MATLAB Function Reference

dir - Directory listing

Graphical Interface

As an alternative to the dir function, use the Current Directory Browser.

Syntax

dir dir name files = dir('dirname')

Description

dir lists the files in the current working directory. Results are not sorted, but presented in the order returned by the operating system.

dir name lists the specified files. The name argument can be a pathname, filename, or can include both. You can use absolute and relative pathnames and wildcards (*).

files = dir('dirname') returns the list of files in the specified directory (or the current directory, if dirname is not specified) to an m-by-1 structure with the fields.

Fieldname	Description	Data Type
`name`	Filename	char array
`date`	Modification date timestamp	char array
`bytes`	Number of bytes allocated to the file	double
`isdir`	`1` if name is a directory; `0` if not	logical
`datenum`	Modification date as serial date number	double

Remarks

Listing Drives

On Windows^® systems, obtain a list of drives available using the DOS net use command. In the Command Window, run

dos('net use')

Or run

[s,r] = dos('net use')

to return the results to the character array r.

DOS Filenames

The MATLAB^® dir function is consistent with the Microsoft^® Windows OS dir command in that both support short filenames generated by DOS. For example, both of the following commands are equivalent in both Windows and MATLAB:

dir long_matlab_mfile_name.m
   long_matlab_mfile_name.m  

dir long_m~1.m
   long_matlab_m-file_name.m

Examples

List Directory Contents

To view the contents of the matlab/audiovideo directory, type

dir(fullfile(matlabroot, 'toolbox/matlab/audiovideo'))

Using Wildcard and File Extension

To view the MAT files in your current working directory that include the term java, type

dir *java*.mat

MATLAB returns all filenames that match this specification:

java_array.mat  javafrmobj.mat  testjava.mat

Using Relative Pathname

To view the M-files in the MATLAB audiovideo directory, type

dir(fullfile(matlabroot,'toolbox/matlab/audiovideo/*.m'))

MATLAB returns

Contents.m           aviinfo.m                 render_uimgraudiotoolbar.m
audiodevinfo.m       aviread.m                 sound.m
audioplayerreg.m     lin2mu.m                  soundsc.m
audiorecorderreg.m   mmcompinfo.m              wavfinfo.m
audiouniquename.m    mmfileinfo.m              wavplay.m
aufinfo.m            movie2avi.m               wavread.m
auread.m             mu2lin.m                  wavrecord.m
auwrite.m            prefspanel.m              wavwrite.m
avifinfo.m           render_fullaudiotoolbar.m

Returning File List to Structure

To return the list of files to the variable av_files, type

av_files = dir(fullfile(matlabroot, ...
               'toolbox/matlab/audiovideo/*.m'))

MATLAB returns the information in a structure array.

av_files = 
24x1 struct array with fields:
    name
    date
    bytes
    isdir
    datenum

Index into the structure to access a particular item. For example,

av_files(3).name
ans =
   audioplayerreg.m