ssget for Linux/Mac

This is a command-line version of ssget for Linux/macOS, designed to download matrices from the SuiteSparse Matrix Collection. It is not the MATLAB/Java version of ssget—see SuiteSparse/ssget.

Features:

• Fast matrix search using a CSV index
• Supports multiple file formats
• Batch downloading

Installation

You can install ssget using the automated installer script:

# Download the installer
$ curl -OL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yanxchen/ssget/main/install-ssget.sh

# Install to the specific path with --prefix (defaults to current directory)
# e.g. install to $HOME/ssget
$ bash install-ssget.sh --prefix=$HOME/ssget

# (Optional) Add to PATH
$ export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/ssget

# Use the tool
$ ssget --help

Usage

Options

Short	Long	Description
-i	--info	Display matrix metadata and estimated file size
-b	--batch	Download matrices listed in a specified text file
-c	--clean	Unpack .tar.gz files and remove the archive
-t	--type	Choose format: mtx (default), mat, or rb
-h	--help	Show help message

Examples

1. View matrix metadata

Display detailed information (dimensions, nonzeros, condition number) without downloading the full archive:

$ ssget -i nos6

Name:             nos6
Group:            HB
Num Rows:         675
Num Cols:         675
Nonzeros:         3,255
Kind:             2D/3D problem
Symmetric:        Yes
Condition Number: 7.650487e+06
Download Size:    7.46 KB (mtx compressed)
Est. Actual Size: ~31.79 KB (uncompressed)

2. Download (and extract)

Download, extract the archive, move files to the current directory, and delete the original .tar.gz file:

# only download .tar.gz matrix file
$ ssget nos6
# download and extract
$ ssget -c nos6

3. Download batch

Create a file (e.g., matrices.txt) listing one matrix name per line:

nos6
parabolic_fem

Then run:

$ ssget -c -b matrices.txt

This will download and extract all matrices listed in matrices.txt.