blanks

Create character array of blanks

Syntax

chr = blanks(n)

Description

Note

pad is recommended over blanks because it provides greater flexibility and allows vectorization. For additional information, see Alternative Functionality.

chr = blanks(n) returns a 1-by-n array of space characters.

Examples

Create Array of Blanks

Create an array of five blanks. To display it, embed it in a character array that starts and ends with a visible character.

b = blanks(5);
chr = ['|' b '|']

chr = 
'|     |'

Embed the blanks in a string and display the string. You can create strings using double quotes.

str = "Due Date:" + b + "2017-01-13"

str = 
"Due Date:     2017-01-13"

Input Arguments

n — Number of space characters

integer

Number of space characters, specified as an integer.

• If n is 0, then blanks returns a 1-by-0 character array.

• If n is less than 0, then blanks treats it as 0.

Data Types: double | single | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64

Alternative Functionality

Update code that makes use of blanks to use pad instead. Unlike blanks, which creates a new character vector of whitespace characters, pad adds whitespace characters to an existing piece of text and returns the same data-type as the input. For example:

Not Recommended	Recommended
str = blanks(5) str = ' '	str = pad("",5) str = " "

Extended Capabilities

C/C++ Code Generation
Generate C and C++ code using MATLAB® Coder™.

Thread-Based Environment

Run code in the background using MATLAB® backgroundPool or accelerate code with Parallel Computing Toolbox™ ThreadPool.

This function fully supports thread-based environments. For more information, see Run MATLAB Functions in Thread-Based Environment.

Version History

Introduced before R2006a