\Perl64\';

Answer 1

how are you calling your perl script? if you are just doing a system call, then you can only return string output.

you could look into wrapping your call in a mex file, or writing .mat files from your perl, but i suspect string parsing may be easier, especially for small arrays

EDIT

think what i did once in a similar situation (had to transfer data into matlab) was to generate an .m file that creates a matlab matrix, i.e.

array = [
          1, 2, 3;
          4, 5, 6;
         ];

and save to disk. when the program was finished i simply called the m-file to get the data into my workspace