save choices and file size?

I just noticed that if I save a particular variable with:

"save test_variable"

the resultant file is 778 MB in size. However, if I save the same file from the File menu with:

File -> Save Workspace As...

the resultant file is much smaller. Why?

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

Check your MATLAB preferences "General" -> "MAT-Files" to see which MAT file version the GUI is using.

Note: "save test_variable" would mean to save the entire workspace into test_variable.mat . If you want to save only one particular variable you must give the file name before that, such as

save test_file.mat test_variable