matlabcsvcell-array

How to convert 1d array of chars from CSV to 2d cell array in Matlab

I have a function I cannot change in Matlab that converts CSV file to a 1d array of chars.

This is an example of what it looks like: array_o_chars = ['1' 'd' ',' ' ' 'a' 'r' 'r' 'a' 'y' '\n' 'o' 'f' ',' ' ' 'c' 'h' 'a' 'r' 's'];

I need to convert it to a 2d "Cell" array for the rest of my code, how do I do it?

Solution

  • The answer is surprisingly simple:

    First, you want to break the char array into the "rows" of the CSV file. Depending on your line ending, you will choose one of these as a delimiter: \n, \r, or a combination of the two. For this example, we are using \n.

    rows = split(array_o_chars, '\n');

    Now that you have your rows, you need to create your columns, this is done in the same manner as your rows, except using , as your delimiter, or in this case , (a comma followed by a space).

    cell_array = split(rows, ', ');

    Now you have the 2d cell array you desire.

    All together now:

    % Test 1d array
array_o_chars = ['1' 'd' ',' ' ' 'a' 'r' 'r' 'a' 'y' '\n' 'o' 'f' ',' ' ' 'c' 'h' 'a' 'r' 's'];

% Conversion to cell array
rows = split(array_o_chars, '\n');
cell_array = split(rows, ', ');

% Show result in Command Window
display(cell_array);

    Output from Matlab:

    cell_array =

  2×2 cell array

    {'1d'}    {'array'}
    {'of'}    {'chars'}