Matlab examples of "regexp" where "expression" is a string array or cell array of characters?

The documentation for regexp seem to only illustrate use cases for which the "expression" argument is a single regular expression.

Are there online examples of use cases in which the "expression" argument consists of a string array or a cell array of characters?

Answer 1

[the cyclist]

I'm not sure what you are looking for, but the function's behavior generalizes as you might expect:

str = "it is what it is";

out_single = regexp(str,"it")

out_single = 1×2

1 12

out_multi = regexp(str,["it";"is"])

out_multi = 2×1 cell array
    {[1 12]}
    {[4 15]}

[FM]

Thanks, cyclist. I actually didn't have any preconceptions or expectations, which is why I found it odd that the documentation didn't describe this use case. I speculated that it may replace the regular expression "|" operator and allow for cleaner code, but I wasn't sure how to use it. Your example showed that my speculation was off track.

Afternote: I'm rediscovering the "contains" command, which seems to yield much more readable code for simple text searches. For regular expressions, however, I think there is benefit to "regexp" because it avoids the extra layer of knowledge needed to utilize Matlab "patterns".

Not that I find anything wrong with patterns. They are more readable than regular expressions in many cases. It's more a matter of introducing yet another way to do some of what regular expressions do, but not the more sophisticated stuff. With limited brain capacity, I'd rather go with one way.

I choose to go with regular expressions for a number of reasons. I already know regular expressions. They are more powerful. There is more documentation on them. Regular expression skills are transferrable across platforms/environments. And consequently, you can leverage experience in regular expressions from other platforms/environments.

These benefits of regular expressions do not necessarily hold for everyone, so I can see how Matlab patterns have a place.