strmatch

(Not recommended) Find possible matches for string

strmatch is not recommended. Use another function depending on your goal. To determine which array elements begin with specified text, use startsWith or strncmp. To find the best match for specified text, use validatestring. To find an exact match for specified text, use matches.

Syntax

x = strmatch(str, strarray)

x = strmatch(str, strarray, 'exact')

Description

x = strmatch(str, strarray) looks through the rows of the text array strarray to find elements that begin with the text contained in str. If strmatch does not find str in strarray, then x is an empty matrix ([]). Any trailing whitespace characters in str or strarray are ignored when matching. strmatch is fastest when strarray is a character array.

x = strmatch(str, strarray, 'exact') compares str with each row of strarray, looking for an exact match of the entire character vector. Any trailing space characters in str or strarray are ignored when matching.

Examples

Find Text Array Elements Beginning with String

Create a string array. Use strmatch to find elements of strarray that begin with the text "max".

strarray = ["max" "minimax" "maximum"];
x = strmatch("max", strarray)

x = 2×1

     1
     3

Find Text Array Elements That Match String Exactly

Create a string array. Use strmatch with the third input "exact" to find elements of strarray that exactly match the text "max".

strarray = ["max" "minimax" "maximum"];
x = strmatch("max",strarray,"exact")

x = 
1

Input Arguments

str — Pattern Text

character vector | string scalar | cell array of character vectors

Pattern text, specified as a character vector, string scalar, or cell array of character vectors.

Data Types: char | string | cell

strarray — Text Array

character array | string array | cell array of character vectors

Text array, specified as a character array, string array, or cell array of character vectors.

Data Types: char | string | cell

Version History

Introduced before R2006a