How do I check if a file on a website exists?

I want to read in image files from my online database.

I would like to check my website to see if the file exists before attempting to load it into the workspace.

For Example I would like to do (simplified):

E = exist('http://www.mywebsite.com/images/1.png);
if E ~= 0
  IMG = imread('http://www.mywebsite.com/images/1.png);
else
  IMG = zeros(X,Y);
end

Thanks in Advance!

Answer 1

[Sean de Wolski]

You could just use a try/catch block.

try
  IMG = imread('http://www.mywebsite.com/images/1.png);
catch
  IMG = zeros(X,Y);
end

[John]

Thanks for the fast response... I didn't know that try and catch blocks existed. This is going to help me a lot with loads of other codes!

Answer 2

[Erick Oberstar]

you can use urlread also

[str,status] = urlread('http://www.mywebsite.com/images/1.png');
if status
     IMG = imread('http://www.mywebsite.com/images/1.png');
else
     disp('URL read of link was unsuccessful')
end

[Ali Abed]

thank you