Does .xls file location matter in order to open and access data from the the file in matlab?

I want to access columns from multiple excel sheets which are in some folder on D drive and my matlab application folder is on C drive.

When I use

files = dir('*.xls');
num = length(files);

I get an empty array and num = 0, when my current folder is D drive folder containing all the excel files.

How can I fix this?

Also further how can I read a particular column from each excel and store it in an array?

Answer 1

[Guillaume]

"Does .xls file location matter in order to open and access data from the the file in matlab?"

No. Matlab can access files (not just xls) anywhere on your disk.

As for your question. Always use absolute paths instead of relying on the current folder. Despite what you say, if there are excel fles in D:\ and dir doesn't return anything with the syntax you use, then your current folder is not D:. You can check your current folder with:

pwd

But if you use absolute path, it doesn't matter what your current folder is. You'll always been checking the folder you meant:

folder = 'D:';
filelist = dir(fullfile(folder, '*.xls'));
numfiles = numel(filelist)

If dir still finds nothing, then there are no xls files in that folder (perhaps, they're xlsx files).

[Image Analyst]

You could also use '*.xls*' to get both .xls and .xlxs files.

filelist = dir(fullfile(folder, '*.xls*'));

or use

filelist = dir(fullfile(folder, '\**.xls*'));

to get all files in folder and all subfolders of folder (with 2016 or later, more or less).

[Kinjal Mutha]

Is the issue becuase I am working on 2011 version right now?

[Guillaume]

No. While R2011 is certainly very old, it wouldn't affect which files are visible. The only thing you can't do is the '\**.xls*' that Image Analyst mention to look into subfolders.

What is the output of:

allfiles = dir('D:\*.*');
{allfiles(~[allfiles.isdir]).name}'