How to use 'dir' to list files in another directory with a string

Guys -

I have a variable that is a string describing a path (x = \\drive\folder1\folder2). How can I use 'dir' to create a list of all files in that directory without switching to the directory to do it? I've tried things like

list = dir('%s',x)

but that doesn't work.

Answer 1

[Azzi Abdelmalek]

x='E:matlab'
d = dir(x)
f={d.name}