Changing the Reading of Files in a For Loop

Hello,

I recently found a thread where someone gave me a code to read through a file and compile them into a single .mat file, first thank you to that person.

clear

Folder='C:\Users\runsw\Desktop\Honors Thesis\CJ SVI GS';

myFiles = dir(fullfile(Folder,'*.met')); %gets all met files in struct

for k = 1:length(myFiles)

baseFileName = myFiles(k).name;

fullFileName = fullfile(Folder, baseFileName);

fprintf(1, 'Now reading %s\n', fullFileName);

end

Output:

Now reading C:\Users\runsw\Desktop\Honors Thesis\CJ SVI GS\SVI024_0-0.5cm.MET

Now reading C:\Users\runsw\Desktop\Honors Thesis\CJ SVI GS\SVI024_0.5-1cm.MET

Now reading C:\Users\runsw\Desktop\Honors Thesis\CJ SVI GS\SVI024_1-1.5cm.MET

Now reading C:\Users\runsw\Desktop\Honors Thesis\CJ SVI GS\SVI024_1.5-2cm.MET

Now reading C:\Users\runsw\Desktop\Honors Thesis\CJ SVI GS\SVI024_10-10.5cm.MET

Now reading C:\Users\runsw\Desktop\Honors Thesis\CJ SVI GS\SVI024_10.5-11cm.MET

Now reading C:\Users\runsw\Desktop\Honors Thesis\CJ SVI GS\SVI024_100-100.5cm.MET

Now reading C:\Users\runsw\Desktop\Honors Thesis\CJ SVI GS\SVI024_100.5-101cm.MET

Now reading C:\Users\runsw\Desktop\Honors Thesis\CJ SVI GS\SVI024_101-101.5cm.MET

Now reading C:\Users\runsw\Desktop\Honors Thesis\CJ SVI GS\SVI024_101.5-102cm.MET

However the issue i have occuring is that the code is reading my files in an odd way. my files are labelled as SVI024_0-0.5cm, SVI024_0.5-1cm, etc., the only difference in these files is the numbers, increasing by 0.5. this code reads the files in a werid order. where ,for example, file 1.5-2cm is read, the next file to be read is the 10-10.5 file, is there a way to change the code to read the files in increasing order, rather than reading it as it does?

[Milou de Boer]

Hi, you could do it like this:

foldername = 'C:\Users\runsw\Desktop\Honors Thesis\CJ SVI GS'

filename = '\SVI024_'

a = 0

b = 0.5

for i = 1:length(myFiles)

complete_filename = strcat(foldername, filename, string(a), '-', string(b), 'cm.MET')

a = a+0.5;

b = b+0.5;

end

Hope this helps!

Answer 1

[Jan]

This is a job for Stephen's https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/47434-natural-order-filename-sort or https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/34464-customizable-natural-order-sort .

Folder='C:\Users\runsw\Desktop\Honors Thesis\CJ SVI GS';
List = dir(fullfile(Folder,'*.met')
Name = {List.name};
... Now sort the names using the suggested tools    

[EDITED] Consider Stephen's following comment.

[Stephen23]

NATSORTFILES also operates on the structure returned by DIR, so you can simply do:

List = dir(fullfile(Folder,'*.met');
List = natsortfiles(List);