Borrar filtros
Borrar filtros

How do I process a string class in a mex function?

6 visualizaciones (últimos 30 días)
AJ
AJ el 3 de Abr. de 2024
Editada: James Tursa el 9 de Abr. de 2024
I would like to pass a string (not a character array, but a class object of type "string") into a mex function, such as:
myMexFunction_mex("xyzyy")
and then process it. However, there seems to be no mex support for string objects.
The following C code snippet returns true for a string object:
mxIsClass(prhs[0],"string") % returns true
The following returns a value of 19, which is not defined in mex.h as part of the mxClassID enumeration (the highest defined value is 18, mxOBJECT_CLASS):
mxGetClassID(prhs[0]) % returns 19
It seems crazy that the mex API support doesn't support strings. Strings have been around since R2016b or so.
Are there any undocumented features I could use to get access to the string length and data? And what character encoding scheme is used (UTF-8, or UTF-16, say)?
BTW, using a character arrays instead of a string object is not an option for me.
  1 comentario
Bruno Luong
Bruno Luong el 3 de Abr. de 2024
Editada: Bruno Luong el 3 de Abr. de 2024
IMO string as all object oriented class has minimal (close to 0) support in Mex API, and TMW does not intend to do anything to impprove this.

Iniciar sesión para comentar.

Respuesta aceptada

AJ
AJ el 9 de Abr. de 2024
Editada: AJ el 9 de Abr. de 2024
Given that MATLAB can't/won't support strings in mex environment, I did have to resort to mexCallMATLAB() by calling the char casting operator:
// Convert string to and treat string like a char
rc = mexCallMATLAB(1, &pArrayChar, 1, &(mxArray *)pArrayString, "char");
This is not a great solution, and adds undetectable padding when the string object is an array:
>> testString = ["abd","defegh"];
>> char(testString)
1×6×2 char array
ans(:,:,1) =
'abd '
ans(:,:,2) =
'defegh'
Can string objects be indexed in a mex function, perhaps by using mxGetData()? (If so, how would the pointer be cast?) Or perhaps start by casting it to a cell aray using cellstr (using mexCallMATLAB()).
Thanks for the response.
  1 comentario
Bruno Luong
Bruno Luong el 9 de Abr. de 2024
Yes you can convert to cell of char array using cellstr(s) rather than char(s). It will not pad trailing blank.
s=["a" "abc"]
s = 1x2 string array
"a" "abc"
char(s)
ans = 1x3x2 char array
ans(:,:,1) = 'a ' ans(:,:,2) = 'abc'
cellstr(s)
ans = 1x2 cell array
{'a'} {'abc'}
Cell and char arrays are correctly supported by mex API.

Iniciar sesión para comentar.

Más respuestas (1)

James Tursa
James Tursa el 9 de Abr. de 2024
Editada: James Tursa el 9 de Abr. de 2024
Strings are opaque objects (like classdef) and there are no API functions to get pointer access to the data areas. I am unaware of any hacks to get at this data either. Note that this is not just for strings, but is true for other opaque objects in MATLAB such as half, etc.
You are probably stuck with a deep copy into a char array either at the m-code level or inside the mex routine via mexCallMATLAB() ... yes I know you wrote this is not an option :(
  2 comentarios
Bruno Luong
Bruno Luong el 9 de Abr. de 2024
Editada: James Tursa el 9 de Abr. de 2024
Would using coder to see how string access is converted to C code is a conformation there is no way/API to retrieve data?
AJ
AJ el 9 de Abr. de 2024
Editada: AJ el 9 de Abr. de 2024
Yes, I did try that approach. Coder (for the mex interface) uses runtime library functions that are not part of the mex function. I could probably adapt that if I took the time to learn how to "marshal in" the strings. But it was more work than I was willing to give. Thanks for the idea.
One more road block here: Coder does not allow arrays of string objects, only scalar strings.

Iniciar sesión para comentar.

Categorías

Más información sobre MATLAB Compiler en Help Center y File Exchange.

Productos


Versión

R2023b

Community Treasure Hunt

Find the treasures in MATLAB Central and discover how the community can help you!

Start Hunting!

Translated by