Data Import and Export

Text files, spreadsheets, and other file formats; hardware; web access

Data import and export functions provide access to data from files, other applications, web services, and external devices. Common file formats include:

Spreadsheets — Microsoft^® Excel^® files
Text Files — Delimited or formatted text files, such as CSV and TXT files
Image Data — JPEG, TIFF, PNG, and more
Audio and Video Data — MP3, WAV, MPG, MOV, and more
Scientific Data — netCDF, HDF, FITS, and CDF

You can read many of these formats using the Import Tool: select Import Data on the Home tab. For a list of import and export functions by file type, see Supported File Formats for Import and Export.

Categories

Standard File Formats
Text, spreadsheets, images, scientific data, audio and video, XML documents
Workspace Variables and MAT-Files
Manage data in the MATLAB^® workspace
Low-Level File I/O
Read and write operations at the byte or character level
Hardware and Network Communication
Connect to hardware, such as serial port devices, Arduino boards, and webcams
Web Access and Streaming
RESTful web services, email, FTP, and data streams