mkdir

Make new folder

Syntax

mkdir folderName

mkdir parentFolder folderName

status = mkdir(___)

[status,msg] = mkdir(___)

[status,msg,msgID] = mkdir(___)

Description

mkdir folderName creates the folder folderName. If folderName exists, MATLAB^® issues a warning. If the operation is not successful, mkdir throws an error to the Command Window.

mkdir parentFolder folderName creates folderName in parentFolder. If parentFolder does not exist, MATLAB attempts to create it.

status = mkdir(___) creates the specified folder and returns a status of 1 if the operation is successful or if the folder exists. Otherwise, mkdir returns 0 and does not throw a warning or error to the Command Window. You can use this syntax with any of the input argument combinations in the previous syntaxes.

[status,msg] = mkdir(___) also returns the message text for any warning or error that occurs.

[status,msg,msgID] = mkdir(___) additionally returns the message ID for any warning or error that occurs.

Examples

Create Subfolder in Current Folder

Create a folder called newdir in the current folder.

 mkdir newdir

Create Subfolder in Specified Parent Folder

Create a folder called newfolder in the folder testdata. Use a relative path, where newFolder is at the same level as the current folder.

mkdir ../testdata newFolder

Create Folder That Already Exists

Create the same folder twice, verifying the status of the operation after each try.

Create the folder newFolder. The operation succeeds, returning a status of 1 with no error or warning message.

[status, msg, msgID] = mkdir('newFolder')

status = logical
   1

msg =

  0×0 empty char array


msgID =

  0×0 empty char array

Create the folder newFolder again. The operation succeeds again, returning a status of 1. A warning message and message ID inform you that the folder already exists.

[status, msg, msgID] = mkdir('newFolder')

status = logical
   1

msg = 
'Directory already exists.'

msgID = 
'MATLAB:MKDIR:DirectoryExists'

Input Arguments

folderName — Folder name

character vector | string scalar

Folder name, specified as a character vector or string scalar. You can specify folderName as an absolute or relative path, unless a parent folder is specified. If you specify a parent folder, then folderName must be a path relative to the parent folder.

If folderName contains a path that includes one or more nonexistent folders, MATLAB attempts to create the nonexistent folder. For example, for the path myFolder\folder1\folder2\targetFolder, if folder1 does not exist, MATLAB creates folder1, creates folder2 within folder1, and creates targetFolder within folder2.

Data Types: char | string

parentFolder — Parent folder

character vector | string scalar

Parent folder for the new folder, specified as a character vector or string scalar. Specify parentFolder as an absolute or relative path. If parentFolder does not exist, MATLAB attempts to create it.

Data Types: char | string

Output Arguments

status — Folder creation status

0 | 1

Folder creation status indicating whether the attempt to create the folder is successful, returned as 0 or 1. If the attempt to create the folder is successful or the folder already exists, then the value of status is 1. Otherwise, the value is 0.

Data Types: logical

msg — Error message

character vector

Error message, returned as a character vector. If an error or warning occurs, msg contains the message text of the error or warning. Otherwise, msg is empty, ''.

msgID — Error message identifier

character vector

Error message identifier, returned as a character vector. If an error or warning occurs, msgID contains the message identifier of the error or warning. Otherwise, msgID is empty, ''.

Tips

• You can use mkdir to create folders in remote locations. To write to a remote location, folderName or parentName must contain the full path of the file specified as a uniform resource locator (URL) of the form:

  schema_name://path_to_file/folderName

  or

  schema_name://path_to_file/parentName

  It is also valid to use one or three "slash" (/) characters between schema_name and path_to_file. For example:

  schema_name:/path_to_file/folderName

  or

  schema_name:///path_to_file/parentName

  Based on your remote location, schema_name can be one of the values in this table.

  File System	schema_name
  Amazon S3™	s3
  Windows Azure® Blob Storage	wasb, wasbs
  HDFS™	hdfs

  If the file system being used does not support empty folders then attempting to use mkdir with that service will throw an error. For more information, see Work with Remote Data.

Extended Capabilities

Thread-Based Environment

Run code in the background using MATLAB® backgroundPool or accelerate code with Parallel Computing Toolbox™ ThreadPool.

This function fully supports thread-based environments. For more information, see Run MATLAB Functions in Thread-Based Environment.

Version History

Introduced before R2006a

R2022b: Use function in thread-based environments

This function supports thread-based environments.