what format of data that matlab can open and make changes to some parts of the file

Please,If I have a word document,how to read it using matlab,when I use fopen or fileread the output is strange symbols......and if it isn't possible to read the format .docx or doc using matlab ,what kind of format that I can use? note :I used .txt format but I can't make any changes to the text ,so I need another kind of format. thanks

Answer 1

[Star Strider]

Use the winopen function.

See the documentation for the function for the information on how to use it.

Answer 2

[Walter Roberson]

If you have MS Windows, use ActiveX controls to talk to Word. See for example http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/15192-officedoc-read-write-format-ms-office-docs--xls-doc-ppt-

Microsoft .doc format is, if I recall correctly, a proprietary undocumented format; Microsoft does not expect (or want) you to be able to read it or write it except by using their interface.

The .docx format, on the other hand, is a plain text xml format.