Are MAT-file version 7.3 files not compressed by default in MATLAB 7.5 (R2007b)?

In the MATLAB documentation:

help --> MAT-File preferences (Under General Preferences for MATLAB)

help --> Saving and Loading MAT-Files --> Exporting Data to MAT-Files --> Data Compression

help --> save

The documentation on any of these features does not reflect or clarify whether MAT-files saved with version 7.3 are compressed or not.

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

This change has been incorporated into the documentation in Release 2009b (R2009b). For previous releases, read below for any additional information:

For MATLAB releases R2006b through R2007b MAT-files created with the SAVE command and the -v7.3 flag are not compressed.

It is possible to save variables in a compressed format for these releases by using the HDF5 file format.

For more information on HDF5 capabilities and MATLAB supported functions execute the following at the MATLAB command prompt:

DOC HDF5