How to get Command Window format for existing 'Cell Arrays' MATLAB

Question

I have a Cell-array created and i want to get the command window format for that cell-array.

For example: I have created a 5x2 cell array using command line:

MyCell = {'time' , 'timestamp';'posX', {'DePositionX', 'DePositionXmm'};'posY',  {'DePositionY', 'DePositionYmm'};'velocityX', 'DeVelocityX';'velocityY', 'DeVelocityY'};

Similarly I have a MxN cell array already created(not by me) and i want to get the structure of that cell in a command window format as shown in the above code. Can you tell me is there any way or commands to get this.

Thanks.

You would need to compose your own string. There is no easy way, no. — Robert Seifert, Nov 09 '16 at 19:29
See if [this](http://stackoverflow.com/a/38553646/2586922) helps — Luis Mendo, Nov 10 '16 at 00:04

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 09 '16 at 22:00

Here's a function that should accomplish what you want. It's a recursive version of Per-Anders Ekstrom's cell2str (https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/13999-cell2str). It should work at least with cell arrays whose elements are (recursively) of type cell, char, numeric, or logical.

function s = cell2str(C)

% input checking
if ~iscell(C) || ~ismatrix(C)
    error('Input must be a 2-d cell array');
end

% get size of input
S = size(C);

% transpose input so will be traversed in rows then columns
C = C.';

% initialize output string with open bracket
s = '{';

% iterate over elements of input cell
for e = 1:numel(C)
    if ischar(C{e}) % if element is char, return a string that will evaluate to that char
        s = [s '''' strrep(C{e},'''','''''') ''''];
    elseif iscell(C{e}) % if element is cell, recurse
        s = [s cell2str(C{e})];
    else % if element is not char or cell, try to convert it using mat2str
        s = [s mat2str(C{e})];
    end
    % add a semicolon if at end of row or a comma otherwise
    if mod(e, S(2))
        s = [s ','];
    else
        s = [s ';'];
    end
end

% complete output string with closing bracket
s = [s '}'];

To check it with the cell array you provided, the statement

isequal(MyCell, eval(cell2str(MyCell)))

evaluates to true.

How to get Command Window format for existing 'Cell Arrays' MATLAB

1 Answers1