MATLAB: Opening files with randomly varying file names

fopen

Hello,

I am using Matlab to read in csv files generated during data collection. The files all have the format:

PR-2230A_YYYY-MM-DD_00-08-*.csv

where the * is a randomly changing number from 0 to 9. There is no pattern to the number and I have A LOT of data files to open so I need to loop through them. Typically I would declare a filename and use strcat() with variables for any part of the filename that changed, but since I have no idea what the numbers will be I can't do this. The last number is non essential there is only one file per day.

Is there anyway to read in the files without knowing the last number?

i.e. filename = strcat('PR-2230A_',YYYY,'-',MM,'-',DD,'_00-08-',~,'.csv')

I would be greatful for any help!

Best Answer

I propose a different approach:

EDIT: forgot about the wildcard

% Retrieve all the files in a directory
names = dir('C:\Users\Oleg\Desktop\Nuova cartella\PR-2230A_YYYY-MM-DD_00-08-*.csv');
names = {names.name};

Now names will contain only the files which begin with root and you can loop through all of them and load one by one.

Oleg

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>> cssm

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MATLAB: App designer: How to select multiple folders

Depending on what's inside of data, here's a suggestion:

Path = dir('**/*.csv'); % generates structure that contains csv files within current folder
                       % and subfolders

If the files may have same names in different subfolders, then you can get folder names with

List_Folders = {Path.folder}';

You can remove folders that have the same name with

List_Uni_Folders = unique(List_Folders)

Since you plot data from each subfolder, you can use sprintf within loop

for 
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Analysed_File = [Files_Sep_Folder(counter,1).folder, '\', Files_Sep_Folder(counter,1).name] % gives a path of a single file
%plot commands
end

The variables names might be a little bit silly, so adjust to your liking.

Best Answer

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