How to sort data once it is read into matlab

I am trying to sort the attached file first by column 1, then by column 3. I have tried the following code:

fid = fopen(filename);

data = textscan(fid, '%s %f %f');

fclose(fid);

matrix_data = [data{:}];

sort_data = sortrows(matrix_data, [1,3]);

This tells me that CAT arguments dimensions are not consistent.

Could someone tell me what is wrong with this code?

Thanks.

[Azzi Abdelmalek]

Type

whos data
whos matrix_data

Answer 1

[Cedric]

The first column of data is a cell array of strings, whereas columns 2 and 3 are numeric arrays. You cannot concatenate them without performing first a conversion. You can also convert numeric arrays to cell arrays and have both strings and numbers in a large cell array. E.g.

 matrix_data = [data{1}, num2cell(data{2}), num2cell(data{3})] ;

or

 matrix_data = [data{1}, num2cell([data{2:3}])] ;

that you can then sort:

 >> sort_data = sortrows(matrix_data, [1,3]) 
 sort_data = 
    'A88888888888888888880011'    [-65]    [ 1]
    'A88888888888888888880011'    [-52]    [ 2]
    'A88888888888888888880011'    [-64]    [ 3]
    'A88888888888888888880011'    [-52]    [ 4]
    'A88888888888888888880011'    [-57]    [ 5]
    'A88888888888888888880011'    [-65]    [ 6]
    'A88888888888888888880011'    [-57]    [ 7]
    'A88888888888888888880011'    [-55]    [ 8]
    'A88888888888888888880012'    [-66]    [ 9]
    'A88888888888888888880012'    [-52]    [10]
    'A88888888888888888880012'    [-68]    [11]
    'A88888888888888888880012'    [-64]    [12]
    'A88888888888888888880012'    [-44]    [13]
    'A88888888888888888880012'    [-64]    [14]
    'A88888888888888888880012'    [-40]    [15]
    'A88888888888888888880012'    [-51]    [16]
    'A88888888888888888880013'    [-55]    [17]
    'A88888888888888888880013'    [-57]    [18]
    'A88888888888888888880013'    [-49]    [19]
    'A88888888888888888880013'    [-47]    [20]
    'A88888888888888888880013'    [-64]    [21]
    'A88888888888888888880013'    [-60]    [22]
    'A88888888888888888880013'    [-67]    [23]
    'A88888888888888888880013'    [-61]    [24]

Answer 2

[Vivek Selvam]

This should solve your problem.

data = textscan(fid, '%s %s %s');

instead of

data = textscan(fid, '%s %f %f');

[Cedric]

Careful if you are comparing numbers which can change sign though, as this is sorting strings only:

 >> sortrows( {'-88'; '-8'; '9'} )
 ans = 
    '-8'
    '-88'
    '9'