How to load data from Octave?
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I have a .M file from Octave that I want to run in MATLAB, but I obtain an error. Here is the content of .M file (it's just one line):
load "Slovenia_centered.mat"
And here is the error:
Error using load
Unable to read file '"Slovenia_centered.mat"': Invalid argument.
Error in
Slovenia_centered (line 1)
load "Slovenia_centered.mat"
^^^^
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Andiswa
2026년 2월 27일
Use single quote
dpb
2026년 2월 27일
Don't quote at all in command style
In command syntax single quotes are generally optional, but would be required if the filename (or other input) contained any space characters. This is explained in the documentation of command syntax as well as in the LOAD documentation which clearly states for command syntax "If any input includes spaces, enclose it in single quotes." Lets try it now, where we want to load data from a file named "test XXX" (the .mat is implicit):
XXX = 'hello world';
YYY = 'Wrong File!';
save test XXX YYY
YYY = 'Correct file!';
save 'test XXX' YYY
clearvars
For what it is worth, the LS command uses the same single quotes when required:
ls
Now lets try to LOAD the data from the desired file "test XXX":
load test XXX YYY
YYY
load 'test XXX' YYY
YYY
Rik
2026년 4월 2일 5:57
Adding one related comment:
It is good practice (for both Matlab and Octave) to use the function syntax and load to a variable:
S=load("Slovenia_centered.mat");
Now the variables in the mat file will be fields of the struct S. That way you can keep track of where your variables came from and you don't have any issues with load overwriting variables you were using.
dpb
2026년 4월 2일 13:18
While the function syntax is more general and makes for more generic coding practice, in this particular case OP has another application that uses the command syntax with the specific variable names defined in other code to go with that app.
채택된 답변
d=dir('Slovenia_centered.mat')
type Slovenia_centered.mat
Aha! It's text, not native .mat.
x=load('-ascii','Slovenia_centered.mat')
To write data from Octave to be imported into MATLAB, it would be more portable to either explicitly write text data with fprintf or whatever other higher-level functions Octave has implemented in parallel with MATLAB or as native binary data with fwrite to read with fopen and fread
Although, presuming Octave has it implemented, if it can write a specific version of a .mat file that has the benefit of also storing the variables and shape and type information that alternate forms don't without extra effort. Just have to be sure to write in a known version and then verify it does work as expected (not that I have any reason to think it wouldn't; Octave has been around for a long time).
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I moved to continue the same thread -- dpb
That depends on how the data were written...let's see what the file actually contains...
%type Slovenia
Slovenia
whos
Well, we have an array and the others that were created from them. OK, now see what was mentioned in the comment...
Presuming you know a prior the variable names to use, then you can more directly convert to a table from the 2D array as
vnames={'Dataslcobs','Dataslinobs','Dataslmobs','Dataslpiobs','Dataslrobs'};
tData=array2table(temp,'VariableNames',vnames);
head(tData)
However, here's no reason to make/have two copies of the same data; if you have a (again text) .mat file that is the variables as a single array, then you can read it into the table directly as
fn='OctaveArrayDataFile.mat'; % assume text file
tData=readtable(fn,'FileType','text','VariableNames',vnames);
where like with load have to tell MATLAB a .mat file is in text format rather than native form and it is again required to know the variable names to use (and in which order they are in the 2D array) from prior knowledge
You can then apply all the power of MATLAB to the table referencing each by name with whatever it is that is wanted to be done.
The underlying Q? is how are you getting these .mat files -- are you creating them yourself or is somebody providing them? Can you (or they) change how they're being written to save as -V7 MATLAB .mat files in which case you'll get the variable names and sizes automagically?
What specifically is to be done might aid in other more specific recommenations.
Svit
2026년 2월 15일
"I think I can't use command fn='OctaveArrayDataFile.mat';,"
Yeah, I forgot that one can't name variables in the readtable function call.
" I need the temp variable, that contains the 5 variables,..."
But, there's a problem here in that the file is just one list of values -- how was the temp array constructed--by knowing a priori that the file is supposed to contain exactly five variables, I presume?
I had thought when you showed that m-file that the file had been arranged such that the temp array was being read as the 2D array and so the file itself had five columns. Unless there are other files, that isn't true and so the previous assumptions all are in error.
d=dir('S*cent*.mat'); % get a dir() for the file(s)
fn=d.name; % the name without having to type long name <vbg>
load('-ascii',fn)
whos
So, what is obtained after the load is, indeed, just one long vector so
try
assert(mod(Slovenia_centered,5)==0) % make sure is divisible by 5
catch
error('Vector length (%d) not compatible; unable reshape to 5 variables. Aborting.', ...
numel(Slovenia_centered))
end
Slovenia_centered=reshape(Slovenia_centered,[],5); % reshape to 2D presuming are 5 variables
whos
In this case, there actually are 109 rows of 5 elements each, not precisely 500 as the prior code produced. You'll have to decide which 9 are immaterial to throw away or keep them all; we have no way to know. NOTA BENE: the above just reshapes the same variable in place, doing away with the temp arrray and includes a check that the vector length is divisible by 5.
You already have the code to create separately named variables from the array given you know what names you want. With the 1D vector of just numeric values, there really isn't any more effective way to take the next step. One ugly coding way that is not recommended to "poof" variables into the workspace is eval, but as the following shows, that's ugly and very error prone and difficult to debug as well as being slow---but that said,
vnames={'Dataslcobs','Dataslinobs','Dataslmobs','Dataslpiobs','Dataslrobs'};
for i=1:numel(vnames)
cmd=sprintf('%s=Slovenia_centered(:,i);',vnames{i}); % make a command to execute
eval(cmd); % and evaluate the string
end
whos D* % see who we made
return % just in here so online "run" won't error on next lines
As noted before, if you would use the option in Octave to write a compatible -V7 .mat file, then you could load exactly what you have in Octave into MATLAB as the five variables as those named variables in the one load command. But, as is, the variable names aren't in the file and it's just a 1D text vector.
% OCTAVE CODE snippet...
Dataslrobs=center(Dataslrobs);
...
save -V7 Slovenia_centered.mat Dataslcobs Dataslinobs Dataslmobs Dataslrobs Dataslpiobs
should do the trick presuming Octave really does implement the MATLAB -mat file correctly. Then just
% MATLAB code
load Slovenia_centered.mat
should give you back the five variables. I haven't had an install of Octave in 20 years so can't test locally, but it's supposed to work.
The other Q? then becomes, if you have access to MATLAB to read these files, why are you creating them with Octave instead of MATLAB to begin with? MATLAB can do everything Octave can do without the hassle. You might have to fix a few syntax errors if somebody used some of the Octave peculiarities that MATLAB doesn't, but it shouldn't be bad.
There's nothing preventing you from just using the existing script to read the vector and manually create the five specific variables from the array. Given the way the present Octave script is writing it as a 1D text array without headers, that's about the best that can be done if you aren't going to change the way Octave writes the data (or just forget Octave and do it in MATLAB to begin with).
Stephen23
2026년 2월 15일
"I created the .MAT file from existing Slovenia.m file using Octave's commands for demeaning (deducting means) for all 5 variables: Dataslrobs=center(Dataslrobs) (repeating this five times for all 5 variables) and then "save -ascii Slovenia_centered.mat Dataslcobs Dataslinobs Dataslmobs Dataslrobs Dataslpiobs" in order to save the result"
Then why not save yourself all of this trouble by saving using the option -V7 ?
Converting your data to text and back again is a superfluous indirection. Use a binary file format!
Svit
2026년 2월 18일
If you require that single quote after the integer:
'Vector length (%d'') not compatible; unable mae to 5 variables. Aborting.'
% ^^
Otherwise:
'Vector length (%d) not compatible; unable mae to 5 variables. Aborting.'
Problem with trying to edit inline in the forum without syntax checking in place...changed horses in mid-stream about adding the message in the assert call to separate catch clause and didn't catch all the fixups needed including the dangling quote.
What I really intended was something more on the order of
error('Vector length (%d) not compatible; unable reshape to 5 variables. Aborting.', ...
numel(Slovenia_centered))
There was also a leftover ",5"" from the initial mod() operation pasted in plus a typo in the error message text itself.
"...now I plan to use MATLAB only."
You'll probably find that a good decision in the long run.
I'll note in doing so that earlier you mentioned "demeaning (deducting means) for all 5 variables: Dataslrobs=center(Dataslrobs) (repeating this five times for all 5 variables) ".. Note that in MATLAB (and Octave, too, for that matter) virtually all builtin functions operate by column so it isn't necessary to either loop or duplicate variable names in such a fashion; it's a general sign of not using the vector ability of MATLAB effectively. Instead, use arrays and if need to identify columns in the array, use the table or named fields in a structure; these can be easily manipulated programmatically with direct code to address them rather than having to use contorted features such as eval or duplicate code lines multiple times to operate on the data. Although MATLAB does not explicitly incorporate the center function, it uses
s_c=detrend(s,0); % remove best 0-order trend (mean) from array s by column
The above is identical to
s_c=s=mean(s);
and, of course, if the mean isn't of interest, one can always just replace the original data in place and if wanted, keep the means in another array.
m=mean(s); % compute means of s
s=s-m; % remove means, keeping their values if want later
Of course, one could add their own(*) center function via a user m-file or via an anonymous function...
center=@(a)a-mean(a); % anon function center
although one can't support the optional dim argument that way.
(*) As a personal use pattern, besides a default Work directory I create an Utilities folder in which I keep such generally useful functions that aren't (yet) built into MATLAB. I permanently add these two folers at the top of the MATLAB path so anything in Work, then Utilities is called first.
If I have a specific piece of work for a given client or job, I create its own folder and have a pattern for setting a work environment that will save the current default path and then move to the other environment incorporating any other specific pieces needed for it. These uniformly also rely on the Utilites being available. I can then use the optional input parameter with a value of 'quit' to exit that location and return to the base Work location. That has been most helpful working model to keep things localized but have a common toolset available regardless.
You need to double-check on me, too...in that code the numel() call to get the length is missing......
Slovenia_centered=randn(545,1);
assert(mod(numel(Slovenia_centered),5)==0)
disp('Done')
Runs w/o throwing error...
You've copied all the example code inserted just to show what was in the file as well as the actual code to do the work -- including the 'return' line that I commented that was there only so the subsequent example line of code to use in Octave to save the data from it i(Octave) as the five separate variables you had in it.
There's no code in what you ran that will save the ..mat file in MATLAB to then be able to read it.
You have to decide what it is that you're actually trying to do -- read the original Octave-written ASCII formatted file and create the five variables that we started with or build the data in MATLAB to begin with or precisely what are you trying to do now?
As @Stephen23 and I have both noted, if you were to change the save statement in Octave that created the existing file(s) to use -v7 instead of -ascii then you could just load that file in MATLAB and have the same variables by name in MATLAB directly without any other code being needed. But, if you continue to write files in the same way, then you need the code to create the variables the way you want them instead as one long vector. But, then, if you want to create a new .mat file you'll have to SAVE those in MATLAB; it won't somehow magically change the existing file.
The point is, you have to decide what is your objective here from what starting point and write code specific to those aims. You have to decide that; we can't do that for you.
Svit
2026년 2월 22일
We've already done that -- as first response showed, all you need to to is to load the file as -ascii instead of trying to read it as a binary .mat file.
The latter code works as well that generates the named variables from the variable name strings if you wnt to use that form instead.
The problem in the last code is that you tried to reread the .mat file yet again....it appears you're trying to do everything by simply copying from somebody else rather than actually reading and understanding the code.
ADDENDUM
NOTA BENE: If you ran the line of code
% OCTAVE CODE snippet...
...
save -V7 Slovenia_centered.mat Dataslcobs Dataslinobs Dataslmobs Dataslrobs Dataslpiobs
in MATLAB after the creation of the D* varaiables, you will have created a new .mat file in the -V7 format that is NOT ASCII any longer but in the native -V7 mat-file format. In that case, you can't read the new .mat file with the -ascii parameter but just with either the same -V7 parameter or without any parameter at all and you will retrieve the five variables as the separate variables.
That would also be true if you did do the same in Octave -- then the .mat file would be in the MATLAB .mat form and have the specific variables saved individually with their names.
in either of those cases, all you would need to do is write
load Slovenia_centered % load native MATLAB .mat file named Slovenia_centered.mat
This is, of course, much simpler and more direct to get the data you want as desired as @Stephen23 and I kept pointing out.
type Slovenia.m
Well, certainly pasting in data manually into an m-file isn't "the MATLAB way". I don't see what is the issue that has you stymied, but starting with the Octave-generated (I presume?) file, the prior code works just fine...
fn='Slovenia_centered.mat'; % set the file name -- change as needed for other files
load('-ascii',fn) % assume was written with -ascii switch in Octave so is vector
% the loaded variable will be the same as the name of the .mat file, "Slovenia_centered"
%whos
try % make sure can split into five variables
assert(mod(numel(Slovenia_centered),5)==0)
catch
error('Vector length (%d) not compatible; unable reshape to 5 variables. Aborting.', ...
numel(Slovenia_centered))
end
Slovenia_centered=reshape(Slovenia_centered,[],5); % reshape to 2D presuming are 5 variables
vnames={'Dataslcobs','Dataslinobs','Dataslmobs','Dataslpiobs','Dataslrobs'};
for i=1:numel(vnames)
cmd=sprintf('%s=Slovenia_centered(:,i);',vnames{i}); % make a command to execute
eval(cmd); % and evaluate the string
end
clear Slovenia_centered % remove the vector copy -- no need to keep two copies of same data
At this point you will have the five D* variables by the names given in the vnames list -- change it to correct any typos or make other desired/needed changes, if any were ever required. The code does presume and require that the size of the imported data vector be evenly divisible by 5; if that were to ever change, the appropriate changes would be required in the testing code and the names array to match.
Above you wrote "I assume the obtained data in 5 columns is now saved in file Slovenia_centered.mat, right?"
The answer to that is a resounding "NO!". Rearranging the data in memory has nothing to do with changing the format or arrangement of the data in the disk file.
As noted in the prior comment, IF you were to save the data now into a .mat file, you could write it that way, yes. But, having done so, then you don't need (and can't use) this code to read the -ascii version. That would not be a bad thing if this has need of being done more than once, but you would then have to be sure to use the right code for the job. There isn't a specific builtin function in MATLAB to query the internal form of a .mat file, but one can query the content of variable(s) in the file using the whos command with the -file argument to find out if the D* variables are there or not and choose which code to run based on that...
% save the specific D* variables in native MATLAB .mat file
save Slovenia_centered.mat Dataslcobs Dataslinobs Dataslmobs Dataslrobs Dataslpiobs
The above replaces the original .mat file in ASCII vector format with the native binary format and keeps the five variables separate.
dir *.mat % see what is there -- is same file name as before
v=whos('-file',fn,'D*') % query the file content of variabless beginning with "D"
and we see there really are five of them as expected.
So, we could write code something like(*)
if numel(whos('-file',fn,'D*'))==5 % see if we have five D* variables in the file
load fn % if so, load them directly
else
% the above code to read the Octave -ascii version and create the D*
% variables would go in here...as well as the |save| command so that only
% do it when starting with the -ascii version.
end
(*) The above checks if the file contains fiive (5) variables whos names start with "D". An alternative way would be to just try to read the file as -ascii as was originally and trap the error and then presume is the desired format...
try % presume is the -ascii version first
% the above code to read the Octave -ascii version and create the D*
% variables would go in here...as well as the save command so that only
% do it when starting with the -ascii version.
catch
load(fn) % if not, assume can load them directly
end
it's in the eye of the beholder which to use...
ADDENDUM SECOND:
Of course, the neat way to code this would be to encapsulate the work to read the -ascii version in a function -- that hides the dirty details from the top level code...
function [Dataslcobs Dataslinobs Dataslmobs Dataslpiobs Dataslrobs] = readASCIImat(fn)
% read Octave-generated ASCII .mat file as vector and return five specific variables
% USAGE
% [Dataslcobs Dataslinobs Dataslmobs Dataslpiobs Dataslrobs] = readASCIImat(file)
load('-ascii',fn) % assume was written with -ascii switch in Octave so is vector
try % make sure can split into five variables
assert(mod(numel(Slovenia_centered),5)==0)
catch
error('Vector length (%d) not compatible; unable reshape to 5 variables. Aborting.', ...
numel(Slovenia_centered))
end
Slovenia_centered=reshape(Slovenia_centered,[],5); % reshape to 2D presuming are 5 variables
vnames={'Dataslcobs','Dataslinobs','Dataslmobs','Dataslpiobs','Dataslrobs'};
for i=1:numel(vnames)
cmd=sprintf('%s=Slovenia_centered(:,i);',vnames{i}); % make a command to execute
eval(cmd); % and evaluate the string
end
% save the specific D* variables in native MATLAB .mat file
save Slovenia_centered.mat Dataslcobs Dataslinobs Dataslmobs Dataslrobs Dataslpiobs
end
Then the above logic in your main program would look like
fn='Slovenia_centered.mat'; % set the file name -- change as needed for other files
try % presume is the -ascii version first
[Dataslcobs Dataslinobs Dataslmobs Dataslpiobs Dataslrobs] = readASCIImat(fn);
disp(['Reading -ASCII .mat file ' fn])
catch
disp(['Loading native .mat file ' fn])
load(fn) % if not, assume can load them directly
end
% Have the specific five D* variables in memory now
% Just to show it does what want, we'll make into a table so can use head()
% conveniently to show resutls...this is only for show, not necessary
% unless you find a use for the table as well...
tS=table(Dataslcobs,Dataslinobs,Dataslmobs,Dataslpiobs,Dataslrobs);
head(tS,5)
% Whatever else you need to do comes next goes after...
Now, let's do this again and see what happens...
try % presume is the -ascii version first
[Dataslcobs Dataslinobs Dataslmobs Dataslpiobs Dataslrobs] = readASCIImat(fn);
disp(['Reading -ASCII .mat file ' fn])
catch
disp(['Loading native .mat file ' fn])
load(fn) % if not, assume can load them directly
end
tS=table(Dataslcobs,Dataslinobs,Dataslmobs,Dataslpiobs,Dataslrobs);
head(tS,5)
We see it read the -ascii file the first pass as started with a copy of the original posted file. The second time it read the rewritten native format file instead since the first past rewrote it. Note that the disp() call is after the attempt to read the file so the error occurred trying to read as ascii so the catch clause was entered before reaching the disp() call.
dpb
2026년 2월 24일
ADDENDUM THIRD:
function [Dataslcobs Dataslinobs Dataslmobs Dataslpiobs Dataslrobs] = readASCIImat(fn)
% read Octave-generated ASCII .mat file as vector and return five specific variables
% USAGE
% [Dataslcobs Dataslinobs Dataslmobs Dataslpiobs Dataslrobs] = readASCIImat(file)
load('-ascii',fn) % assume was written with -ascii switch in Octave so is vector
try % make sure can split into five variables
assert(mod(numel(Slovenia_centered),5)==0)
catch
error('Vector length (%d) not compatible; unable reshape to 5 variables. Aborting.', ...
numel(Slovenia_centered))
end
Slovenia_centered=reshape(Slovenia_centered,[],5); % reshape to 2D presuming are 5 variables
vnames={'Dataslcobs','Dataslinobs','Dataslmobs','Dataslpiobs','Dataslrobs'};
for i=1:numel(vnames)
cmd=sprintf('%s=Slovenia_centered(:,i);',vnames{i}); % make a command to execute
eval(cmd); % and evaluate the string
end
% save the specific D* variables in native MATLAB .mat file
save Slovenia_centered.mat Dataslcobs Dataslinobs Dataslmobs Dataslrobs Dataslpiobs
end
NOTA BENE: The above works only for fn being specifically 'Slovenia_centered.mat' and for the specific save statement as written in Octave such that the variable name on loading the file is the same as the name of the file itself (sans extension, of course). To handle other file names one would have to use the variable assignment of load such that the data are returned in a struct and the name of the variable is a field name in the struct that could then be referred to programmatically rather than as a fixed variable name as in the above code.
Stephen23
2026년 3월 26일 9:45
"Could I simply change the name order in line:"
Yes, that should work.
Also note that by far the simplest and most robust solution is to specify an actual .MAT format when calling SAVE in Octave.
Svit
2026년 3월 27일 8:47
What is the order you think the variables are in, specifically? List them in that order in the vnames array.
Then set a breakpoint in the function after the loop and ensure that is, indeed the order desired. If not, rearrange as needed.
Note that the line
save Slovenia_centered.mat Dataslcobs Dataslinobs Dataslmobs Dataslrobs Dataslpiobs
rewrites a MATLAB .mat file of those variables that will contain the individual variables and only need
load Slovenia_centered
to get them back.
Also note that the calling of the function has to have the variables named in the right order as is in the function statement line
function [Dataslcobs Dataslinobs Dataslmobs Dataslpiobs Dataslrobs] = readASCIImat(fn)
If you call it with a vector of variable names in another order, that will reassign in the order as given in the function returned argument list. If you want that to be in a different order, then you can rearrange those as want...it's the problem of using a bunch of similarly-named variables by name instead of a more generic data structure like an array or struct; it's easy to get things fouled up.
[Tom Dick Harry Ted Alice] = readASCIImat(fn);
will rename everything; be sure you use the right variablel names in the right order.
Again, as @Stephen23 and I have been saying from the beginning, fix the Octave code to use the -V7 parameter when saving and all this will go away.
Svit
2026년 3월 28일 7:59
"I did use your -V7 parameter: save -V7 Slovenia_centered.mat Dataslpiobs Dataslinobs Dataslcobs Dataslrobs Dataslmobs"
Finally! Saving the data in a proper .mat file is by far the best approach.
Once you have saved the file correctly using the -V7 flag please upload it here by clicking the paperclip button.
"Error: Function definitions are not supported in this context. Functions can only be created as local or nested functions in code files."
AFAIK Octave, just like MATLAB, does not permit functions to be defined like that in the command window. The error message shows that you attempted to create a function in the command window, thus the error. Solution: do not attempt to create functions in the command window (which is also exactly what the error message tells you).
"The data is in order PI IN C R M and names of variables are in order C IN M PI R."
Where did those variable names come from all of a sudden? Those aren't the ones mentioned anywhere prior?
save -V7 Slovenia_centered.mat Dataslpiobs Dataslinobs Dataslcobs Dataslrobs Dataslmobs
The above (presuming Octave isn't broken) will have written a native MATLAB .mat file in the V7 form which will contain the above variables in a binary form internally as well as the information about the variable names, data types sizes, etc., etc., ... All you then should do in MATLAB is write
load Slovenia_centered
and they will, like magic appear in the workspace by those names identically as were in Octave. Note you don't even have to provide the ".mat" extension, load will do that transparently for you although it's ok to do so, it's just a minor convenience/shortcut if typing.
">> function [Dataslpiobs Dataslinobs Dataslcobs Dataslrobs Dataslmobs] = readASCIImat(fn)
returns an error:"
We can't see where you tried to do that from here, but the function readASCIImat must be either in its own m-file with the file name readASCIImat.m or as an internal function in some other script or function file. You've got code structure wrong somehow but we can't see your file/workspace to be able to know precisely how.
However, if you really did save the file in Octave using the above syntax, then it will NOT be an ASCII text file at all any more (the whole point of doing so) and the function to read the ASCII-file form of the .mat file is not needed any more nor can it be used because it won't be able to read the binary -V7 form of the file as text because it isn't text any more (again that being the whole point of using "-V7").
SIDE COMMENT
"I did use your -V7 parameter:"
NOTA BENE: It is neither "mine" (nor @Stephen23's), it's a value for the MATLAB /Octave mat-file version parameter to set which version of a .mat file to write. See the documentation for <save> for MATLAB and the equivalent page in Octave for details.
While still in Octave after having done the above, type
whos -file Slovenia_centered
and show us the output.
The last file you attached is still the ASCII text file format so it is NOT the file that the above command would have created (unless Octave is broken). Be sure you're actually looking at the correct file in MATLAB--do the same command as above in MATLALB and you should see the same result. (Note that if the file is NOT a native .mat format, (is still ascii text) the above will fail that isn't a valid .MAT file).
You have to provide enoguh context somebody can figure out what is going on ... isolated code lines alone simply aren't sufficient context. You started this whole thread trying to LOAD a .mat file written from Octave in MATLAB but that was written as -ascii, not in .mat form. We solved that by reading the file as text and creating the named variables that it contained from it but pointed out the far simpler way to the end result would be to write the file in Octave as a native .mar format file instead, in which case you could then solve that original problem as the initial try was -- by using LOAD directly.
So, what happened to that?
As for all the above, for the most part we can't tell where you did what -- if the SAVE statement didn't work in Octave(*) then the specific variable wasn't defined at the time. Whether the name was misspelled ot ihe variable had accdentlally been deleted or for whatever cause we have no way to be able to tell out of context; but whatever was the reason, it didn't exist as was requested in the SAVE command. Whatever caused it, it would be a totally different issue from the SAVE statement itself; probably attributatble to "pilot error". We would have to have the whole session interaction in context to be able to say anything about the exact cause.
As for the WHOS command, I suggested to do it in both environments to prove first had written the file correctly in Octave and then to prove were referencing the same file in MATLAB (and that Octave did write a readable .mat file.).
(*) NOTA BENE: Recall at least one version of my function to read the ASCII form of the file created the .mat file from the returned variables read from the original -ascii SAVEd file you attached. If you ran that, then you well may be looking at that result instead of a file written by Octave -- we simply cannot tell for sure because you didn't show the context of any of the commands and we can't see your terminal from here. If that were to be the case, be certain to have straightened out the variable names order issue. The solution if you didn't do it that way would be to remove that .mat file and then create a new -V7 version in Octave. Of course, the cleanest solution of all since you now have MATLAB would be to move the Octave m-files all over to MATLAB and do it all there and not have to deal with Octave at all.
Going back to the beginning --
Your original Q? was
"I have a .M file from Octave that I want to run in MATLAB, but I obtain an error. Here is the content of .M file (it's just one line):
load "Slovenia_centered.mat"
So, now you have the .mat file such that that line will work -- if you remove the superfluous apostriphes leaving
load Slovenia_centered.mat
since in the command format the filename will already be interpreted as text and in that form the apostrophes would be interpreted as text and look like part of the filename. It would appear from the outside that should again be the content of the m-file.
Svit
2026년 3월 31일 8:58
Stephen23
2026년 3월 31일 9:46
Replace
save -ascii
with
save -V7
or any other actual Matfile version.
dpb
2026년 3월 31일 14:34
Svit
2026년 4월 1일 8:01
So, what specifically do you think is wrong now?
No errors, no data, no attached file, no ...
I don't know if Octave implemented it or not, but as suggested before, you could/should try
whos -file Slovenia_centered.mat
first in Octave (if it is implemented to read the created .mat file, it should reflect the contents in the file), then in MATLAB. Presuming Octave isn't broken and can write a valid .mat file, it will also show the content of the .mat file.
Of course, you need to be absolutely certain you're looking at the same file in both locations and not different files of the same name.
Svit
2026년 4월 1일 15:27
@Svit: the .MAT standard make no claim about the order of the variables, and nor should you (that would be a bug in your code). The order listed there is purely an artifact of their WHOS display routines, and makes no absolutely difference to the correctness of the values (assuming that Octave wrote the file correctly) stored in the files. That is the whole point of the .MAT file.
Do you have a specific example (code, not just you writing more text) of any of wrong values actually being returned with the wrong name? So far you do not.
Lets make it very simple. Here are the first nine values of Dataslpiobs:
format long G
S = load('Slovenia_centered.mat')
S.Dataslpiobs(1:9)
How do those values compare against the ones that you see in Octave? They should match exactly.
whos -file Slovenia_centered
load Slovenia_centered
whos
and you see that the LOAD statement returned all those variables by name to the workspace. (Note the difference between this command line syntax and the function syntax used by @Stephen23--the command line form returns the variables in the .mat file directly to the workspace in which the LOAD command is executed whereas the functional form returns the variables in a struct where the fieldnames are those of the variables.)
To then further amplify on what @Stephen23 shows--in the beginning you said the m-file contained only the single line to load the .mat file -- ergo, the external app must be expecting the various variables by name -- and it will use the variable name(s), not their positional location in some particular order in which are chosen to be listed.
You're making an issue out of something that isn't -- the only case in which the order will matter is IFF you use the Octave default which is the -ascii form, THEN if you try to create the named variables from the single vector, it will matter as to the order in which Octave wrote them out. It's a bad system because if it doesn't write them out in the order listed, there's no information in that file that tells you in which order they were written. If that old code vnames array is in the wrong order in defining them, then that will be the root cause and even more reason to use the MATLAB binary .mat file format.
"How could I check if the file is the same? "
One of several ways, the most straightforward would be to delete all prior versions and then recreate one and only one. Otherwise, compare filenames and location -- Windows won't allow two files of the same name in the same folder. Or, of course, compare sizes and dates.
Svit
2026년 4월 2일 13:12
whos -file Slovenia_centered % see what is in the file and that is valid .mat file
load Slovenia_centered % load the variables into workspace
whos % see what we got
Dataslpiobs(1:5)
Then the file you're LOADing is not the same file as the one you've posted here....or something else has been done besides.
As stated before, if one of those old Octave -ascii files is still hanging around and you've run the previous code on it, the issue of variable names order is pertinent and at least one version of it would have created a local MATLAB .mat file of that content. As we've both said numerous times, be sure there aren't ANY of those old files around anywhere to be found.
It wuuldn't hurt to create a -V7 .mat file in Octave with a totally unique file name (but same variables, of course) and then LOAD it to prove it.
"... can I ask questions about Dynare on this forum as well ...?"
You could ask (the forum won't prevent off topic questions), but the likelihood of somebody here also being knowlegeable is probably quite small -- and even if they are expert, it still would be off topic and a candidate for an editor to flag or close.
If it is about something specific regarding the use of MATLAB itself with the product, there's a chance, but otherwise I would expect your best bet will be the product-specific forum(s).
dpb
2026년 4월 2일 15:36
"I created new file in Octave and opened it in MATLAB ..."
I would strongly suggest you find and remove the bad originally-named one so it doesn't continue to haunt...
Svit
2026년 4월 2일 15:43
추가 답변 (1개)
dpb
2026년 2월 13일
load "Slovenia_centered.mat"
Using the command syntax the filename is text already so it's including the apostrophes as well...try
load Slovenia_centered.mat
I'm not sure about what level for .mat file compatibility Octave supports, you may need to check there about ensuring .mat files.
댓글 수: 4
Yes. The documentation explains why using double quotes will fail with command syntax, it has whole section entitled "Why Does Using Command Form With Strings Return An Error?":
The gist of it is "In command form, double quotes are treated as part of the literal text rather than as the string construction operator". This is to be consistent with how command syntax has always worked.
dpb
2026년 2월 13일
BTW, to complete the picture
load("Slovenia_centered.mat")
will also work because as an argument the "" are constructors and the underlying char string will be passed.
Stephen23
2026년 2월 13일
According to the Octave SAVE documentation
its default is to "Save the data in Octave’s text data format. (default)." Apparently it also has options to save in formats which are MATLAB compatible.
Andiswa
2026년 2월 27일
Use single quote
카테고리
도움말 센터 및 File Exchange에서 Octave에 대해 자세히 알아보기
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