How can I incorporate a user input variable as part of a variable name?

Hi,

I am currently writing code that automates radiographic measurements from a point cloud generated by 3D reconstruction software. Currently the files are saved as [patient initials]_left_rib_1.txt with the number changing for each rib point cloud. The code inputs the txt files and processes the data, recording measurements and outputting various graphs.

Ex: JH_left_rib_1.txt JH_left_rib_2.txt ...

What I would like to do write a function where the user input is the specific patient's initials. Thus, the specific files that the code imports would be dictated by the user input.

Ex: import_txt('XY')

Then the XY would be used as the initials section of the files called by the program...

importdata('xy'_left_ribs_1.txt) ... etc.

Is this possible? Is there a better way around this? The idea is that I could run my code on several patients and this would bypass the need to create input m file for each patient, specifying each patient's initials for each turn.

Thanks

Answer 1

[Tom]

You can just concatenate the strings:

importdata([XY,'_left_ribs_1.txt'])

[Jonathan Harris]

Wow. That is so simple. I cant believe I missed that reading the import data information.

My follow up question to that I would like to save the imported data as a .mat file so that I can avoid the need to import the data every time I work on a patient. Is there a way I could use the patient initial input as part of the save(JH_point_cloud.mat) file so that patient initials dictate both which files are imported as well as the title of the saved .mat file?

Thanks.

[Tom]

If it's the like for the import data bit, where you want to add a string to a default name, then you do exactly the same thing:

 save([XY,'_JH_point_cloud.mat'],'variables to save...')

or whatever it is you want to call the file.

[Walter Roberson]

http://matlab.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ#How_can_I_process_a_sequence_of_files.3F