cellstr

Convert to cell array of character vectors

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Syntax

C = cellstr(A)
C = cellstr(D,datefmt)
C = cellstr(D,datefmt,locale)

Description

Convert Arrays

C = cellstr(A) converts A to a cell array of character vectors. For instance, if A is a string, "foo", C is a cell array containing a character vector, {'foo'}.

example

Convert Dates and Times

C = cellstr(D,datefmt), where D is a datetime or duration array, applies the specified format, such as "HH:mm:ss".

example

C = cellstr(D,datefmt,locale) specifies the locale, such as "en_US".

example

Examples

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Open Live Script

You can create string arrays to contain multiple pieces of text. However, you might need to use functions that accept cell arrays of character vectors as input arguments, and that do not accept string arrays. To pass data from a string array to such functions, use the cellstr function to convert the string array to a cell array of character vectors.

Create a string array. You can create strings using double quotes.

A = ["Past","Present","Future"]
A = 1×3 string
    "Past"    "Present"    "Future"

Convert the string array to a 1-by-3 cell array of character vectors.

C = cellstr(A)
C = 1×3 cell
    {'Past'}    {'Present'}    {'Future'}
Open Live Script

Create a character array. Include trailing spaces so that each row has the same length, resulting in a 3-by-4 array. 

A = ['abc ';'defg';'hi  ']
A = 3×4 char array
    'abc '
    'defg'
    'hi  '


class(A)
ans = 
'char'

Convert the character array to a 3-by-1 cell array of character vectors. 

C = cellstr(A)
C = 3×1 cell
    {'abc' }
    {'defg'}
    {'hi'  }


class(C)
ans = 
'cell'
Open Live Script

Create a calendarDuration array. 

D = calmonths(15:17) + caldays(8) + hours(1.2345)
D = 1×3 calendarDuration
   1y 3mo 8d 1h 14m 4.2s   1y 4mo 8d 1h 14m 4.2s   1y 5mo 8d 1h 14m 4.2s

Convert the array to a cell array of character vectors. 

C = cellstr(D)
C = 1×3 cell
    {'1y 3mo 8d 1h 14m 4.2s'}    {'1y 4mo 8d 1h 14m 4.2s'}    {'1y 5mo 8d 1h 14m 4.2s'}


class(C)
ans = 
'cell'
Open Live Script

Create a datetime. 

D = datetime
D = datetime
   13-Jul-2025 18:36:14

Convert the datetime to a character vector that is formatted and localized to france.

C = cellstr(D,'eeee, MMMM d, yyyy HH:mm:ss',"fr_FR")
C = 1×1 cell array
    {'dimanche, juillet 13, 2025 18:36:14'}

Input Arguments

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Input array. The data type of A determines how cellstr converts A to a cell array of character vectors.

Input Type

Conversion Notes

Sample Input

Sample Output

string

Converts each element to a character vector and assigns it to a cell.

If A is empty, "", the output is a cell containing an empty character array, a 0-by-0 character vector.

1×1 string array
    "foo"

 
1×1 cell array
    {'foo'}
1×2 string array
    "foo"    "bar"
 
1×2 cell array
    {'foo'}    {'bar'}

Character arrays

Assigns each row of the input to a cell. cellstr removes trailing whitespace characters in each row, except for significant whitespace such as nonbreaking space characters.

 
2×3 char array
    'foo'
    'bar'
 
 2×1 cell array
    {'foo'}
    {'bar'}

Categorical array

Converts each element of the input array to a character vector and assigns the vector to a cell in the new cell array.

 
1x3 categorical array
    red    green    blue
 
1×3 cell array
    {'red'}    {'green'}    {'blue'}

Date or duration array, specified as a datetime, duration, or calendarDuration array. The data type of D determines how cellstr converts A to a cell array of character vectors.

Input Type

Conversion Notes

Sample Input

Sample Output

datetime array

Converts each element to a character vector and assigns it to a cell. To specify a format and locale, see datefmt.

datetime(2020,6,1)

1x1 cell array
   {'01-Jun-2020'}

duration array

Converts each element to a character vector and assigns it to a cell. To specify a format and locale, see datefmt.

duration(5:6,12,21)

 
1x2 cell array
    {'05:12:21'}    {'06:12:21'}

calendarDuration array

Converts each element to a character vector and assigns it to a cell. To specify a format and locale, see datefmt.

calmonths(15) + caldays(8) + hours(1.2345)

 
1x1 cell array
    {'1y 3mo 8d 1h 14m 4.2s'}

Date format and locale, specified as separate character vectors or string scalars. Input A must be of type datetime, duration, or calendarDuration.

If you do not specify a format, cellstr uses the value in the Format property of A.

Example: cellstr(A,"yyyy-MM-dd")

Example: cellstr(A,"dd:hh:mm:ss","en_US")

The supported formats depend on the data type of A.

  • datetime formats can include combinations of units and delimiters, such as "yyyy-MMM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS". For details, see the Format property for datetime arrays.

  • duration formats are either single characters (y, d, h, m, or s) or one of these combinations:

    • "dd:hh:mm:ss"

    • "hh:mm:ss"

    • "mm:ss"

    • "hh:mm"

    • Any of the above, with up to nine S characters to indicate fractional second digits, such as "hh:mm:ss.SSSS"

  • calendarDuration formats can include combinations of the characters y, q, m, w, d, and t in order from largest to smallest unit of time, such as "ym". For more information on the duration and calendarDuration formats, see Set Date and Time Display Format.

Locale, specified as one of these values:

  • "system", to specify your system locale.

  • A string scalar in the form xx_YY, where xx is a lowercase ISO 639-1 two-letter code that specifies a language, and YY is an uppercase ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code that specifies a country. For sample values, see the Locale name-value argument for the datetime function.

To specify only the locale, use an empty array as a placeholder for the format, [].

Example: cellstr(A, "yyyy-MM-dd","en_US")

Example: cellstr(A, [],"en_US")

The locale affects the language used to represent certain components of dates and times, such as month names. Valid values are:

This table lists some common values for the locale.

Locale LanguageCountry
"de_DE"GermanGermany
"en_GB"EnglishUnited Kingdom
"en_US"EnglishUnited States
"es_ES"SpanishSpain
"fr_FR"FrenchFrance
"it_IT"ItalianItaly
"ja_JP"JapaneseJapan
"ko_KR"KoreanKorea
"nl_NL"DutchNetherlands
"zh_CN"Chinese (simplified)China

Extended Capabilities

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Version History

Introduced before R2006a

See Also

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