title: How can I check the contents of a MAT-file in MATLAB without loading it?
body: <p>I have a large structure in a MAT-file. I want to check if a specific field is present in the structure <em>without</em> loading the MAT-file since the contents are very large and I want to minimize memory use.</p>
  
  <p>Is this possible, or must I load it first like in the following example?:</p>
  
  <pre><code>load('test.mat');             %# Load the MAT-file
  tf = isfield(s,'fieldname');  %# Check if structure s has field 'fieldname'
  </code></pre>