Size of Parts of File

I'm breaking up a large file into a bunch of Matlab workspace variables(not to all be loaded at once) and was wondering if there was a recommended number of values to have in each segment (ideal for largest fragments but provides snappy response)

Not looking to get into system specific capabilities more of a rule of thumb.

[Walter Roberson]

Could the data reasonably be converted to binary with fixed-width fields? If so then fwrite() it, and to use it, fseek() and fread() the parts you need.

Answer 1

[Image Analyst]

I'd probably do as large a chunk as you can fit into memory. Keep in mind that you may need extra memory for other temporary variables though. Or, do it some other way if that makes more sense, like you're reading in a 20 GB CT image and plan on doing it a slice at a time.