Saving a struct to a text file exactly how it appears in command window

Hello, I have a struct called settings. I am wanting to save it to a text file in an easily readable format. Im trying to avoid manually using fprintf and have used the table apporach as:

            path='F:\settings.txt';
            settings = struct;   %Create structure called settings    
            settings.exposure_ms=num2str(app.ExposuremsEditField.Value);           
            settings.gain=app.GainDropDown.Value;           
            settings.BlueLaser_mA=num2str(app.mABlueEditField.Value);         
            settings.GreenLaser_mA=num2str(app.mAGreenEditField.Value);
            settings.date= datestr(now,'dd-mmm-yyyy HH-MM-SS');   %get current dateTime 
            settings
            T=struct2table(settings)
            class(T)
            writetable(T, path,'Delimiter','tab')
            

However, this gives the field names as "headings" in the table and as they don't align up in a normal text file is quite difficult to read.

I am wanting to get the text file more in the format of the struc itself (i.e. settings), i.e. rows are field names, then on the same row the field value

I have played with other snippeds I've googled but none are letting me do what I want to do.

%    M = cell2mat(struct2cell(settings(:)).')
%    writematrix(M, path);

or

%   T2= rows2vars(T)
%   T.Properties
%   Tc=table2cell(T)  
%   Tt = cell2table(Tc','RowNames',T.Properties.VariableNames,'VariableNames',T.Properties.DimensionNames)

[Steven Lord]

I recommend you choose a different name for your struct array as settings is a function in MATLAB.

[Jason]

OK, thanks for passing that info!

Answer 1

[Les Beckham]

Here is one approach.

path='F:\settings.txt';
settings = struct;   %Create structure called settings    
% settings.exposure_ms=num2str(app.ExposuremsEditField.Value); 
settings.exposure_ms = 200; % << test value
% settings.gain=app.GainDropDown.Value;
settings.gain = 0; % << test value
% settings.BlueLaser_mA=num2str(app.mABlueEditField.Value);
settings.BlueLaser_mA = 300; % << test value
% settings.GreenLaser_mA=num2str(app.mAGreenEditField.Value);
settings.BlueLaser_mA = 290; % << test value
settings.date= datestr(now,'dd-mmm-yyyy HH-MM-SS');   %get current dateTime 
settings

settings = struct with fields:
     exposure_ms: 200
            gain: 0
    BlueLaser_mA: 290
            date: '24-May-2023 15-38-05'

% T=struct2table(settings)
% class(T)
% writetable(T, path,'Delimiter','tab')
str = formattedDisplayText(settings);
writelines(str, 'settings.txt');
system('cat settings.txt');

     exposure_ms: 200
            gain: 0
    BlueLaser_mA: 290
            date: '24-May-2023 15-38-05'

[Jason]

wow thats awesome - I've not come across formattedDisplayText before,

Also what does the last line with system do?

[Les Beckham]

The system command is just to display the contents of the text file that was written with the writelines command.

Steven Lord's comment above is a good one. Consider changing the name of your structure.

Also (even more importantly), don't name a variable "path" as that is a crucial keyword in Matlab. Call it "filePath" or anything else you want, just not "path".

If this answer solved your issue, please consider accepting it by clicking "Accept this Answer". Thanks.