Incorrect filename check in plugin_askinstall

[arnevdk]

Description

When calling plugin_askinstall from a script with the force install option set to false, the function executes the following check:

  
    if ~forceInstall
        db = dbstack;
        if length(db) > 2 && ~strcmpi(db(end).name, 'checkouteeglab.m')
            error([ 'Cannot find ' pluginName ' extension, use EEGLAB Extension Manager to install it' ]);
        end
    ...
    end

It checks if the the function is either called directly from the command line, from within a script that is directly run, or from a script file named checkouteeglab.m. However, the stack structure returned by dbstack is of the format

Fields	file	name	line
1	'plugin_askinstall.m'	'plugin_askinstall'	49
2	'checkouteeglab.m'	'checkouteeglab'	9

The function checks if the name field is equal to 'checkouteeglab.m', but this will never be true since it is the file field that ends with the extension .m.

Furthermore, I am not sure why this check is present in the code. Why should this function with this specific option only be called directly from the command line or from a script named checkouteeglab.m, a script in the the eeglab-test repository https://github.com/sccn/eeglab-testcases/blob/master/checkouteeglab.m. I would very much like to create my own automated setup files for my EEGLAB environment and test cases, but this check prevents me from doing that. Finally, the error message thrown (cannot find plugin), does not seem descriptive of the problem at hand.

Steps to Reproduce

Case 1

1. Create a script named checkouteeglab.m containing

...
plugin_askinstall('biosig', [], false);
...

2. Create a second script (e.g. test.m) calling checkouteeglab
3. Execute the second script

Case 2

1. Create a MATLAB project
2. Create a script with a custom name (e.g. startup.m) containing

...
plugin_askinstall('biosig', [], false);
...

3. Set the script as a MATLAB project startup script
4. Open the project causing the script to be run with additional stack trace entries

Expected behavior:

Install Biosig plugin if not already installed, else do nothing

Actual behavior:

Case 1

Error using plugin_askinstall (line 51)
Cannot find biosig extension, use EEGLAB Extension Manager to install it

Error in checkouteeglab (line 9)
    plugin_askinstall(plugin, [], false);

Error in test (line 1)
checkouteeglab

Case 2

Warning: Error using plugin_askinstall (line 51)
Cannot find biosig extension, use EEGLAB Extension Manager to install it

Error in checkouteeglab (line 9)
    plugin_askinstall(plugin, [], false);

Error in matlab.internal.project.util.runMATLABCodeInBase

Error in matlab.internal.project.util.runMATLABCodeInBase

Error in matlab.internal.project.util.runMATLABCodeInBase

Error in matlab.internal.project.util.runMATLABCodeInBase

Error in matlab.internal.project.util.runMATLABScriptDuringStartup

Error in matlab.project.loadProject

Error in matlab.project.loadProject

Error in matlab.internal.project.util.PathUtils.loadProjectForOpenPRJ

Error in openprj>i_openMATLABProject (line 88)
    valid =  matlab.internal.project.util.PathUtils.loadProjectForOpenPRJ(filename);

Error in openprj (line 37)
    valid = i_openMATLABProject(filename);

Error in open (line 132)
            feval(openAction,fullpath);  
> In matlab.internal.project.util.runMATLABScriptDuringStartup
In matlab.project.loadProject
In matlab.project.loadProject
In matlab.internal.project.util/PathUtils/loadProjectForOpenPRJ
In openprj>i_openMATLABProject (line 88)
In openprj (line 37)
In open (line 132)
In uiopen (line 159) 

Versions

OS version	Fedora 33
Matlab version	R2020b
EEGLAB version	v2020_0

Suggestion

Remove the file name and stack trace length check.

[arnodelorme]

Thank you for your detailed report. I have changed the field name.

This code snippet is useful for our test cases so the script continue to be executed even if the plugin cannot be found.

Thanks gain.