MATLAB Programming

6 Data Import and Export
Saving from External Programs
The MATLAB External Interfaces documentation provides details on reading
and writing MAT-files from external C or Fortran programs. It is important to
use recommended access methods, rather than rely upon the specific MAT-file
format, which is likely to change in the future.
Importing Data from MAT-Files
This section covers
• “Using the load Function” on page 6-30
• “Previewing MAT-File Contents” on page 6-31
• “Loading into a Structure” on page 6-31
• “Loading Binary Data” on page 6-32
• “Loading ASCII Data” on page 6-32
Using the load Function
To import variables from a binary or ASCII file on your disk to your
workspace, use the load function. You can load all variables from the
workspaceinasingleoperation(ifyouomitthefilename,MATLABloads
from file matlab.mat):
load filename
or load just those variables that you specify:
load filename var1 var2 ... varN
Usethewildcardcharacter(*)inthevariablenametoloadthosevariables
that match a specific pattern. (This worksforMAT-filesonly.)Forexample,
the following command loads all variables that start with str from file
strinfo.mat:
load strinfo str*
6-30