Import matrices with same name and dimensions from different Data

Hey there,

I need Help.

I've been struggling with the import of matrices in my Workspace.

I have a folder with 10 repetitions of matrices (X and c )having the same name but with different values in each repetition.

To bring the matrices to the workspace i've uses this loop :

for idx = 1:10

file = strcat("diff_0_adh_1_rep_", num2str (idx) ,".mat");

load (file);

end

This has only resulted in bringing the matrices (X and c) of the last repetition (10th) in my workspace.

The matrices of the first 9 repetitions aren't there ; they've been overwritten due to their same name.

What should i do ?

Thanks

Answer 1

[Stephen23]

"What should i do ?"

Load into an output variable, not directly into the workspace.

Loading into an output variable will avoid possible bugs and makes your code much more robust.

D = 'absolute or relativve path to where the files are saved'; % !!! CHANGE THIS !!!
N = 10;
C = cell(1,N); % preallocate
for idx = 1:N
    F = sprintf('diff_0_adh_1_rep_%d.mat',idx); % more robust than NUM2STR and STRCAT
    C{idx} = load(fullfile(D,F)); % load into a variable
end
S = [C{:}]; % concatenate into one structure array

Note that the concatenation will only work if all files contain the same variables.

You can simply use indexing and the fieldnames to access the data, e.g. for the second file:

S(2).X
S(2).c

Read more:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_prog/access-multiple-elements-of-a-nonscalar-struct-array.html

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_prog/comma-separated-lists.html

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/320713-how-to-operate-on-comma-separated-lists

Answer 2

[Sindar]

If you don't tell matlab what to do with the variables, it will simply overwrite them each time. There are a few options

Structure Array

The simplest is to load into a structure array:

for idx = 1:10
    file = strcat("diff_0_adh_1_rep_", num2str(idx) ,".mat");
    % only load the variables you want, in case others are present
    data(idx) = load(file,'X','c');
end

Then, the data will be accessible like so:

% first X
data(1).X
% 7th c
data(7).c

This is useful if the relationship between the 1st 'X' and first 'c' is more relevant than between different X's or c's, and extends well to many variables in the files

Variables with Pages

Assuming each 'X' and 'c' have the same size, you can separate them by a third dimension, pages:

for idx = 1:10
    file = strcat("diff_0_adh_1_rep_", num2str(idx) ,".mat");
    % load data into a temporary structure
    data = load(file,'X','c');
    % pre-allocate based on the sizes of the first loaded in
    if idx==1
        X = zeros(size(data.X,1),size(data.X,2),10);
        c = zeros(size(data.c,1),size(data.c,2),10);
    end
    % place the data into the corresponding page
    X(:,:,idx) = data.X;
    c(:,:,idx) = data.c;
end

Then, the data will be accessible like so:

% first 'X'
X(:,:,1)
% 7th 'c'
c(:,:,7)

paged variables allow you to do a lot of things more efficiently, like take the mean for each element across pages:

meanX = mean(X,3);

Cell Arrays

If each 'X' and 'c' have different sizes (or types), storing them in matrix pages won't work, but cell arrays will:

for idx = 1:10
    file = strcat("diff_0_adh_1_rep_", num2str(idx) ,".mat");
    % load data into a temporary structure
    data = load(file,'X','c');
    % no preallocation since you don't know how much space you need
    % place the data into the corresponding cell
    X{idx} = data.X;
    c{idx} = data.c;
end

Then, the data will be accessible like so:

% first 'X'
X{1}
% 7th 'c'
c{7}