Initiating Brainstorm after losing Matlab licence

Hi there,

I used to use Brainstorm through Matlab but after the end of my PhD I lost the licene and had to uninstall Matlab from my computer.

I know that Brainstorm can be used without Matlab as standalone Java executable. And I am aware that the Brainstorm installation URL provides the information on this (Installation and updates).

What I am curious to know is whether the Brainstorm that is still installed in my computer (with all the scripts and processes that I made through Matlab) will work in the same way if I install the standalone Java executable version?

Many thanks for your time. Apologies if this was already answered else (I couldn’t find a similar question).

Hello @mcp0228,

We aim to have the same Brainstorm functionality in both versions the source-code and standalone. However there are some relevant differences.

Updates

  • The standalone version is updated in the server each month (or sooner)
  • There is not "Update" button in the standalone version GUI, the update is done by downloading the newer standalone and replacing the older one.

Plugins

  • Most plugins are already installed in the standalone version

Scripting

  • The standalone version can only run code that can be executed from the Matlab Command Window.
  • Scripts, such as the ones in the the brainstorm3/toolbox/script can be run with the standalone, as they are evaluated as run line by line in the Command Window. Thus not support of functions or classes in the scripts.
  • Custom processes cannot be executed within the standalone version, you would need to recompile a modified version of Brainstorm including your custom code.

@tmedani, a comparison table would be useful in the Installation page