Communication between MATLAB and configuration software without VBA in nozzle property test

In the control system of the nozzle measurement test-bed, because of the good man-machine interface and many other merits, the configuration software used in industrial control was selected to be the master control interface and run on the stage. In order to make up the deficiencies of the configuration on computation abilities, MATLAB with the abilities of powerful engineering calculating and image processing was selected as the calculating and processing tool, and run background. Thus it had complementary advantages. The configuration software "Centurystar" without VBA was selected in system development because of the project costs. Therefore the communication between configuration software without VBA and MATLAB became the key issue. This paper discussed four solutions for communication: ActiveX technology, DDE technology, MATLAB engine technology, and MATLAB compiler technology. The paper especially proposed the new train of thought and method, by which the configuration without VBA can communicate with MATLAB taking advantage of ActiveX technology, namely taking the VBA editor in Excel macro as a bridge. And the advantages and disadvantages of the four methods were also compared according to the test results. Based on the results, different methods can be selected in the actual development according to the actual situation. In the nozzle test control system, the requested portability is not so high. ActiveX technology was used because of its simplicity and short developing cycle.