Referring to variables with concatenated strings

I want to run a loop that will apply the same functions to many sets of data. For example the data names are named by putting the sensor type first, then what is been recorded, then what recording it is, for example

accel_cycle_1 gyro_run_4

In each variable there is 3 columns of data. I can concatenate the sensor type, data type and the number. I then want to refer to specific columns in the variables with a function I made for each concatenated string, but matlab assigns values to the letter of the string rather than referring to variable of that name. Is it possible to do this? Thanks

[Stephen23]

Use indices instead of creating variable names dynamically. Read the answers to know why!

Answer 1

[James Tursa]

Yes it is possible to do this using eval, but please do not do this! There are much better ways to organize your data using cell or struct arrays. E.g., see these links:

http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/57445-faq-how-can-i-create-variables-a1-a2-a10-in-a-loop

http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/143-how-do-i-make-a-series-of-variables-a1-a2-a3-a10

Answer 2

[Stephen23]

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_prog/string-evaluation.html

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/304528-tutorial-why-variables-should-not-be-named-dynamically-eval

[Ross Boland]

That's very helpful, Thanks

Answer 3

[Matt J]

You should not be using parts of a variable's name to index data. You should be using indices to index data. E.g., instead of

   A1=5;
   A2=10;

you should be doing

    A(1)=5;
    A(2)=10;

or other indexing types like cell array indexing.