matlab_convert_mat2csv.m - Convert MATLAB .mat files to CSV format

Description¶

This script automatically converts all MATLAB data files (.mat) in the current working directory to CSV format. It extracts all variables from each .mat file and saves them as separate CSV files.

Usage¶

From within MATLAB¶

>> matlab_convert_mat2csv

From command line¶

matlab -batch "cd('path/to/mat/files'); matlab_convert_mat2csv"

Input¶

• All .mat files in the current working directory

• .mat files should contain numeric matrices or tables

Output¶

• CSV files named after the variable names within each .mat file

• Example: If data.mat contains variables results and summary, outputs will be results.csv and summary.csv

Behavior¶

• Processes all .mat files in the current directory

• Loads each .mat file and extracts all variables

• Creates separate CSV files for each variable

• Uses variable names as CSV filenames

• Automatically exits MATLAB when complete

Dependencies¶

• MATLAB with file I/O capabilities

• Read access to .mat files in current directory

• Write access to current directory for CSV output

• writematrix function (MATLAB R2019a or later)

Limitations¶

• Only works with numeric matrices and tables

• Complex data structures may not convert properly

• Cell arrays and nested structures are not supported

Important Note¶

⚠️ Warning: This script will exit MATLAB upon completion. Use with caution in interactive sessions.

How It Works¶

1. File Discovery: Scans current directory for all .mat files

2. File Processing: For each .mat file:

   • Loads the file using load() function

   • Extracts all variable names using fieldnames()

   • For each variable, creates a CSV file named after the variable

   • Uses writematrix() to write numeric data to CSV

3. Cleanup: Automatically exits MATLAB when all conversions are complete

Example Workflow¶

# Navigate to directory with .mat files
cd /path/to/data

# Run conversion (will exit MATLAB when done)
matlab -batch "matlab_convert_mat2csv"

# Results: each variable in each .mat file becomes a separate .csv file

Example Output¶

If you have a file experiment.mat containing:

• Variable data (matrix)

• Variable results (table)

• Variable metadata (structure)

The script will create:

• data.csv (successfully converted)

• results.csv (successfully converted if numeric)

• metadata.csv (may fail if structure is complex)

This tool is useful for converting MATLAB data to a more portable CSV format for analysis in other tools or languages.