fileDoesNotExist error with compiled application

hello:

I've compiled my Matlab code into an independent executable file. Upon reaching the point in the code where it requires the user to select an image to process - see below for that command - I get an error.

> loadimg = imread(uigetfile({'*.jpg;*.bmp;*.tif;*.png;*.gif'}))

after this, the user selects a file, and the executable reports the following:

> error using imread (line 349)

> file "pic 1.bmp" does not exist

> error in parsing2 (line 5)

> MATLAB:imagesci:imread:fileDoesNotExist

after this, the application quits.

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

The executable is not in the directory that you assume it is in. You need to use the two-output version of uigetfile and then use fullfile() to construct the fully-qualified filename and imread() that. And remember to try/catch in case there is a problem.

[Mike Bocchinfuso]

hi Walter:

Which directory should the executable be in? The goal is to have this deployed to a separate computer (I'm doing the coding/debugging on my own computer for now), where the files are saved in one of several subfolders, but the selection of which image to work on would be left to the operator. Are fullfile() and uigetfile() still relevant in that case?

[Walter Roberson]

The executable's initial directory is typically the directory it was expanded into, which you can access under the function name ctfroot() . In MS Windows, OS-X and Linux, whenever you start a graphical executable by way of icon, the initial directory is set according to operating system rules, sometimes rules stored with the icon properties; the initial directory is not set according to which directory the user is "in" because in a graphical windowed system the user is "in" multiple directories simultaneously.

The solution is to use fullfile() to ensure that the directory portion gets filled out completely. In MS Windows you might want to use getenv() to look at the HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH environment variables.

[Mike Bocchinfuso]

hi Walter:

Thanks for your assistance. Using fullfile() works and my application is functioning.