M-file dependency consolidator

Will take a given m-file, or directory of such files, and consolidate any dependent m/mex files

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This function will take a given m-file, or directory of such files, and copy all necessary related function files (m and mex) to the target directory, excluding any MatLab provided ones (e.g. toolboxes).

I often have to distribute my code to others who'd like run similar numerical models, (un)fortunately my software-engineer mindset means a lot of reused functions, scattered over a number of organized 'tool' folders in my matlab path.
This makes packaging everything needed to give to someone else a bit difficult.
MatLab provides a dependency report tool, but it isn't recursive, and does not provide the ability to even open the dependent files, let alone copy them.

My search for a solution turned up 2 promising functions in File Exchange, but neither worked for me - and when I tried to edit them, it was apparent that they were far more cluttered than needed to be.

So I wrote my own from scratch.
I hope it will be useful for others as well.

Known issues:
if the same dependent function is encountered in multiple source files (directory traversal), it is copied multiple times and will have multiple entries in output file list.
I'm not sure how to avoid this without complicating the recursion too much.

Cite As

Jit (2026). M-file dependency consolidator (https://se.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/31164-m-file-dependency-consolidator), MATLAB Central File Exchange. Retrieved .

Acknowledgements

Inspired by: package

Inspired: Project Release ZIP File from Dependencies

General Information

MATLAB Release Compatibility

  • Compatible with any release

Platform Compatibility

  • Windows
  • macOS
  • Linux
Version Published Release Notes Action
1.1.0.0

Fixed typo identified by Gordon and Jedediah.

Also fixed an error in the file list output - it was including files that were skipped as well.

1.0.0.0