problem with datenum

Hi everybody!!

I have one quick question. I´m trying to convert the dates and the timestamps of my .mat file into numbers using datenum. Dates and timestamps are in different columns, but the problem is that when I type

date=dataFile(:,1);
timestamp=dataFile(:,2);
datenumber=datenum(date,'dd.mm.yy');
timestampnumber=datenum(timestamp,'dd.mm.yy');
I get the message error 
??? Error using ==> datenum at 182
DATENUM failed.

Caused by: Error using ==> datevec at 110 The input to DATEVEC was not an array of strings.

However, if I type

datafile=(finalData{:,2});
data2num=datenum(datafile); 
it works but just for the first element of the dates, but I need all the elements not just one. Do you have any ideas how can I solve this?

Just one extra detail, when I type whos this is what i get

EDU>> whos date timestamp
  Name               Size              Bytes  Class    Attributes

    date           31591x1             4296376  cell               
    timestamp      31591x1             4296376  cell

I hope you could help me out with this problem

thank you and have a nice day :)

[Lu]

Sorry , I made one tiny mistake in explaining my problem, it should be

timestampnumber=datenum(timestamp,'HH:MM:SS);

but the problem of datenum persists :(

Any help is welcomed :)

[Andrei Bobrov]

Give part of your variables: datafile, finalData

[Lu]

19.10.09

[Lu]

I dont know what is wrong, but this website keeps erasing my comments.

Basically, the dates look like 19.10.09 and the timestamps look like '08:55:02'. I think the colums are 31591x1 cells. Do you have any idea of how to make datenum work? or how else could I build 15-minutes intervals of my data set without using datenum?? Thank you so much for your help :)

[Walter Roberson]

Lourdes, if you happen to enter a line that begins and ends with either double-quote or apostrophe, then there is a bug in the recording that causes it to throw away everything else in the comment :(

[Lu]

Thank you for pointing this out! I didnt know that but I sure wrote stuff starting with apostrophe! :)

Answer 1

[Laura Proctor]

I believe that the error is being thrown when you are trying to create datenumber. This could be because date contains a cell array of cells. Try the following code to see if this works:

datenumber = datenum([date{:}],'dd.mm.yy');

[Lu]

Dear Laura,

Thank you so much for your help! It worked out!!

Have a nice day :)

[Laura Proctor]

I'm so glad we were able to finally get to a resolution! Good luck with your work. :o)