Analyse files in a different folder than current folder

Hi all!

For my GUI that analyses data files, the scripts are in the current folder. The data files that need to be analysed are in a separate folder. This folder is selected by the user beforehand using uigetdir. However, when I want another callback to find a specific file in that folder, it gives me an error because it is not searching in the right folder.

foldername = handles.foldername; %gets foldername from Choosefolder_Callback

str = char(get(handles.edit1, 'String')); %gets user input from edit1 textbox
S = dir(sprintf('*%s*',str))); %finds filename that matches user input
N = {S(~[S.isdir]).name}; %puts filenames in cell array
idx = ~cellfun('isempty',regexp(N,'^ID\w\d+sec\.csv$')); %indices of filenames which match regular expression
if nnz(idx)==1 % ensures the 1 filename match
   filename = N{idx};   %get filename
   indivtxt = sprintf('File has been located');
   set(handles.text7, 'String', indivtxt); %sets string to individual data file selected 
else
    warningMessage = sprintf ('Warning: file does not exist\n%s');
    uiwait(msgbox(warningMessage, 'Error', 'error'));
end

Why does this only work when I select the data files folder as my current folder and how can I change this? I need the current folder to be the scripts that I need for my GUI

Answer 1

[Stephen23]

You need to give dir the folder path, otherwise it will just look in the current directory:

foldername = handles.foldername;
str = char(get(handles.edit1, 'String'));
pat = sprintf('*%s*',str);
S = dir(fullfile(foldername,pat));

You need to use foldername every time you want to access those files, e.g. using dir, file reading, file writing, etc. Note that you were using the folder path and fullfile in your earlier questions:

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/396818-gui-selecting-multiple-files-with-same-amount-of-digits-in-filename

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/395234-search-for-a-file-using-edit-text-with-a-part-of-the-file-name

So why did you suddenly stop using the folder path?