Sort cell array by datetime

I want to sort an array, that looks like the one below, by datetime.

70  26-Nov-2020 10:50:29
84  26-Nov-2020 10:00:00
79.5    26-Nov-2020 14:35:20
53  29-Nov-2020 12:31:00

Any idea how to do this?

Answer 1

[Jemima Pulipati]

Hello,

From my understanding, you want to sort the rows in the cell array according to the datetime values mentioned in the column.

You may use the sort() function which sorts the elements of the input in the order specified.

Here is an example code (sorts in ascending order) using the data you mentioned:

% sample cell array
a = {70, '26-Nov-2020 10:50:29';
84,  '26-Nov-2020 10:00:00';
79.5, '26-Nov-2020 14:35:20';
53,  '29-Nov-2020 12:31:00'};
[~, idx] = sort(datenum(a(:,2), 'dd-mm-yyyy hh:MM:ss'), 1, 'ascend');
sortedData = a(idx,:);

Here are some answers from the community which might be of relevance to you:

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/350784-sorting-cell-array-by-date

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/178276-how-to-sort-by-date

[Tycho Maas]

Thanks!

Answer 2

[Eric Sofen]

Even better, since you're working with data where each column has a different type, consider using a timetable.

t = table2timetable(cell2table(a));
t = sortrows(t);