18.0   8   307.0      130.0      3504.      12.0   70  1    "chevrolet chevelle malibu"
15.0   8   350.0      165.0      3693.      11.5   70  1    "buick skylark 320"
18.0   8   318.0      150.0      3436.      11.0   70  1    "plymouth satellite"
16.0   8   304.0      150.0      3433.      12.0   70  1    "amc rebel sst"
17.0   8   302.0      140.0      3449.      10.5   70  1    "ford torino"
15.0   8   429.0      198.0      4341.      10.0   70  1    "ford galaxie 500"
14.0   8   454.0      220.0      4354.       9.0   70  1    "chevrolet impala"
14.0   8   440.0      215.0      4312.       8.5   70  1    "plymouth fury iii"
14.0   8   455.0      225.0      4425.      10.0   70  1    "pontiac catalina"
15.0   8   390.0      190.0      3850.       8.5   70  1    "amc ambassador dpl"

data = load('auto.txt')

18.0,8,307.0,130.0,3504.0,12.0,70,1
...

data = load('-ascii','autocleaned.txt');

DATA = load("-ascii", "auto.txt");

filename='stack25148040_1.txt'
fid = fopen(filename, 'r');
[x, count] = fscanf(fid, '%f', [10, Inf])
endif
fclose(fid);

import csv
import numpy as np

data=[]
with open('stack25148040.txt','rb') as f:
    r = csv.reader(f, delimiter=' ')
    # csv handles quoted strings with white space
    for l in r:
        # remove empty strings from the split on ' '
        data.append([x for x in l if x])
print data[0]
for dd in data:
    # convert 8 of the strings (per line) to float
    dd[:]=[float(d) for d in dd[:8]]+dd[-1:]

data=data[:-1]  # remove empty last line
print data[0]
print
# make a structured array, with numbers and a string
dt=np.dtype("f8,i4,f8,f8,f8,f8,i4,i4,|S25")
A=np.array([tuple(d) for d in data],dtype=dt)
print A
from scipy.io import savemat
savemat('stack25148040.mat',{'A':A})

load stack25148040.mat
A
# A = 1x10 struct array containing the fields:
#    f0 f1 ... f8

A.f8  # string field
A(1)  # 1st row
#  scalar structure containing the fields:
#   f0 =  18
#   f1 = 8
...
#   f8 = chevrolet chevelle malibu

dlmread ('stack25148040.txt')(:,1:8)
importread ('stack25148040.txt').data(:,1:8)
textread ('stack25148040.txt','')(:,1:8)