/*=================================================================
 * mxcreatecharmatrixfromstr.c
 * 
 * This example takes MATLAB strings as inputs.  It returns a
 * vertically concatenated matrix of the input strings.  If the
 * example is compiled as follows:
 *
 *   mex mxcreatecharmatrixfromstr.c -DSPACE_PADDING
 *
 * it will create a matrix with space padding.  If it is compiled
 * without the flag, the matrix of strings that is created will have
 * NULL padding.
 *
 * NOTE: This example is for illustration only, and will not work
 * correctly if a MATLAB string is passed in that contains multi-byte
 * characters.
 * 
 * This is a MEX-file for MATLAB.  
 * Copyright 1984-2000 The MathWorks, Inc.
 * All rights reserved.
 *=================================================================*/

/* $Revision: 1.5 $ */
#include "mex.h"

void
mexFunction(int nlhs,mxArray *plhs[],int nrhs,const mxArray *prhs[])
{
    int i;
    char *str[100];

    /* Check for proper number of input and output arguments */    
    if (nrhs < 2) {
	mexErrMsgTxt("At least two input arguments required.");
    } 
    if(nlhs > 1){
	mexErrMsgTxt("Too many output arguments.");
    }
    
    for (i=0; i<nrhs; i++){
	/* Check input to be sure it is of type char. */
	if(!mxIsChar(prhs[i])){
	    mexErrMsgTxt("Input must be of type char.");
	}
	/* Copy the string data from prhs and place it into str. */ 
        str[i] = mxArrayToString(prhs[i]); 
    }
    
    /* If compile with -DSPACE_PADDING, use this algorithm for space
       padded strings. */
#if defined (SPACE_PADDING)
    {
	int dims[2];
	int i, j=0, m=nrhs, n=0;
	mxChar *charData;

	for (i = 0; i < m; i++) {
	    int len;
	    /* Find the longest string length */
	    len = strlen(str[i]);
	    if(len > n) {
		n = len;
	    }
	} 
	dims[0] = m;
	dims[1] = n;
	plhs[0] = mxCreateCharArray(2, dims);
	charData = (mxChar *)mxGetData(plhs[0]);
	for (i = 0; i < m; i++) {
	    j = 0;
	    while (str[i][j] != '\0') {
		charData[j*m+i] = (mxChar) (unsigned char)str[i][j];
		j++;
	    }
	    while(j < n) {
		charData[j*m+i] = (mxChar) ' ';
		j++;
	    }
	}
    }

#else
    
    /* Create a 2-Dimensional string mxArray with NULL padding. */
    plhs[0]= mxCreateCharMatrixFromStrings(nrhs, (const char **)str); 
    
#endif
    /* Free the allocated memory */
for (i=0; i<nrhs; i++){
      mxFree(str[i]); 
}
}