Name must be a text scalar

Hi,

I wan to use the datetime() function to name a folder. Moreover, I want to change the format with the replace() function and later access this folder via dir(). However, I get an error that says "Name must be a text scalar". I suppose the reason lies in the replace function. Is there any other way to do this?

actual_time = datestr(datetime('now')); % holt die aktuelle Zeit
files = dir([actual_time '\*.txt']); % works
actual_time = fullfile(replace(actual_time, ':', '-'))
files = dir([actual_time '\*.txt']); % error

[Stephen23]

They both work here (I also replaced deprecated DATESTR with the recommended CHAR).

Note that you should use FULLFILE instead of concatenating text together.

actual_time = char(datetime('now'))

actual_time = '07-Jun-2023 11:45:18'

S1 = dir([actual_time '\*.txt']) % Should use FULLFILE here

S1 = 

  0×1 empty struct array with fields:

    name
    folder
    date
    bytes
    isdir
    datenum

actual_time = fullfile(replace(actual_time, ':', '-'))

actual_time = '07-Jun-2023 11-45-18'

S2 = dir([actual_time '\*.txt']) % Should use FULLFILE here

S2 = 

  0×1 empty struct array with fields:

    name
    folder
    date
    bytes
    isdir
    datenum

"Is there any other way to do this?"

Explicitly specify the DATETIME format:

DT = datetime('now','Format','uuuu-MM-dd HH-mm-ss')

DT = datetime
   2023-06-07 11-45-18

S = dir(fullfile(char(DT),'*.txt'))

S = 

  0×1 empty struct array with fields:

    name
    folder
    date
    bytes
    isdir
    datenum

[Marco Pedata]

Thank you. It seems to work now :)