jeff@ndcheg.cheg.nd.edu (Jeffrey C. Kantor) (12/30/88)
In article <2707@homxb.ATT.COM>, marcula@homxb.ATT.COM (M. A. Conley) writes: > In article <14308@oberon.USC.EDU>, annala@neuro.usc.edu (A J Annala) writes: > > I know I saw this posted several months ago ... but, could someone > > please tell me where I can get a copy of the public domain source > > code for matlab? I suspect this was the last version of a federal > > contract supported software development effort before someone went > > commercial with the retailing of PRO-MATLAB by The MathWorks Inc. > > > > Thanks, AJ Annala > > > I would like a copy, I am sure others will also. Please post any > helpful information. > > Thanks in advance - > > att!homxb!marcula > (201)771-2264 I was the one who posted a request for the Fortran version of Matlab several months ago. I learned a lot with that request, and since the subject has come up again, I thought I should post a few remarks. First some basic background. Matlab (for Matrix Laboratory) was first put together by Cleve Moler when he was at the University of New Mexico. It consisted of some modified versions of basic Linpack and Eispack fortrans codes along with a front end interpreter. The whole thing was done in FORTRAN 66 in a reasonably portable way. Judging from the dates in the code, and documentation, the first version was produced in the late '70's, with fixes being done in the early '80's. It was never declared public domain, though it was circulated by Cleve to some of his friends, and has been available (even now) by anonymous ftp from several sites. The commericial version of Matlab is marketed by the Mathworks, Inc. This is a substantially different beast, written for efficiency and with a substantially enhanced set of commands and graphics. For example, the commercial version includes functions, complete with local variables and argument passing. The workspaces can be quite large on many machines. Moreover, the MathWorks also additional toolboxes consisting of Matlab functions and Scripts for Control Design, System Identification, and Signal Processing, among other things. So don't confuse the functionality of the two versions of Matlab, and don't let a prior exposure to the Fortran version color your impressions of the commercial version. By the way, the textbook 'Experiments in Computational Matrix Algebra' by David R. Hill (Random House/Birkhauser) does a nice job of introducing Matlab to students at the level of an undergraduate linear algebra course. It's cheap ($25), and might give you some idea of what the comercial version is all about. Now as far as acquiring the Fortran version goes, I would urge you to contact the MathWorks. It might well be that what you have in mind can only be done using source code, and Cleve Moler has told me that they don't mind supporting such endeavors. On the other hand, they have an obvious interest in selling you a more capable piece of code. And frankly, I think a person would be much better off with it if you are intending to do anything at all with Matlab in a serious way. It's relatively inexpensive (for Univ.) with SUBSTANTIALLY more capability. Cleve Moler has also told me that he plans to do his best to remove the existing Fortran version from the ftp sites where it is still available. You might say that he has a selfish interest in doing so, in order to promote the commercial version. Right you are! But its his code, he doesn't want to support it any more, and I personally think he is doing you a favor. Let me give a concrete example. This spring I will be teaching a course in Computer Methods for Chemical Engineers. I suppose I could try to use the Fortran version of Matlab for this, but I can license an existing PC laboratory with the commerical version for only $500. That's $500 very well spent given the existing support for the product, better documentation, and the suite of well written functions that the students can then use as models for their own codes. The Mathworks can be reached at (617) 653 1415. -- Jeff Kantor US Mail: Dept. of Chemical Engineering internet: jeff@ndcheg.cheg.nd.edu University of Notre Dame uucp: iuvax!ndmath!ndcheg!jeff Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA