Matlab API reading .mat file from c++, using STL container

Question

I have to read some .mat data files from c++, I read through the documentation, but I would like to know how to handle the data in a clean and elegant way, e.g. using std:ve

Answer 1

Here's another idea. If you're allergic to bare pointers in C++ code (nothing wrong with them, by the way), you could wrap the bare pointer in a boost or C++11 smart pointer with a deleter that calls the correct mxDestroyArray() when the pointer goes out of scope. That way you don't need a copy, nor does your user code need to know how to correctly deallocate.

typedef shared_ptr mxSmartPtr;

mxSmartPtr readMATarray(MATFile *pmat, const char *varname)
{
    mxSmartPtr pdata(matGetVariable(pmat, varname),
                     mxDestroyArray);  // set deleter
    return pdata;
}

int some_function() {
    mxSmartPtr pdata = readMATarray(pmat, "LocalDouble");
    ...
    // pdata goes out of scope, and mxDestroy automatically called
}

Idea taken from here: http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_56_0/libs/smart_ptr/sp_techniques.html#incomplete