How to access elements in a convoluted cell array.

Hello and happy holidays to everyone.

I have an convoluted cell array IZ, with the size 1x12, that looks like this

IZ = 

Columns 1 through 7

    '4   8  12  16'    '15  26  30  34'    '4   8  12  16'    '4   8  12  16'    '4  15  17  21'    '3   7   9  28'    '3   7   9  28'

Columns 8 through 12

    '3   7   9  28'    '3   7   9  28'    '3  14  16  35'    '3  14  16  35'    '3   9  11  30'

I know, I can access the single columns by typing IZ{x}, where x is the column index. But how can I access for example say third element of first column? Many thanks and greetings.

Answer 1

[Jan]

What is "the 3rd element of the 1st column"? Do you mean the 12 as a number?

IZ = {'4   8  12  16', '15  26  30  34', '4   8  12  16'}  % The rest does not matter here
FirstCol = IZ{1};
Number   = sscanf(FirstCol, '%f');
Value    = Number(3)

Or is the "3rd element" the 3rd character of the string? Please clarify this.

[jungdnb]

I mean the number 12 as a number. I don't understand the line FirstCol = IZ{1}, is 1 the index of first column? I try your suggestion like this:

for idx=1:length(IZ) 
 Col = IZ{idx};
 Number   = sscanf(Col, '%f');
 Value    = Number(3)
end

Thank you, it works perfect.

Answer 2

[Image Analyst]

I don't know what convoluted means. To me it means very complicated but some people use it to mean "convolved" like the result of a convolution operation. Anyway.....

Try this:

IZ = {'4   8  12  16',...
  '15  26  30  34',...
  '4   8  12  16',...
  '4   8  12  16',...
  '4  15  17  21',...
  '3   7   9  28',...
  '3   7   9  28',...
  '3   7   9  28',...
  '3   7   9  28',...
  '3  14  16  35',...
  '3  14  16  35',...
  '3   9  11  30'} 
% IZ is a row vector of cells with 12 columns - "1×12 cell array"
% First get the first cell contents.
% First column is a string with 4 numbers and spaces in it.
col1String = IZ{1} % Extract contents into a string '4   8  12  16'

% Get third element of the first column.
% The third element of that string is a space.
element3 = col1String(3)  % This will be a space.

[jungdnb]

Thx, this is also useful for me, but for antoher problem. I meant with "third element" the number 12, or with ongoing number of columns, numbers 30, 17, 9, 16, etc.

[Image Analyst]

I think the FAQ might also help you understand cell arrays: http://matlab.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ#What_is_a_cell_array.3F