◆ MATLAB

Loop through files in a folder

This is real work, not a feature someone invented — it comes from real job ads and real questions people asked. Below are four ready AI prompts: get it done, make it easy for the next person to say yes to, work out the right move when you are stuck, and stop it coming back.

4prompts
See the prompt↓All MATLAB tasks

The same task, four prompts

today's deadline · the next reviewer · the stuck moment · the pattern
AExecute — do the immediate taskLoop through all '.csv' files in the 'experiment_data' folder and print each file's…+
Loop through all '.csv' files in the 'experiment_data' folder and print each file's name.
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
BImprove — make it easier to acceptBefore I start processing this batch of log files for the audit, loop through all '.log' files…+
Before I start processing this batch of log files for the audit, loop through all '.log' files in the 'server_logs' directory. For each file, if it's older than last Monday, skip it. Otherwise, extract the timestamp and the error message, and append them to a single 'audit_report.txt' file.
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
CDecide — diagnose the stuck momentI'm trying to loop through all '.mat' files in a folder to extract some variables, but the…+
My loop for processing files is failing on specific files without clear errors.
I'm trying to loop through all '.mat' files in a folder to extract some variables, but the script stops or gives a generic error on certain files. I'm afraid I'm missing some corrupted or malformed files, and I don't know how to identify which ones are causing the problem without manually checking each one. What's going on, and how can I make my loop robust to these bad files?
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
DBecome — change the patternWhenever I set up a script to loop through a folder of files for batch processing, I inevitably…+
Batch processing files always seems to hit unexpected snags.
Whenever I set up a script to loop through a folder of files for batch processing, I inevitably run into issues like missing files, incorrect formats, or permission errors that halt the whole operation. What habit should I change in how I structure these file-looping scripts to make them more resilient and less prone to crashing on unexpected file conditions?
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?

Questions people actually ask

honest answers, no sign-up

Every task here was seen in the real world. Someone doing the job named it, a real job ad asked for it, or a lot of people asked about it online.

If nothing real showed a task, it is not on the page. That is the whole rule.

They are the same job approached four ways, because what you need depends on where you are.

Get it done today. Make it easy for the next person to say yes to. Work out the right move when you are stuck. Learn the pattern so the job stops coming back.

For most of these jobs it can carry the heavy thinking - draft it, sort it, check it, rehearse it with you.

It cannot sit in your chair, take the blame when a number is wrong, or notice what nobody wrote down. Let it do the first 80%. Keep the last 20% that is truly yours.

No. Copy any prompt and paste it into the AI you already use. No account, no score, no wall in the way.

Any of them. The prompts describe the work rather than naming a product, so they are not tied to one assistant.

That is also why they keep working when you switch.

Change it freely. Every prompt is a starting line, not a rule.

Put in your real numbers, your real names and your real deadline. The more you make it yours, the better the answer comes back.

The tasks come from real job ads, published job data and the questions people ask in public forums.

The steps come from MATLAB's own documentation, with practitioner sources for the traps the manual does not mention.

Push once. Ask it to sharpen the weakest part and to say what it assumed.

Most wrong answers come from a missing detail rather than a bad prompt - tell it the thing it could not know.