Allow user to name structure?

I realize variables should not be named dynamically, but I would like to name structures dynamically. We have large data sets for various vehicles where I think dynamic naming would help for easier storage of the structures as mat files.

For example, lets say we have some data for a dodge vehicle. I would like the user to be able to input 'Dodge' and then the structure would be Dodge.Data1, Dodge.Data2, etc. Then when the structure is saved as a mat file, it is saved as 'Dodge'.

This would allow the user to easily access structures for Dodge, Ford, Chevy, etc. for example.

The other way that I could think of is have a separate field for the specific model within the structure, like Car.model = 'Dodge'. The resulting structure here would be called Car. I feel like this would make it more difficult for a user to quickly locate the .mat file that has the 'Dodge' data in it.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

[Matt J]

You can do this.

sname='Dodge';

S.(sname).Data1=...
S.(sname).Data2=...

and then when you want to save to a .mat file you do

save filename.mat -struct S

However, what you are pursuing sounds excessively acrobatic to me. You could just have different .mat files for different cars. Then, if you want to read data for a particular car into a structure, you could just do things like,

   carData=load('Dodge.mat')

[Ibro Tutic]

Actually, you are completely right. I mistakenly thought that I couldn't save the .mat file off as what ever I wanted. So I could just have a structure that is Car.Data1, Car.Data2, and save the corresponding mat file off as "Dodge.mat" or whatever application the data corresponds to.