MATLAB: How to return files with a specific extension using ‘dir’

Question

The command

dir *.bmp

will print to the command window the names of all files in the current directory ending with the extension .bmp. I know the following is not valid MATLAB syntax, but is there a command that would be the equivalent of

fileList = dir *.bmp;

I want to create a list of all files ending with a specific extension using minimal code. Currently I have the following:

files = dir;
L = length(files);
index = false(1, L);
for k = 1:L
    M = length(files(k).name);
    if M > 4 && strcmp(files(k).name(M-3:M), '.bmp')
        index(k) = true;
    end
end
images = files(index);

There must be a simpler way. Thank you in advance for any comments.

Answer 1

Try

fileList = dir('*.bmp');

Also, see the FAQ: http://matlab.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ#How_can_I_process_a_sequence_of_files.3F, particulalry the second option.