How can I convert table of chars to array of strings?

Asked by omar khater on 7 Aug 2019

Latest activity Commented on by omar khater on 8 Aug 2019

Accepted Answer by Guillaume

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Hello,

I have table variable (Input_table) like this

''1'' ''8'' ''2'' ''5'' '1' '1' ''Z'' ''F'' ''1'' ''3'' ''C'' ''5'' ''Y'' ''U'' ''4'' ''Q'' ''3''

''4'' ''4'' ''0'' ''9'' '1' '8' ''B'' ''R'' ''1'' ''2'' ''E'' ''8'' ''1'' ''Z'' ''1'' ''N'' ''X''

I want to convert every row into one string so the output to be array of 2 rows

'182511ZF13C5YU4Q3'

'440918BR12E81Z1NX'

I have tried

join(char(table2cell(Input_table))

but I get the error

Error using char
Cell elements must be character arrays.

6 Comments

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omar khater on 7 Aug 2019

The table is categroical table. Will the code used to create it make any difference?

Guillaume on 7 Aug 2019

Can you use valid matlab syntax to show how to create an example of your table, or attach your table as a mat file. Right now, it's very unclear how the data is stored in your table.

Perhaps, you should also explain how the table was created in the first place.

omar khater on 7 Aug 2019

ExampleTable.mat

I imported the data from an excel sheet as categorical array. It was somewhat manual to work to create my table

I attached portion of my table

Products

MATLAB

Release

R2018b

3 Answers

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Answer by Guillaume on 7 Aug 2019

Accepted Answer

I imported the data from an excel sheet as categorical array. It was somewhat manual to work to create my table

Yes, you made a complete mess of it. And you would be better off asking a new question on how to import the data correctly in the first place, rather than attempting to fix the mess afterward.

All the table variables are indeed categorical. Some of the categories have the quote ' embedded in the category (that is the ' you see when looking at the table is not the ' that matlab typically surround char arrays with, it's actual part of the data), others do not.

The simplest way to fix the mess after the fact:

join(erase(string(Exampletable{:, :}), "'"), '', 2)

which:

extracts the content of the table as a categorical array
converts the categorical array into a string array
erases the ' from the string array
joins the string array across the column

But again, a better approach would be to import the data correctly in the first place, so ask a new question.

1 Comment

omar khater on 8 Aug 2019

Thank you for your answer. your line of code works fine as I want.

Returning to your point:

My problem is I have some dataset that I need to apply regression on it. My model works fine with the dataset imported from the excel so I don't think it has a problem. My problem was I need to convert back and forth between the string and table frequently so that I tried to make this function.

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Answer by Azzi Abdelmalek on 7 Aug 2019

s={'1' '8' '2' '5' '1' '1' 'Z' 'F' '1' '3' 'C' '5' 'Y' 'U' '4' 'Q' '3'

'4' '4' '0' '9' '1' '8' 'B' 'R' '1' '2' 'E' '8' '1' 'Z' '1' 'N' 'X' }

a=cellstr(reshape([s{:}],size(s)))

1 Comment

omar khater on 7 Aug 2019

it works with direct cell arrays but doesn't work with table

whe I tried

b = table2cell(Input_table);
a=cellstr(reshape([b{:}],size(b)))

the output was:

2×17 cell array
  Columns 1 through 5
    {''1''}    {''8''}    {''2''}    {''5''}    {'1'}
    {''4''}    {''4''}    {''0''}    {''9''}    {'1'}
  Columns 6 through 10
    {'1'}    {''Z''}    {''F''}    {''1''}    {''3''}
    {'8'}    {''B''}    {''R''}    {''1''}    {''2''}
  Columns 11 through 14
    {''C''}    {''5''}    {''Y''}    {''U''}
    {''E''}    {''8''}    {''1''}    {''Z''}
  Columns 15 through 17
    {''4''}    {''Q''}    {''3''}
    {''1''}    {''N''}    {''X''}

which is not what I want unfortunately

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Answer by Azzi Abdelmalek on 7 Aug 2019

Edited by Azzi Abdelmalek on 7 Aug 2019

s={'1' '8' '2' '5' '1' '1' 'Z' 'F' '1' '3' 'C' '5' 'Y' 'U' '4' 'Q' '3'

'4' '4' '0' '9' '1' '8' 'B' 'R' '1' '2' 'E' '8' '1' 'Z' '1' 'N' 'X' }

a=join(s,2)

You can add a delimiter

a=join(s,'',2)

1 Comment

omar khater on 7 Aug 2019

With this code i get the nearest solution so far

b = table2cell(Input_table);
a=cellstr(reshape([b{:}],size(b)));
d=join(a,2)

which is

d =
  2×1 cell array
    {''1' '8' '2' '5' 1 1 'Z' 'F' '1' '3' 'C' '5' 'Y' 'U' '4' 'Q' '3''}
    {''4' '4' '0' '9' 1 8 'B' 'R' '1' '2' 'E' '8' '1' 'Z' '1' 'N' 'X''}

but I want to conectnate all row into 1 string

Products

MATLAB

Release

R2018b

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