python-scipyHow do I load a MAT file using Python and SciPy?

To load a MAT file using Python and SciPy, use the scipy.io.loadmat function. This function takes the file path as an argument and returns a dictionary.

import scipy.io
mat_file = scipy.io.loadmat('example.mat')

The returned dictionary contains the variables stored in the MAT file. The keys of the dictionary are the variable names and the values are the corresponding arrays.

print(mat_file)
# {'__header__': b'MATLAB 5.0 MAT-file Platform: posix, Created on: Thu Jan 16 14:14:17 2020',
#  '__version__': '1.0',
#  '__globals__': [],
#  'example_array': array([[1, 2, 3],
#        [4, 5, 6]])}

The above example returns a dictionary with four keys. __header__ contains the MATLAB version and the creation date. __version__ contains the version of the MAT file. __globals__ is an empty list. The last key example_array contains a 2x3 array.

Helpful links

• scipy.io.loadmat
• MATLAB Import and Export

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