finding files in a directory

Hi,

I have text files that start with a1 , a2,a3b,a4b .. I was using the following loop to find the files in the directory that start with a1,a2,a3b,and ab4: for k=1:4 x={'1';'2';'3b';'4b';...} Files=dir(['a',x(k),'.txt.*']); end it didn't work because ??? Error using ==> dir Function is not defined for 'cell' inputs.

I know that it works for a1 and a2 if i substitute x(k)by num2str(1) and num2str(2) but what about a3b and a4b files?

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

Files = dir(sprintf('a%s.txt.*' x{k}));

Are you sure, by the way, that you have .txt followed by another extension such that a final * would be appropriate? Are you sure it isn't

   Files = dir(sprintf('a%s*.txt', x{k}));

that you would prefer, with the wildcard between the initial letters and the .txt ?

Answer 2

[Fangjun Jiang]

Files=dir(['a',x{k},'.txt.*'])

When you reference cell array, you need to use {}, not ().

[Image Analyst]

That's one thing you learn with cell arrays - you usually pick the wrong ones to start with. So if () doesn't work, try {}, and if {} doesn't work, try (). It's an easy and quick debugging procedure that I think everybody uses fairly often when dealing with cell arrays.