How to use 'how to open mat file' in Python

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def _open_file(file_like, appendmat):
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    ''' Open `file_like` and return as file-like object '''
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    if isinstance(file_like, basestring):
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        try:
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            return open(file_like, 'rb')
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        except IOError:
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            pass
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        if appendmat and not file_like.endswith('.mat'):
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            try:
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                return open(file_like + '.mat', 'rb')
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            except IOError:
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                pass
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        # search the python path - we'll remove this soon
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        full_name = find_mat_file(file_like, appendmat)
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        if full_name is None:
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            raise IOError("%s not found on the path."
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                          % file_like)
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        return open(full_name, 'rb')
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    # not a string - maybe file-like object
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    try:
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        file_like.read(0)
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    except AttributeError:
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        raise IOError('Reader needs file name or open file-like object')
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    return file_like