How can I check the contents of a MAT-file in MATLAB without loading it?

matlab struct mat-file
Elpezmuerto picture Elpezmuerto · Oct 26, 2010 · Viewed 16.6k times · Source

I have a large structure in a MAT-file. I want to check if a specific field is present in the structure without loading the MAT-file since the contents are very large and I want to minimize memory use.

Is this possible, or must I load it first like in the following example?:

load('test.mat');             %# Load the MAT-file
tf = isfield(s,'fieldname');  %# Check if structure s has field 'fieldname'

Answer

Amro picture Amro · Oct 26, 2010

To check the contents of a MAT file without loading it, use:

vars = whos('-file','test.mat')
ismember('fieldname', {vars.name})

Related questions

When is it appropriate to use a cell array vs. a struct in Matlab?

If I want to store some strings or matrices of different sizes in a single variable, I can think of two options: I could make a struct array and have one of the fields hold the data, structArray(structIndex).structField …

Read More
how to compare matlab cells or structs

Possible Duplicate: Octave/MATLAB: How to compare structs for equality? is there a simple comparison function for matlab cell or struct objects? using '==' doesn't seem to work :(

Read More
A cell array inside a struct in Matlab - possible?

I wanted to wrap up a few variables inside a single struct, for easier input and output from functions as they are sent around quite a bit. The problem is that one of the variables is a cell array - …

Read More