Can I put the filenames in a directory in a matlab vector?

In unix, this is simply: ls . > filename and then you can point to each filename with 'foreach'. Is there a complementary way to do the same thing in matlab?

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

fileinfo = dir();
for K = 1 : length(fileinfo)
  disp(fileinfo(K).name)
end

[John]

Thanks!

[John]

Again, thanks, but this only displays the filenames of the directory (including hidden files). The 'foreach' command in unix allows one to act on or modify the files. The above doesn't as far as I can see.

[Walter Roberson]

Sorry, allow me to correct that:

fileinfo = dir();

for K = 1 : length(fileinfo)

foreach(fileinfo(K).name)

end

Where you have defined a function named "foreach" that does whatever you want done with the file. For example,

function foreach(FileName)

%take an action on the given file

disp(FileName); %action chosen was to display the file name

end

You will find, by the way, that there is no "foreach" command in Unix; you can check the Single Unix Specification at the OpenGroup.Org site.

"foreach" is, however, a command defined in some command shells, especially command shells derived from C Shell -- which is not part of the Single Unix Specification; see http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/007904875/xrat/xcu_chap02.html

http://www.grymoire.com/Unix/Csh.html#uh-30

[John]

Yes, thanks. I had forgotten that 'foreach' was a shell command.

Answer 2

[Daniel Shub]

What about just doing it as a system call.

system('ls . > filename')