cell2table

Convert cell array to table

Syntax

T = cell2table(C)

T = cell2table(C,Name,Value)

Description

T = cell2table(C) converts the contents of an m-by-n cell array, C, to an m-by-n table, T. Each column of C provides the data contained in a variable of T.

To create variable names in the output table, cell2table appends column numbers to the input array name. If the input array has no name, then cell2table creates variable names of the form 'Var1',...,'VarN', where N is the number of columns in C.

T = cell2table(C,Name,Value) creates a table from a cell array, C, with additional options specified by one or more Name,Value pair arguments.

For example, you can specify row names or variable names to include in the table.

Examples

Convert Cell Array to Table

Create a cell array containing character vectors and numeric data.

C = {5 'cereal' 110 'C+'; 12 'pizza' 140 'B';...
    23 'salmon' 367 'A'; 2 'cookies' 160 'D'}

C=4×4 cell array
    {[ 5]}    {'cereal' }    {[110]}    {'C+'}
    {[12]}    {'pizza'  }    {[140]}    {'B' }
    {[23]}    {'salmon' }    {[367]}    {'A' }
    {[ 2]}    {'cookies'}    {[160]}    {'D' }

Convert the cell array, C, to a table and specify variable names.

T = cell2table(C,...
    'VariableNames',{'Age' 'FavoriteFood' 'Calories' 'NutritionGrade'})

T=4×4 table
    Age    FavoriteFood    Calories    NutritionGrade
    ___    ____________    ________    ______________

     5     {'cereal' }       110           {'C+'}    
    12     {'pizza'  }       140           {'B' }    
    23     {'salmon' }       367           {'A' }    
     2     {'cookies'}       160           {'D' }    

The variables T.Age and T.Calories are numeric while the variables T.FavoriteFood and T.NutritionGrade are cell arrays of character vectors.

Convert Column Headings to Variable Names

Convert a cell array to a table, and then include the first row from the cell array as variable names for the table.

Create a cell array where the first row contains character vectors to identify column headings.

Patients = {'Gender' 'Age' 'Height' 'Weight' 'Smoker';...
    'M' 38 71 176 true;...
    'M' 43 69 163 false;...
    'M' 38 64 131 false;...
    'F' 38 64 131 false;...
    'F' 40 67 133 false;...
    'F' 49 64 119 false}

Patients=7×5 cell array
    {'Gender'}    {'Age'}    {'Height'}    {'Weight'}    {'Smoker'}
    {'M'     }    {[ 38]}    {[    71]}    {[   176]}    {[     1]}
    {'M'     }    {[ 43]}    {[    69]}    {[   163]}    {[     0]}
    {'M'     }    {[ 38]}    {[    64]}    {[   131]}    {[     0]}
    {'F'     }    {[ 38]}    {[    64]}    {[   131]}    {[     0]}
    {'F'     }    {[ 40]}    {[    67]}    {[   133]}    {[     0]}
    {'F'     }    {[ 49]}    {[    64]}    {[   119]}    {[     0]}

Exclude the columns headings and convert the contents of the cell array to a table.

C = Patients(2:end,:);
T = cell2table(C)

T=6×5 table
     C1      C2    C3    C4      C5  
    _____    __    __    ___    _____

    {'M'}    38    71    176    true 
    {'M'}    43    69    163    false
    {'M'}    38    64    131    false
    {'F'}    38    64    131    false
    {'F'}    40    67    133    false
    {'F'}    49    64    119    false

The table, T, has variable names C1,...,C5.

Change the variable names by setting the table property, T.Properties.VariableNames, to the first row of the cell array.

T.Properties.VariableNames = Patients(1,:)

T=6×5 table
    Gender    Age    Height    Weight    Smoker
    ______    ___    ______    ______    ______

    {'M'}     38       71       176      true  
    {'M'}     43       69       163      false 
    {'M'}     38       64       131      false 
    {'F'}     38       64       131      false 
    {'F'}     40       67       133      false 
    {'F'}     49       64       119      false 

Input Arguments

C — Input cell array

2-D cell array

Input cell array, specified as a 2-D cell array. Each column of C provides data for a table variable.

• If the contents of the cells in a column of C have compatible sizes and types, then the corresponding table variable is the vertical concatenation of those contents into an array.

• If the contents of the cells in a column have different sizes and types, then the corresponding table variable is a cell array.

  • If the contents of the cells in a column are all character vectors, then the corresponding table variable is a cell array of character vectors.

Name-Value Pair Arguments

Specify optional comma-separated pairs of Name,Value arguments. Name is the argument name and Value is the corresponding value. Name must appear inside quotes. You can specify several name and value pair arguments in any order as Name1,Value1,...,NameN,ValueN.

Example: 'RowNames',{'row1','row2','row3'} uses the row names, row1, row2, and row3 for the table, T.

'RowNames' — Row names

{} (default) | cell array of character vectors | string array

Row names, specified as the comma-separated pair consisting of 'RowNames' and a cell array of character vectors or a string array, whose elements are nonempty and distinct. The number of names must equal the number of rows, size(C,1).

Row names can have any Unicode^® characters, including spaces and non-ASCII characters.

If you specify row names that have leading or trailing whitespace characters, then cell2table removes them from the row names.

'VariableNames' — Variable names

cell array of character vectors | string array

Variable names, specified as the comma-separated pair consisting of 'VariableNames' and a cell array of character vectors or a string array, whose elements are nonempty and distinct. The number of names must equal the number of variables, size(C,2).

Variable names can have any Unicode characters, including spaces and non-ASCII characters.

'DimensionNames' — Dimension names

two-element cell array of character vectors | two-element string array

Since R2021a

Dimension names, specified as a two-element cell array of character vectors or two-element string array whose elements are nonempty and distinct.

Dimension names can have any Unicode characters, including spaces and non-ASCII characters.

Before R2021a, you can specify dimension names only by setting the DimensionNames property of the output.

Output Arguments

T — Output table

table

Output table, returned as a table. The table can store metadata such as descriptions, variable units, variable names, and row names. For more information, see the Properties section of table.

Compatibility Considerations

Variable names can contain leading and trailing whitespace characters

Behavior changed in R2019b

Table and timetable variable names with leading or trailing whitespace characters are not modified.

In previous releases, leading and trailing whitespace characters were deleted from variable names when you specified them using the 'VariableNames' name-value pair argument, or assigned them to the VariableNames property.

To manually remove such characters, first use the strtrim function on the names, then assign them as variable names to the table or timetable.

Extended Capabilities

C/C++ Code Generation

Generate C and C++ code using MATLAB® Coder™.

Usage notes and limitations:

• In generated code, you must specify the 'VariableNames' name-value pair argument when using this function. For more information, see Code Generation for Tables (MATLAB Coder) and Table Limitations for Code Generation (MATLAB Coder).