Save a .mat file that starts with a hyphen (negative sign)

Is it possible to save a file that starts with a hyphen? At one point this was possible, because I have found a ton of .mat files that start with a "negative" sign - has this ability changed since MATLAB 2009b (or Windows XP), or have I just forgotten how to do this? I'm currently using 2015b/Windows 7. Any help would be appreciated.

Example:

x = 2;
y = -x;
save('myVariable.mat','x');
save ('-myVariable.mat','y');

The second save will error-out, because MATLAB is seeking a command option.

Thanks in advance!

- Matt

Answer 1

[Matt C]

I have the answer! If you feed the save and load commands the full path of the file in question, you can then save and load files that start with a dash!

Answer 2

[Walter Roberson]

You can use ./ immediately before the file name

save ('./-myVariable.mat','y');

This will work for Windows as well as Mac and Linux