MATLAB: Is it possible to let MATLAB choose a file in a path if the user enters the first letters belonging to the file

app designerfile selectmatlab gui

Hi all,

I am designing a user interface using Appdesigner. This UI needs to select a folder and add this to the path. After having done this, the user can enter the first letters of the file (for example: ID) and then enter the number of the file (for example 001, 010, 011….etc). How can I let MATLAB search the folder(path) for this specific file?

Any help would be appreciated!

Best Answer

I agree with the other two experts (Stephen and Guillaume).

Use dir() instead of dos() or you can use datastore().

And use fullfile() to create full file names rather than using cd(). See the FAQ: http://matlab.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ#Where_did_my_file_go.3F_The_risks_of_using_the_cd_function.

Get the string from the edit field (sorry I only know how to do it in GUIDE so far, not App Designer), then create the list of filenames.

filePattern = sprintf('%s*.*', prefix);
fileInfo = dir(filePattern);

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MATLAB: Using addpath with a user defined string

The single quotes are messed up. Try just passing in the variable (if it's the full path):

addpath(foldername);

Otherwise

folder = sprintf('C:\xxx\%s', foldername);
addpath(folder);

or simply call uigetdir() instead of input , which is probably what you should do.

MATLAB: Hello i want to search for ( * .inf ) files in a folder

Here's a function that searches for files with a given extension. It searches through a chosen parent directory and all of its subfolder at all levels. At the end of the for-loop, you can choose wether the output (matchList) should list just the filenames or the entire path to the files. I recommend using the entire path in case you have duplicate file names.

% Name the parent directory and file extension 
parentDir = 'C:\Users\foobar\Documents\MATLAB'; 
ext = 'inf'; %without the dot
% list all folders and subfolders
folderList = strsplit(genpath(parentDir), ';')'; 
% initialize loop vars
exp = sprintf('.+\\.%s', ext); 
matchList = {}; 
% loop through each folder and search for files
for i = 1:length(folderList)
    folderData = dir(folderList{i}); 
    names = {folderData.name}; 
    strLen = cellfun(@length, names); 
    endIdxCell = regexp(names, exp, 'end'); 
    endIdx = zeros(size(endIdxCell)); 
    endIdx(~cellfun(@isempty, endIdxCell)) = [endIdxCell{:}]; 
   % matchList = [matchList; names(endIdx == strLen & endIdx > 0)'];                         % list filenames only
    matchList = [matchList; fullfile(folderList{i}, names(endIdx == strLen & endIdx > 0))']; %list full paths
end

Best Answer

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MATLAB: Using addpath with a user defined string

MATLAB: Hello i want to search for ( * .inf ) files in a folder

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