MATLAB Function Reference

File Formats

Readable file formats

Description

This table shows the file formats that MATLAB is capable of reading.

File Format	Extension	File Content	Read Command	Returns
Text	MAT	Saved MATLAB workspace	load	Variables in the file
	CSV	Comma-separated numbers	csvread	Double array
	DLM	Delimited text	dlmread	Double array
	TAB	Tab-separated text	dlmread	Double array
Scientific Data	CDF	Data in Common Data Format	cdfread	Cell array of CDF records
	FITS	Flexible Image Transport System data	fitsread	Primary or extension table data
	HDF	Data in Hierarchical Data Format	hdfread	HDF or HDF-EOS data set
Spread- sheet	XLS	Excel worksheet	xlsread	Double or cell array
	WK1	Lotus 123 worksheet	wk1read	Double or cell array
Image	TIFF	TIFF image	imread	True color, grayscale, or indexed image(s)
	PNG	PNG image	imread	True color, grayscale, or indexed image
	HDF	HDF image	imread	True color, grayscale, or indexed image(s)
	BMP	BMP image	imread	True color or indexed image
	JPEG	JPEG image	imread	True color or grayscale image
	GIF	GIF image	imread	Indexed image
	PCX	PCX image	imread	Indexed image
	XWD	XWD image	imread	Indexed image
	CUR	Cursor image	imread	Indexed image
	ICO	Icon image	imread	Indexed image
Audio file	AU	NeXT/SUN sound	auread	Sound data and sample rate
	WAV	Microsoft WAVE sound	wavread	Sound data and sample rate
Movie	AVI	Audio/video	aviread	MATLAB movie

See Also

fscanf, fread, textread, importdata

filebrowser

fileparts

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