I successfully integrated MATLAB & R in macOS with Homebrew and Xcode Build Server (Apple Silicon). I made a step-by-step for that.

However, I am failing when trying to do the same in Windows 10, and I am failing... successfully as well. I tried to make the same step-by-step.

(1) Open PowerShell as Administrator

• Press Windows + S.
• Type PowerShell.
• Right-click on Windows PowerShell → Run as administrator.

(2) Run the Command Again

• Now, with administrator permissions, run:

Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force;
[System.Net.WebClient]::new().DownloadString('.ps1') | Invoke-Expression

This will correctly install Chocolatey.

(3) Verify the Installation Once finished, check if it works by running:

choco --version

Expected output:

2.4.2 (or a similar version)

INSTALL THE REQUIRED TOOLS

(1) Now install the tools MATLAB needs:

choco install gnuwin32-coreutils.install -y

(2)

• Check the Location of the expr.exe File
• Open PowerShell as Administrator.
• Run the following command:

dir "C:\" -Recurse -Filter expr.exe -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

What does it do? It searches for expr.exe across the C: drive. You should see a path like:

C:\Program Files (x86)\GnuWin32\bin\expr.exe

(3) Add the Path to the System PATH If the previous command returned a valid path, add it to the PATH:

setx PATH "$($env:PATH);C:\Program Files (x86)\GnuWin32\bin"

(4) Verify that the PATH Includes expr.exe Close and reopen PowerShell. Run:

expr --version

Check if MATLAB is in the PATH

where matlab

If it doesn't return MATLAB's path, you need to add it manually.

• Add MATLAB to the PATH
• Find MATLAB’s bin folder, for example:

C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2024b\bin

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

setx PATH "$($env:PATH);C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2024b\bin"

Close and reopen PowerShell. Final Step: Restart MATLAB Restart the computer if necessary. Open MATLAB as Administrator.

Then, in macOS I had the following code and worked:

# install.packages("R.matlab")
library(R.matlab)

# system("matlab -nodesktop -nosplash -r \"disp('MATLAB works!');exit;\"")

# Save MATLAB code to file
matlab_code <- "
% MATLAB Model

% Parameters
alpha1 = 0.315; alpha2 = 0.100; alpha3 = 0.585;
beta = 0.95; sigma = 0.40; deltak = 0.06;
deltag = 0.05; rho = 0.95;

% Initial Values
Y = 1; C = 0.75; L = 0.3; K = 3.5;
I = 0.25; G = 1; z = 1; e = 0;
tau = 0.25; tauA = 0.22; lamda = 0.0303;

% Model Equations
for t = 1:1000
    Y = z*(K^alpha1)*(G^alpha2)*(L^alpha3);
    C = (sigma/(1-sigma))*(1-L)*(1-tau)*((alpha3/(alpha1+alpha3))*Y/L);
    K = (Y - C) + (1 - deltak) * K;
    G = lamda * Y + (1 - deltag) * G;
    I = Y - C - (lamda * Y);
    z = exp(rho * log(z) + randn * 0.01);
end

% Display results
disp(['Final Output: ', num2str(Y)]);
"
writeLines(matlab_code, "model.m")

# Run MATLAB script and capture output
matlab_output <- system("matlab -nodesktop -nosplash -r \"run('model.m'); exit;\"", intern = TRUE)


# Print output for debugging
print(matlab_output)

# Find the line containing "Final Output:"
final_line <- grep("Final Output:", matlab_output, value = TRUE)

# Extract the numeric part using a regular expression
final_value <- as.numeric(sub("Final Output: ", "", final_line))

# Print extracted value
print(final_value)

In Windows, R opens MATLAB displays the result but does not capture it and bring it to the environment.

matlab_output <- system("matlab -nodesktop -nosplash -r \"run('model.m'); exit;\"", intern = TRUE)

I successfully integrated MATLAB & R in macOS with Homebrew and Xcode Build Server (Apple Silicon). I made a step-by-step for that.

However, I am failing when trying to do the same in Windows 10, and I am failing... successfully as well. I tried to make the same step-by-step.

(1) Open PowerShell as Administrator

• Press Windows + S.
• Type PowerShell.
• Right-click on Windows PowerShell → Run as administrator.

(2) Run the Command Again

• Now, with administrator permissions, run:

Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force;
[System.Net.WebClient]::new().DownloadString('https://community.chocolatey./install.ps1') | Invoke-Expression

This will correctly install Chocolatey.

(3) Verify the Installation Once finished, check if it works by running:

choco --version

Expected output:

2.4.2 (or a similar version)

INSTALL THE REQUIRED TOOLS

(1) Now install the tools MATLAB needs:

choco install gnuwin32-coreutils.install -y

(2)

• Check the Location of the expr.exe File
• Open PowerShell as Administrator.
• Run the following command:

dir "C:\" -Recurse -Filter expr.exe -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

What does it do? It searches for expr.exe across the C: drive. You should see a path like:

C:\Program Files (x86)\GnuWin32\bin\expr.exe

(3) Add the Path to the System PATH If the previous command returned a valid path, add it to the PATH:

setx PATH "$($env:PATH);C:\Program Files (x86)\GnuWin32\bin"

(4) Verify that the PATH Includes expr.exe Close and reopen PowerShell. Run:

expr --version

Check if MATLAB is in the PATH

where matlab

If it doesn't return MATLAB's path, you need to add it manually.

• Add MATLAB to the PATH
• Find MATLAB’s bin folder, for example:

C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2024b\bin

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

setx PATH "$($env:PATH);C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2024b\bin"

Close and reopen PowerShell. Final Step: Restart MATLAB Restart the computer if necessary. Open MATLAB as Administrator.

Then, in macOS I had the following code and worked:

# install.packages("R.matlab")
library(R.matlab)

# system("matlab -nodesktop -nosplash -r \"disp('MATLAB works!');exit;\"")

# Save MATLAB code to file
matlab_code <- "
% MATLAB Model

% Parameters
alpha1 = 0.315; alpha2 = 0.100; alpha3 = 0.585;
beta = 0.95; sigma = 0.40; deltak = 0.06;
deltag = 0.05; rho = 0.95;

% Initial Values
Y = 1; C = 0.75; L = 0.3; K = 3.5;
I = 0.25; G = 1; z = 1; e = 0;
tau = 0.25; tauA = 0.22; lamda = 0.0303;

% Model Equations
for t = 1:1000
    Y = z*(K^alpha1)*(G^alpha2)*(L^alpha3);
    C = (sigma/(1-sigma))*(1-L)*(1-tau)*((alpha3/(alpha1+alpha3))*Y/L);
    K = (Y - C) + (1 - deltak) * K;
    G = lamda * Y + (1 - deltag) * G;
    I = Y - C - (lamda * Y);
    z = exp(rho * log(z) + randn * 0.01);
end

% Display results
disp(['Final Output: ', num2str(Y)]);
"
writeLines(matlab_code, "model.m")

# Run MATLAB script and capture output
matlab_output <- system("matlab -nodesktop -nosplash -r \"run('model.m'); exit;\"", intern = TRUE)


# Print output for debugging
print(matlab_output)

# Find the line containing "Final Output:"
final_line <- grep("Final Output:", matlab_output, value = TRUE)

# Extract the numeric part using a regular expression
final_value <- as.numeric(sub("Final Output: ", "", final_line))

# Print extracted value
print(final_value)

In Windows, R opens MATLAB displays the result but does not capture it and bring it to the environment.

matlab_output <- system("matlab -nodesktop -nosplash -r \"run('model.m'); exit;\"", intern = TRUE)

• r
• windows
• powershell
• matlab
• chocolatey

• Try the back tick instead backward slash. – jdweng Commented Feb 15 at 10:33
• @jdweng where? Thanks! – Paula Commented Feb 15 at 13:05
• Read up on ?system2 and rework your system line to use that instead. – G. Grothendieck Commented Feb 15 at 13:10
• "matlab -nodesktop -nosplash -r "run('model.m'); exit;"" – jdweng Commented Feb 15 at 13:32
• @jdweng I corrected in the post. R opens MATLAB, displays the result but does not capture it and bring it to the R environment. – Paula Commented Feb 15 at 16:15

1 Answer 1

• Note that your installation method is likely incidental to your problem, given that both R and MATLAB seem to be working in principle.

• I'm not familiar with MATLAB, but the docs suggest that what you're likely looking for is the -batch parameter rather than -r, because only -batch "Logs text to stdout and stderr."

  • If I understand the docs correctly, -batch is meant for non-interactive, CLI-only calls that behave like a console (terminal) application (which is what you're looking for), whereas -r is meant for opening the MATLAB GUI and executing a startup command there, at the start of an interactive session.

Therefore, try the following:

# Run MATLAB script and capture output
# Note the use of -batch instead of -r, which should also obviate the need for
# -nodesktop and -nosplash
matlab_output <- system("matlab -batch \"run('model.m'); exit;\"", intern = TRUE)