Extract numbers from char type
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how can I extract the numbers from a character array value of '4.64 km' and return them as 4.64?
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Accepted Answer
Star Strider
on 18 Oct 2022
Edited: Star Strider
on 18 Oct 2022
Probably the easiest way —
s = '4.64 km';
c = regexp(s, '\d*\.\d*|\d*', 'match')
n = str2double(c)
EDIT — (18 Oct 2022 at 19:38)
In the event any of the numbers are negative —
s = '4.64 -42 2 -3.14 km';
c = regexp(s, '(\-\d*|\d*)\.\d*|(\-\d*|\d*)', 'match')
n = str2double(c)
.
4 Comments
Star Strider
on 19 Oct 2022
I saw that and wondered, however I did not change my answer, and just learned from the important parts of your syntax.
More Answers (2)
Les Beckham
on 18 Oct 2022
Or, in one line of code:
s = '4.64 km';
num = sscanf(s, '%f') % num will be a double
1 Comment
Walter Roberson
on 18 Oct 2022
Yes this works well when the number is at the beginning. You can also put literal text into the format if you expect an exact match.
The suggestions to use regexp to extract the text of the number work well when you need flexibility.
In cases where you have tables of text see textscan() which can be used on a character vector that has embedded newlines.
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