Why can dlmread not open a file created with dlmwrite?

Hi I created and .txt file with the function dlmwrite in order not to rerun the previous code for collecting values from over a 1 000 files. The file is created from the 1701733x23 matrix (numeric).

When the same file is imported in and other script the error:"DELIMITER must be a single character." is displayed.

The code (from command window):

>> dlmwrite('Erzberg_All_Raw_Data_MWD_new.txt',MWD_Data_All2,'delimiter',',');

>> MWD_Data_All2=dlmread('Erzberg_All_Raw_Data_MWD_new.txt','delimiter',',');

Error using dlmread (line 75)

DELIMITER must be a single character.

The same happens if i use a tab as delimiter.

The work is done in the same computer and same matlab version (only different scripts).

Any explanation or a suitable work around? Can it be caused by a clogged RAM (nearly all space is used)?

Cheers Jeroen

[per isakson]

Surprise, replace

MWD_Data_All2=dlmread('Erzberg_All_Raw_Data_MWD_new.txt','delimiter',',');

by

MWD_Data_All2=dlmread('Erzberg_All_Raw_Data_MWD_new.txt',',');

and see dlmread, Read ASCII-delimited file of numeric data into matrix

[Jeroen]

Thanks a lot Per, How nice the standardization of Matlab functions...

[per isakson]

Yes, isn't it? There is, however, an explanation. Matlab has been a commercial product for 30+ years and before that a teaching tool for ten years. The Mathworks does a good job in morphing Matlab to keep up with time and at the same time provide backward compatibility.

dlmread still stays with the old syntax. dlmwrite honors the old syntax; it works without the new keyword, delimiter. I bet, dlmread will understand the new keyword, delimiter, in a year or two.

btw: This was the first time I noticed the new keyword, delimiter, with this function.

[Ethan Knights]

I just wound up here by making a similar mistake ~3 years later - give it a few more years for the transition!