How can I convert table of chars to array of strings?

Hello,

I have table variable (Input_table) like this

''1'' ''8'' ''2'' ''5'' '1' '1' ''Z'' ''F'' ''1'' ''3'' ''C'' ''5'' ''Y'' ''U'' ''4'' ''Q'' ''3''

''4'' ''4'' ''0'' ''9'' '1' '8' ''B'' ''R'' ''1'' ''2'' ''E'' ''8'' ''1'' ''Z'' ''1'' ''N'' ''X''

I want to convert every row into one string so the output to be array of 2 rows

'182511ZF13C5YU4Q3'

'440918BR12E81Z1NX'

I have tried

join(char(table2cell(Input_table))

but I get the error

Error using char
Cell elements must be character arrays.

[madhan ravi]

Share the code that you use to create a table.

[David K.]

Without that, I have a shot in the dark that

answer = cellfun(@char, table2cell(Input_table));

will work for what you want.

[omar khater]

when I tried it the output was :

Error using cellfun
Non-scalar in Uniform output, at index 1,
output 1.
Set 'UniformOutput' to false.

I tried to fix it with

cellfun(@char, table2cell(Input_table),'UniformOutput','false');

the output was

 2×17 cell array

  Columns 1 through 6

    {''1''}    {''8''}    {''2''}    {''5''}    {'1'}    {'1'}
    {''4''}    {''4''}    {''0''}    {''9''}    {'1'}    {'8'}

  Columns 7 through 11

    {''Z''}    {''F''}    {''1''}    {''3''}    {''C''}
    {''B''}    {''R''}    {''1''}    {''2''}    {''E''}

  Columns 12 through 16

    {''5''}    {''Y''}    {''U''}    {''4''}    {''Q''}
    {''8''}    {''1''}    {''Z''}    {''1''}    {''N''}

  Column 17

    {''3''}
    {''X''}

But I want it as in the question:

'182511ZF13C5YU4Q3'

'440918BR12E81Z1NX'

[omar khater]

The table is categroical table. Will the code used to create it make any difference?

[Guillaume]

Can you use valid matlab syntax to show how to create an example of your table, or attach your table as a mat file. Right now, it's very unclear how the data is stored in your table.

Perhaps, you should also explain how the table was created in the first place.

[omar khater]

I imported the data from an excel sheet as categorical array. It was somewhat manual to work to create my table

I attached portion of my table

Answer 1

[Guillaume]

I imported the data from an excel sheet as categorical array. It was somewhat manual to work to create my table

Yes, you made a complete mess of it. And you would be better off asking a new question on how to import the data correctly in the first place, rather than attempting to fix the mess afterward.

All the table variables are indeed categorical. Some of the categories have the quote ' embedded in the category (that is the ' you see when looking at the table is not the ' that matlab typically surround char arrays with, it's actual part of the data), others do not.

The simplest way to fix the mess after the fact:

join(erase(string(Exampletable{:, :}), "'"), '', 2)

which:

• extracts the content of the table as a categorical array
• converts the categorical array into a string array
• erases the ' from the string array
• joins the string array across the column

But again, a better approach would be to import the data correctly in the first place, so ask a new question.

[omar khater]

Thank you for your answer. your line of code works fine as I want.

Returning to your point:

My problem is I have some dataset that I need to apply regression on it. My model works fine with the dataset imported from the excel so I don't think it has a problem. My problem was I need to convert back and forth between the string and table frequently so that I tried to make this function.

Answer 2

[Azzi Abdelmalek]

s={'1' '8' '2' '5' '1' '1' 'Z' 'F' '1' '3' 'C' '5' 'Y' 'U' '4' 'Q' '3'

'4' '4' '0' '9' '1' '8' 'B' 'R' '1' '2' 'E' '8' '1' 'Z' '1' 'N' 'X' }

a=cellstr(reshape([s{:}],size(s)))

[omar khater]

it works with direct cell arrays but doesn't work with table

whe I tried

b = table2cell(Input_table);
a=cellstr(reshape([b{:}],size(b)))

the output was:

2×17 cell array

  Columns 1 through 5

    {''1''}    {''8''}    {''2''}    {''5''}    {'1'}
    {''4''}    {''4''}    {''0''}    {''9''}    {'1'}

  Columns 6 through 10

    {'1'}    {''Z''}    {''F''}    {''1''}    {''3''}
    {'8'}    {''B''}    {''R''}    {''1''}    {''2''}

  Columns 11 through 14

    {''C''}    {''5''}    {''Y''}    {''U''}
    {''E''}    {''8''}    {''1''}    {''Z''}

  Columns 15 through 17

    {''4''}    {''Q''}    {''3''}
    {''1''}    {''N''}    {''X''}

which is not what I want unfortunately

Answer 3

[Azzi Abdelmalek]

s={'1' '8' '2' '5' '1' '1' 'Z' 'F' '1' '3' 'C' '5' 'Y' 'U' '4' 'Q' '3'

'4' '4' '0' '9' '1' '8' 'B' 'R' '1' '2' 'E' '8' '1' 'Z' '1' 'N' 'X' }

a=join(s,2)

You can add a delimiter

a=join(s,'',2)

[omar khater]

With this code i get the nearest solution so far

b = table2cell(Input_table);
a=cellstr(reshape([b{:}],size(b)));
d=join(a,2)

which is

d =

  2×1 cell array

    {''1' '8' '2' '5' 1 1 'Z' 'F' '1' '3' 'C' '5' 'Y' 'U' '4' 'Q' '3''}
    {''4' '4' '0' '9' 1 8 'B' 'R' '1' '2' 'E' '8' '1' 'Z' '1' 'N' 'X''}

but I want to conectnate all row into 1 string