matlab load function slower than h5read for v7.3 .mat files

When files are saved in -v7.3 .mat file which is hdf5 format, the load function works very slow compared to h5read. Are there better optimized load functions for .hdf5 mat files?

Answer 1

[Rutuja Shirali]

Hi Suresh,

Version 7.3 .mat files use a HDF5 storage format which may require some overhead. You can read more about differences between .mat file formats in our documentation:

http://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/import_export/mat-file-versions.html

We can try saving the files in a different .mat file version using the following command:

>>save('mymatfile.mat','-v7');

We can also use the "matfile" function to load or save variables. More information about this function can be found here:

http://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/matfile.html

Thanks!

Rutuja

Answer 2

[Suresh]

Hi Rutuja,

Yes, but my files are bigger than 10 GB. Any ideas? I find h5read works faster than load. Would you know how to read the links that are called /#refs# in the .mat -v7.3 file.

Thanks. Suresh