actxcontrol and actxserver: Future support plans?

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The web-documentation for Matlab's actxcontrol( ) command warns that the command is to be removed in "a future release." In contrast, the web-documentation for the actxserver( ) command shows no such warning.
1. Is there an announced time-frame for removing the actxcontrol( ) command?
2. Will the actxserver( ) command continue to be supported even after the actxcontrol( ) command is removed?
3. If the actxserver( ) command is to be removed, what is to replace it, and where is the documentation for that replacement?
Thanks.

Answers (1)

Steven Lord
Steven Lord on 16 Apr 2021
1. Is there an announced time-frame for removing the actxcontrol( ) command?
If you're looking for something more concrete than "in a future release" then no.
2. Will the actxserver( ) command continue to be supported even after the actxcontrol( ) command is removed?
When or if that command were to be removed I expect we would announce the removal in advance of actually removing it. We have made no such announcement at this time as far as I'm aware. Note that the documentation for actxcontrol states we started warning about its future removal in release R2019b and the current release is R2021a. We didn't yank the rug out from under users of actxcontrol.
Note also that the background linked from the compatibility considerations section of the actxcontrol page states "The undocumented JavaFrame property and javacomponent function, as well as the actxcontrol function, are capabilities that rely on third-party technologies (Java Swing and Microsoft COM, respectively), which over the years, have become legacy UI frameworks. "
Is actxserver a UI framework? The actxcontrol documentation page states "You cannot use an ActiveX server for the progid because MATLAB® cannot insert ActiveX servers in a figure." so I personally would say probably not.
3. If the actxserver( ) command is to be removed, what is to replace it, and where is the documentation for that replacement?
Since we have not announced any such removal, I think the rest of the question is moot.
  10 Comments
Bruce Peters
Bruce Peters on 23 Apr 2021
Walter, Steven,
Please explain the difference(s) between the technical foundations of
i) MATLAB operating as a COM server, and
ii) MATLAB using a different program as a COM server, via its actxserver( ) command.
In the first case, MATLAB acts as the server for an external client, while in the second MATLAB acts as the client and an external program acts as the server.
Don't both of these client / server linkages depend on Microsoft's COM technology?
Thanks,
Bruce
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 23 Apr 2021
Yes, both are COM. And we have no statement from Mathworks that the automation server will definitely be included in all future MATLAB.
MATLAB has another automation interface that does not use COM at all, but does require linking to MATLAB using DLL type of technology. This is not inherently compatible with the current implementation MATLAB.execute that vj used.

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