Note The fourth output argument of fileparts (file version) is no longer supported and has been removed. Calling the function with more than three output arguments generates an error.

Syntax

[pathstr, name, ext] = fileparts(filename)

Description

[pathstr, name, ext] = fileparts(filename) returns the path name, file name, and extension for the specified file. The file does not have to exist. filename is a string enclosed in single quotes. The returned ext field contains a dot (.) before the file extension.

Tips

fileparts only parses file names. It does not verify that a file or a folder exists.
You can reconstruct the file from the parts using:
```
fullfile(pathstr,[name ext])
```
On Microsoft Windows systems, you can use either forward (/) or back (\) slashes as path delimiters, even within the same string. On UNIX and Macintosh systems, use only / as a delimiter. You can use the filesep function to insert the correct separator character for the platform on which your code executes:
```
sep = filesep;
file = ['H:' sep 'user4' sep 'matlab' sep 'classpath.txt'];

file =
H:\user4\matlab\classpath.txt
```
If the input consists of a folder name only, be sure that the right-most character is a delimiter (/ or \). Otherwise, fileparts parses the trailing portion of filename as the name of a file and returns it in name instead of in pathstr.

Input Arguments

filename

String containing a name of a file or folder, which can include a path and file extension. The function interprets all characters following the right-most delimiter as a file name plus extension.

Output Arguments

`pathstr`	String containing the part of `filename` interpreted as a path name
`name`	String containing the name of the file without any extension
`ext`	String containing the file extension only, beginning with a period (`.`)

Definitions

Path Name

The full or partial path to a destination folder location, always the initial portion of the filename string. Path names end with a slash character and, where appropriate, can begin with a drive letter. Windows paths use backward slashes (\). UNIX and Macintosh paths use forward slashes (/).

Examples

Return the pieces of a file specification string to the separate string outputs pathstr, name, and ext. The full file specification is:

file = 'H:\user4\matlab\classpath.txt';
[pathstr, name, ext] = fileparts(file)

pathstr =
H:\user4\matlab

name =
classpath

ext =
.txt

Query parts of a user .cshrc file:

[p,n,e] = fileparts('/home/jsmith/.cshrc')

pathstr =
/home/jsmith

name =
   Empty string: 1-by-0

ext =
.cshrc

fileparts interprets the entire file name as an extension because it begins with a period.

Alternatives

Use uigetfile to interactively select and return a file name and path, or uigetdir to interactively select and return a path name. If you call fileparts with the output of uigetfile, you can parse out the file name and extension.