Converting a Cell of Cells into an Array of a String Column and Double Column

I have a 5x2 cell made up of cells. It is set up like this:

Red Car 50

Blue Car 45

Green Car 30

Black Car 60

Yellow Car 55

I need to convert the first column into strings, and the second column into a double. Is there anyway I can do this easily?

[matquest]

I think we need a little more information. Are both columns currently strings? E.g.,

cell_array = {{'Red Car'},{'50'}; {'Blue Car'}, {'45'}};

Or is one column a string and the other a double? E.g.,

cell_array = {{'Red Car'},{50}; {'Blue Car'}, {45}};

Secondly, what is the end goal? Do you want two separate arrays? Or do you want a single array and to change the type in each column?

[Pat]

So right now it is stored as a cell of cells, where the first column is car types and the second column is speeds.

Both columns are currently stored as cells.

I need the first column to be a string and the second column to be a double.

The end goal is to plot a histogram of all speeds under a certain speed, and return a list with all of the associated strings.

Answer 1

[Cris LaPierre]

Arrays do not support mixed data types. Cells do, which is why your data is probably stored in a cell array. Something that does meet your objectives is a table. So if I had a 5x2 cell array carData

carData =

  5×2 cell array

    {'Red Car'   }    {[50]}
    {'Blue Car'  }    {[45]}
    {'Green Car' }    {[30]}
    {'Black Car' }    {[60]}
    {'Yellow Car'}    {[55]}
    

I could use the function cell2table to make it a table where the first column (called a variable) is car type, and the second is car speed.

carTbl = cell2table(carData,'VariableNames',{'Car','Speed'})

carTbl =

  5×2 table

         Car          Speed
    ______________    _____

    {'Red Car'   }     50  
    {'Blue Car'  }     45  
    {'Green Car' }     30  
    {'Black Car' }     60  
    {'Yellow Car'}     55