MATIO - MATLAB MAT file I/O library

Table of Contents
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1.0 Introduction
  1.1 Contact
  1.2 Acknowledgements
  1.3 Contributing
  1.4 Questions and Reporting Bugs
2.0 Building
  2.1 Dependencies
    2.1.1 zlib
    2.1.2 HDF5
  2.2 Building matio
    2.2.1 Quick Build Guide
    2.2.2 Configure Options
    2.2.3 CMake build system
    2.2.4 Visual Studio
    2.2.5 Testsuite
  2.3 Platforms
3.0 License

1.0 Introduction
    Matio is an open-source C library for reading and writing binary MATLAB MAT
    files.
    This library is designed for use by programs/libraries that do not have
    access or do not want to rely on MATLAB's shared libraries.

    1.1 Contact
        You can contact the maintainer through email at
        t-beu@users.sourceforge.net.

    1.2 Acknowledgements
        The following people/organizations have helped in the development of
        matio through patches, bug reports, and/or testing:
          * Don Zimmer (https://github.com/dpzimmer)
          * Greg Sjaardema (https://github.com/gsjaardema)
          * Jacco van Beek (https://sourceforge.net/u/jabe)
          * John Filo (https://github.com/jfilo)
          * LTX Simulation (https://www.ltx.de/english.html)
          * Maarten Bent (https://github.com/MaartenBent)
          * Modelica Association (https://modelica.org/association)
          * Nelson (https://nelson-lang.github.io/nelson-website/)
          * Nils Jannasch (https://github.com/NJannasch)
          * OpenMEEG ((http://openmeeg.github.io/)
          * Scilab (http://www.scilab.org/)
          * Sébastien Villemot (https://github.com/svillemot)
          * SGI in support of Interactive Supercomputing, Inc.
          * Steven Leibman <sleibman@alum.mit.edu>

    1.3 Contributing
        If you are interested in collaborations, contact the maintainer via
        email (see section 1.1).

    1.4 Questions and Reporting Bugs
        Questions can be asked using the forums on the sourceforge site hosting
        matio (https://sourceforge.net/p/matio/discussion).

        Bugs, enhancements, etc. should be submitted using one of the trackers
        on the sourceforge page (https://sourceforge.net/p/matio/_list/tickets).

2.0 Building
    This section describes how to build matio. Section 2.1 describes the
    dependencies, section 2.2 how to build/test matio, and section 2.3
    documents the platforms matio has been tested on.

    2.1 Dependencies
        Matio has two optional dependencies. These are not required for the
        software to work, but without them some files may be unreadable. Zlib
        is required to read/write level 5 MAT files that use compression. HDF5
        is required to work with newer MAT files that use the HDF5-format
        files.

        2.1.1 zlib
            To support compressed MAT files, zlib 1.2.3 or greater is required.
            The zlib software can be downloaded from http://zlib.net.

        2.1.2 HDF5
            Support for MAT file version 7.3 requires the HDF5 library of
            version 1.8.x or greater. Neither deprecated HDF5 1.6.x API functions
            nor HDF5 higher-level functions are called.

              * Building matio with HDF5 1.8.x requires configuration of HDF5
                with default API 'v18'.
              * Building matio with HDF5 1.10.x requires configuration of HDF5
                with either default API 'v110' or with deprecated API 'v18'.
              * Building matio with HDF5 1.12.x requires configuration of HDF5
                with either default API 'v112', or with deprecated APIs 'v110'
                or 'v18'.
              * Building matio with HDF5 1.14.x requires configuration of HDF5
                with either default API 'v114', or with deprecated APIs 'v112',
                'v110' or 'v18'.
              * Building matio with HDF5 2.0.0 requires configuration of HDF5
                with either default API 'v200', or with deprecated APIs 'v114',
                'v112', 'v110' or 'v18'.

            For Ubuntu, 'sudo apt install libhdf5-dev' should work fine.

    2.2 Building matio
        2.2.1 Quick Build Guide
            The primary method for building the software is with is with GNU
            autotools using 'configure' followed by 'make'. After building, the
            testsuite can be executed to test the software using 'make check'.
            The software can be installed using 'make install'. For example,
                $ tar zxf matio-X.Y.Z.tar.gz
                $ cd matio-X.Y.Z
                $ ./configure
                $ make
                $ make check
                $ make install

            If any of the tests in the testsuite fail, you should report the failure
            using the tracker (see section 1.4). You should attach the generated
            testsuite.log file to the bug report.

        2.2.2 Configure Options
            The configure script used to build the software takes a number of
            options. This section describes the key options.

              * '--enable-mat73=yes'
                This flag en/disables the support for version 7.3 MAT files.
                The option only makes sense if built with HDF5 as support for
                version 7.3 files. It will be disabled if HDF5 is not available.
              * '--enable-extended-sparse=yes'
                Enable extended sparse matrix data types not supported in
                MATLAB. MATLAB only supports double-precision sparse data.
                With this flag, matio will read sparse data with other types
                (i.e. single-precision and integer types).
              * '--with-matlab=DIR'
                This option specifies the directory (DIR) with the 'matlab'
                program. With this option, the testsuite will check that the
                MAT files written by matio can be read into MATLAB. Without
                this, the test will only check that matio can read the file
                written and if successful the test will be skipped. If matio
                can not read the file, the test will fail.
              * '--with-zlib=DIR'
                This option specifies the prefix where zlib is installed
                (see section 2.1.1 for information about zlib).
              * '--with-hdf5=DIR'
                This option specifies the prefix where the HDF5 software is
                installed (see section 2.1.2 for information about HDF5).
              * '--with-default-file-ver=version'
                This option sets the default MAT file version (4,5,7.3) that
                will be used when writing. The default file version is used
                by the Mat_Create macro and the Mat_CreateVer function when
                MAT_FT_DEFAULT is used for the version argument.
              * '--with-libdir-suffix=suffix'
                This option specifies a suffix to apply to library
                directories when installing and looking for dependent
                libraries (i.e. HDF5 and zlib). For example, some multi-arch
                Linux distributions install 64-bit libraries into lib64 and
                32-bit libraries into lib.

        2.3.3. CMake build system
            The CMake build system is supported as an alternative build system,
            which usually consists of three steps for configuration, build and
            installation. By default, the CMake project is also configured for
            testing with CTest. For example,

                $ tar zxf matio-X.Y.Z.tar.gz
                $ cd matio-X.Y.Z
                $ cmake .
                $ cmake --build .
                $ ctest --test-dir .
                $ cmake --install .

            The following matio specific options for building with CMake are
            available.

              * 'MATIO_DEFAULT_FILE_VERSION:STRING=5'
                This option sets the default MAT file version (4,5,7.3) that
                will be used when writing.
              * 'MATIO_EXTENDED_SPARSE:BOOL=ON'
                This option enables extended sparse matrix data types not
                supported in MATLAB.
              * 'MATIO_MAT73:BOOL=ON'
                This flag enables the support for version 7.3 MAT files.
              * 'MATIO_PIC:BOOL=ON'
                This option enables position-independent code (PIC),
                i.e., compilation with the '-fPIC' flag. It is ignored for
                Visual Studio builds.
              * 'MATIO_SHARED:BOOL=ON'
                This option builds the matio library as shared object
                (i.e., a dynamic link library on Windows).
              * 'MATIO_WITH_HDF5:BOOL=ON'
                This option enables CMake to check for availability of the
                HDF5 library (see section 2.1.2 for information about HDF5).
              * 'MATIO_WITH_ZLIB:BOOL=ON'
                This option enables CMake to check for availability of the
                zlib library (see section 2.1.1 for information about zlib).
              * 'MATIO_BUILD_TESTING:BOOL=ON'
                This option enables the matio testsuite for CTest.
              * 'MATIO_ENABLE_CPPCHECK:BOOL=OFF'
                This option enables CMake >= 3.10 to perform static analysis
                with Cppcheck.
              * 'MATIO_USE_CONAN:BOOL=OFF'
                This deprecated option enables the Conan 1.X package manager to
                resolve the library dependencies.

            To help CMake find the HDF5 libraries, set environment variable
            HDF5_DIR to the 'cmake/hdf5' directory (containing 'hdf5-config.cmake')
            inside the HDF5 build or installation directory, or call CMake with
            '-DHDF5_DIR="dir/to/hdf5/cmake/hdf5"'. Alternatively call CMake with
            '-DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="dir/to/hdf5/cmake"'. See the HDF5 documentation
            (https://support.hdfgroup.org/documentation/index.html)
            for more information. Using 'hdf5-config.cmake' is recommended over
            using CMake's built-in 'FindHDF5', especially for static builds.
            CMake 3.10 or later is recommended.

            For Conan 2.X as dependency provider call CMake with
            '-DCMAKE_PROJECT_TOP_LEVEL_INCLUDES=conan_provider'. CMake 3.24 or
            later is required.

        2.2.4 Visual Studio
            Visual Studio solutions are provided as visual_studio/matio_vs2008.sln
            for VS2008 and as visual_studio/matio.sln for VS2010 (and newer).
            The Debug and Release configurations of both solutions are set up to
            build a DLL of the matio library (libmatio.dll) and the matdump tool
            and assume HDF5 is available in the directory specified by the
            HDF5_DIR environment variable. It is assumed that the shared libraries
            of HDF5 (and zlib) are available. If the static libraries of HDF5 (and
            zlib) are installed/built the macro 'H5_BUILT_AS_STATIC_LIB' needs to
            be defined (instead of 'H5_BUILT_AS_DYNAMIC_LIB'). Furthermore, the
            Release Lib configuration of the VS2010 solution is set up to build a
            static LIB of the matio library (libmatio.lib) and assumes that the
            static libraries of HDF5 (and zlib) are installed/built.

        2.2.5 Testsuite
            A testsuite is available when building with the GNU autotools. To
            run the testsuite, first configure and build matio. After building
            run 'make check' to run the testsuite. If matio was built without
            zlib, the compressed variable tests will be skipped. If built
            without HDF5, the tests for version 7.3 MAT files will be skipped.
            If the path to the MATLAB application was not specified
            ('--with-matlab'), the write tests will fail if matio cannot read
            the file and skip if matio can read the file. The write tests will
            pass if MATLAB is available and can also read the file.

            To report matio testsuite failures, compress the testsuite.log file
            in the test sub-directory of the build directory. Upload the
            compressed log file along with a bug report (see section 1.4 for
            information on reporting bugs).

    2.3 Platforms
        The library has been tested/used on Linux, Windows, and OS X
        including both little-endian and big-endian architecture.

3.0 License
    This software is provided under a Simplified BSD license. See the COPYING
    file for details on the license.
