MATLAB: Loading from Workspace via string

loadstringsvariableworkspace

Hey,
I am trying to use the load function and point assignement to load data using strings.
Currently I am using a code like this, to access variables via their string names.
a=load('filename.mat')
x=a.('variable_name')
But it can get annoying and time intensive to load the mat file seperately.
Is it possible to skip the a=load part and just to assign x directly through the workspace?
I want basically something like this:
x=workspace.('variable_name');
Thank you.

Best Answer

The matfile function has an interface similar to what you're looking for. You do need to be careful with indexing if you want to prevent loading of the entire variable, but it will allow you to mostly keep the contents of the mat files on the disk instead of memory.
Note that there is a trade-off: this is slower to work with than having the variables in memory, but it might save time and memory when retrieving the variable if you have large variables stored in the mat file and are not using those.
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