How to navigate between directories during program execution?

I have a program in which I need to navigate from directory to directory (with the number of such directories being a variable), and read a bunch of files and execute a bunch of function files in them. Part of the reason they are put in different directories is that the M-files in these directories have the same names. My question is how:

1. without changing the current directory (using the cd command)and
2. without adding and removing paths with addpath and rmpath

Can I access these files selectively without creating conflict. Meaning every single time inside the program when I want to execute a function or read a file I could just do it knowing the full path of that folder. So all there would be known to you at each time is the full directories of the folders where these files are located.

One last note: Although I said the number of such directories is a variable, I know exactly which level they are located at, equivalently I know their full path every time at that juncture in my program (If this helps further ==> great, otherwise ==> ignore this last comment).

Thank you

[per isakson]

Did you try

fid = fopen( fullfile( my_full_path_name, my_file_name ), 'r');

- per

[Yashar Mehmani]

Yes that would help with reading the files, but how do I reach the function files?

[per isakson]

For some reason this question appeared as Most Recent.

AFAIK: "[...] I want to execute a function [...] I could just do it knowing the full path of that folder" That is not possible, not without manipulating the search path or the current directory.

Had it been package folders it might be possible. Given

...\folder_in_the_search_path\+mypack\+mysubpack\myFcn.m

this call is possible

out = mypack.('mysubpack').myFcn( inarg )

However, I fail to find support in the documentation.

Answer 1

[Honglei Chen]

Hi Yashar,

The following command may be of your interest

doc run
doc fullfile

HTH

[Yashar Mehmani]

Thank you, but "run" cds to the folder and back. So unfortunately it wouldn't help. And "fullfile" is just a way of concatenating strings to make dirs.