why is my cell array being read as char

I am defining two 2 parameters the same way but they are recognized differently in my code

Reference_stations = {'NUF','BRA','RFL'};
Reference_station_salinity = {'SPO','NUF','BRA','RFL'}; 
disp(class(Reference_stations));

cell

disp(class(Reference_station_salinity));

cell

[Mathieu NOE]

I got "cell" in both cases on my R2020b / windows 10 PC

[janas]

It is weird, when I type it in the command window, it is read as "cell". But when I run my code, it changes back to char.

Answer 1

[Image Analyst]

Are you sure you're getting the class of the whole cell array instead of the class of one of the contents of one cell in the array?

Reference_stations = {'NUF','BRA','RFL'};
Reference_station_salinity = {'SPO','NUF','BRA','RFL'}; 
disp(class(Reference_stations));

cell

disp(class(Reference_station_salinity));

cell

% Get class of just one cell in the array.
disp(class(Reference_stations(1)));

cell

disp(class(Reference_station_salinity(1)));

cell

% Get class of just one cell's CONTENTS in the array.
disp(class(Reference_stations{1}));

char

disp(class(Reference_station_salinity{1}));

char

See the FAQ to know when to use parentheses, braces, or brackets:

What is a cell array