Initializing a char structure for a loop

I am building up a char structure of file paths and names in a large for loop in the form

list=[]
for i =1:n
stuff
file = something
list=char(list,file)
end

My problem is that the first row of list is empty doing it like this. Is there a way to initialize a char array without creating an empty row? I can remove it afterwards but that seems messy.

And in case there is a generally better method of compiling file paths, I'm working within a pipeline that requires me to construct this.

Thanks

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

list = cell(n, 1);
for i = 1 : n
  stuff
  list{i} = file;
end
list = char(list);

[Jacob Matthews]

Thanks, I've been using list = list(2:end,:) after my loop, so same number of lines, but I imagine memory management is better your way. I was just hoping there was a different method of initialization for the list that wouldn't stack when char'd.