movevars

Move variables in table or timetable

Syntax

T2 = movevars(T1,vars)

T2 = movevars(T1,vars,'After',location)

T2 = movevars(T1,vars,'Before',location)

Description

T2 = movevars(T1,vars) moves the specified variables to the end of the input table. The end is the variable farthest to the right. (since R2023a)

For example, to move a table variable named var3 to the end of T1, use T2 = movevars(T1,'var3'). If the last variable of T1 is named var5, then this syntax moves var3 to the right of var5.

T2 = movevars(T1,vars,'After',location) moves the specified table variables to the right of the table variable indicated by location. You can specify variables and location by name, by position, or by an array of logical indices. The variable specified by location can be any variable in the input table.

For example, to move a table variable named var3 after table variable var5, use T2 = movevars(T1,'var3','After','var5').

• Before R2023a: If you do not know the name or position of the last variable, you can move vars to the end of the table by using the syntax T2 = movevars(T1,vars,'After',width(T1)). The width function returns the number of variables in a table.

T2 = movevars(T1,vars,'Before',location) moves the table variables specified by vars to the left of the variable specified by location.

• To move vars to beginning of the table, use T2 = movevars(T1,vars,'Before',1). The beginning is to the left of the first table variable.

Examples

Move Variable

Create a table and move variables one at a time. You can specify variables by name or by position in the table.

Read data from a spreadsheet into a table. Display the first three rows.

T1 = readtable('outages.csv');
head(T1,3)

       Region           OutageTime        Loss     Customers     RestorationTime          Cause      
    _____________    ________________    ______    __________    ________________    ________________

    {'SouthWest'}    2002-02-01 12:18    458.98    1.8202e+06    2002-02-07 16:50    {'winter storm'}
    {'SouthEast'}    2003-01-23 00:49    530.14    2.1204e+05                 NaT    {'winter storm'}
    {'SouthEast'}    2003-02-07 21:15     289.4    1.4294e+05    2003-02-17 08:14    {'winter storm'}

Move the variable that is named Region so that it is before the variable named Cause.

T2 = movevars(T1,'Region','Before','Cause');
head(T2,3)

       OutageTime        Loss     Customers     RestorationTime        Region             Cause      
    ________________    ______    __________    ________________    _____________    ________________

    2002-02-01 12:18    458.98    1.8202e+06    2002-02-07 16:50    {'SouthWest'}    {'winter storm'}
    2003-01-23 00:49    530.14    2.1204e+05                 NaT    {'SouthEast'}    {'winter storm'}
    2003-02-07 21:15     289.4    1.4294e+05    2003-02-17 08:14    {'SouthEast'}    {'winter storm'}

Move the fourth variable so that it is after the first variable.

T3 = movevars(T2,4,'After',1);
head(T3,3)

       OutageTime       RestorationTime      Loss     Customers        Region             Cause      
    ________________    ________________    ______    __________    _____________    ________________

    2002-02-01 12:18    2002-02-07 16:50    458.98    1.8202e+06    {'SouthWest'}    {'winter storm'}
    2003-01-23 00:49                 NaT    530.14    2.1204e+05    {'SouthEast'}    {'winter storm'}
    2003-02-07 21:15    2003-02-17 08:14     289.4    1.4294e+05    {'SouthEast'}    {'winter storm'}

Specify Multiple Variables

Move multiple table variables using the movevars function. You can specify variables by name or by position.

Read data from a spreadsheet into a table.

T1 = readtable('outages.csv');
head(T1,3)

       Region           OutageTime        Loss     Customers     RestorationTime          Cause      
    _____________    ________________    ______    __________    ________________    ________________

    {'SouthWest'}    2002-02-01 12:18    458.98    1.8202e+06    2002-02-07 16:50    {'winter storm'}
    {'SouthEast'}    2003-01-23 00:49    530.14    2.1204e+05                 NaT    {'winter storm'}
    {'SouthEast'}    2003-02-07 21:15     289.4    1.4294e+05    2003-02-17 08:14    {'winter storm'}

Move the variables named Loss, Customer, and Cause so that they are before the first variable. Specify names using a cell array of character vectors.

T2 = movevars(T1,{'Loss','Customers','Cause'},'Before',1);
head(T2,3)

     Loss     Customers          Cause             Region           OutageTime       RestorationTime 
    ______    __________    ________________    _____________    ________________    ________________

    458.98    1.8202e+06    {'winter storm'}    {'SouthWest'}    2002-02-01 12:18    2002-02-07 16:50
    530.14    2.1204e+05    {'winter storm'}    {'SouthEast'}    2003-01-23 00:49                 NaT
     289.4    1.4294e+05    {'winter storm'}    {'SouthEast'}    2003-02-07 21:15    2003-02-17 08:14

Move the first four variables of T2 so that they are after RestorationTime.

T3 = movevars(T2,[1:4],'After','RestorationTime');
head(T3,3)

       OutageTime       RestorationTime      Loss     Customers          Cause             Region    
    ________________    ________________    ______    __________    ________________    _____________

    2002-02-01 12:18    2002-02-07 16:50    458.98    1.8202e+06    {'winter storm'}    {'SouthWest'}
    2003-01-23 00:49                 NaT    530.14    2.1204e+05    {'winter storm'}    {'SouthEast'}
    2003-02-07 21:15    2003-02-17 08:14     289.4    1.4294e+05    {'winter storm'}    {'SouthEast'}

Input Arguments

T1 — Input table

table | timetable

Input table, specified as a table or timetable.

vars — Variables in input table

string array | character vector | cell array of character vectors | pattern scalar | numeric array | logical array

Variables in the input table, specified as a string array, character vector, cell array of character vectors, pattern scalar, numeric array, or logical array.

location — Location to insert moved variables

character vector | string scalar | integer | logical array

Location to insert moved variables, specified as a character vector, string scalar, integer, or logical array.

• If location is a character vector or string scalar, then it is the name of a variable in the input table T1.

• If location is the integer n, then it specifies the nth variable in T1.

• If location is a logical array, whose nth element is 1 (true), then it specifies the nth variable in T1. All other elements of location must be 0 (false).

Extended Capabilities

Tall Arrays

Calculate with arrays that have more rows than fit in memory.

The movevars function fully supports tall arrays. For more information, see Tall Arrays.

C/C++ Code Generation

Generate C and C++ code using MATLAB® Coder™.

Usage notes and limitations:

• The vars input argument cannot contain duplicate variable names.

• The vars input argument does not support pattern expressions.

For more information, see Code Generation for Tables (MATLAB Coder) and Table Limitations for Code Generation (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.

Distributed Arrays

Partition large arrays across the combined memory of your cluster using Parallel Computing Toolbox™.

This function fully supports distributed arrays. For more information, see Run MATLAB Functions with Distributed Arrays (Parallel Computing Toolbox).

Version History

Introduced in R2018a

R2023a: Move table variables after last variable without After name-value argument

You can now move variables after the last variable without specifying the After name-value argument. In previous releases, calling movevars without specifying either the After or Before name-value argument resulted in an error.