How can i read files inside a folder?

Hello ,

i have a folder that contains some .dat file . How can i open this folder and then read(for example) the first 4 .dat files ?

Any help would be valuable .

*i dont need to just diplay the files , i need the actual .dat files to be opened and then work with the data inside them .

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

foldername = 'SnowCoverJuly2000';
dinfo = dir( fullfile(foldername, '*.dat') );
dinfo(5:end) = [];  %only want first 4
nfiles = length(dinfo);
for K = 1 : nfiles
   thisfile = fullfile(dinfo(K).folder, dinfo(K).name);
   open(thisfile);
end

You might have problems if you have not installed a third-party program that is registered as being able to open .dat files.

[Gn Gnk]

Thank you for your answer ,but it seems that there is not a dinfo.fodler field .When i look at dinfo it appears with 5 fields : name,date,bytes,isdir and datenum

[Gn Gnk]

Also i get this error : Reference to non-existent field 'folder'.

[Gn Gnk]

I figured it out .Because the .folder extension was added after 2016b release i had this problem. So i changed the code to:

foldername = 'SnowCoverJuly2000';
dinfo = dir( fullfile(foldername, '*.dat') );
dinfo(5:end) = [];  %only want first 4
nfiles = length(dinfo);
for K = 1 : nfiles
   thisfile = fullfile(foldername, dinfo(K).name);
   open(thisfile);
end

and it worked perfectly. Thank your for your help.

Answer 2

[KSSV]

thepath = 'giveyourpathhere' ; 
files = dir([thepath,filesep,'*.dat']) ;  % get .dat files in the folder 
N = length(files) ; % total dat files present in the folder 
for i = 1:N
    thisfile = fullfile(files(i).folder,files(i).name) ;  % get each file 
    % load the file 
    % do what ever you want 
end

[Gn Gnk]

Thank you for your answer ,but it seems that there is not a files.fodler field .I get this error :

Reference to non-existent field 'folder'.