How can i edit a .mat file

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Kim Nguyen
Kim Nguyen on 11 Jan 2013
Commented: Steven Lord on 30 Apr 2021
I have a .mat file name.mat. It contains information such as and when I open it the import wizard opens. now say the data in the import wizard is as follows:
|var_name | Ixx | Iyy | Izz
A 1 2 3
B 4 5 6
C 7 8 9
Now say I wanted to go in and update the numbers to 2-10 -- how do I do this? Or, how can I create a .mat file?
I tried using the import wizard and creating my own, but when I do, it doesn't include having the variable names in the same table because they're letters and not numbers.
Thanks

Accepted Answer

Image Analyst
Image Analyst on 11 Jan 2013
You have to read it all in:
storedStructure = load('name.mat');
A = storedStructure.A;
B = storedStructure.B;
C = storedStructure.C;
Then change things:
A = [1 2 3];
B = rand(1,3);
C = randi(100, 3);
Then save it back:
save('name.mat', 'A', 'B', 'C');
  2 Comments
Arthur Vieira
Arthur Vieira on 30 Apr 2021
If I have variables in my workspace that I don't want to loose (i.e. can't load the .mat in), how can I update what's in the .mat file? Including deleting a variable within a .mat file? I could load them with:
var = load('myData.mat');
But that makes 'var' a structure. And you can't save variables within structures for some reason. I'm confused on how you're meant to use .mat files.
Steven Lord
Steven Lord on 30 Apr 2021
After you load the variables from the MAT-file into a struct array and modify the fields of that struct, call save with the '-struct' option and the name of the struct array.
cd(tempdir)
v = struct('x', 1:10, 'y', @sin, 'z', "abracadabra");
save('mymatfile.mat', '-struct', 'v')
whos -file mymatfile.mat
Name Size Bytes Class Attributes x 1x10 80 double y 1x1 32 function_handle z - 158 string
The MAT-file does not contain the struct v but contains three variables, one for each field in v.

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More Answers (1)

Azzi Abdelmalek
Azzi Abdelmalek on 11 Jan 2013
Edited: Azzi Abdelmalek on 11 Jan 2013
a=10; v=magic(4)
save filename a v
To load your file
load filename
  2 Comments
Kim Nguyen
Kim Nguyen on 11 Jan 2013
this doesnt solve the problem of having letters, also i already have a data file, like an excel that i would like to load into matlab which is part of the problem. it seperates the character string from the number and therefore does not do what i need
Azzi Abdelmalek
Azzi Abdelmalek on 11 Jan 2013
Edited: Azzi Abdelmalek on 11 Jan 2013
fid=fopen('file1.txt')
x=textscan(fid,'%s %f %f %f')
fclose(fid)
out=cell2mat(x(2:end))
% to get the characters
d=x(1)
lett=d{:}

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