How to convert string to array

I have a list of names in a string variable ( for example "'a','b','c'") and i need to convert it to an array [a;b;c]. is there a way to do this? thank you!

[Stephen23]

If you are trying to access variables dynamically using string names, then read this:

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/304528-tutorial-why-variables-should-not-be-named-dynamically-eval

Answer 1

[amine&&]

Hello, you can see the documentation for str2num() in https://fr.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/str2num.html.

Answer 2

[mor zarfati]

hi, my variables are not numbers, they are gene names so i cannot convert to numbers. thank you!

[amine&&]

Hello, you can see this function cell2mat() in https://fr.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/cell2mat.html .

Answer 3

[Image Analyst]

Use char:

% Define cell array of strings:
ca = {'a','b','c', 'demo', 'long string'}
% Make character array
charArray = char(ca)

Shows:

ca =
  1×5 cell array
    'a'    'b'    'c'    'demo'    'long string'
charArray =
a          
b          
c          
demo       
long string

Answer 4

[Shayla Lussiné]

It is not necessary to convert it in a array 'cuz when you enter the text, this is already an array of characters. For example, if you enter text = 'hello', when you put text(1) the result will be 'h'. It's just like with the numbers.

[Image Analyst]

text is a built in function and should not be used for variable names. I think what you meant was

plot((1 : 5), randi(8, 1, 5), 'b.-', 'LineWidth', 2);
grid on;
str = 'Hello Shayla';
x = 2;
y = 5; % Whatever.
text(x, y, str, 'FontSize', 30, 'FontWeight', 'bold', 'Color', 'r');
text(x, 4, str(1), 'FontSize', 30, 'FontWeight', 'bold', 'Color', 'm');

[Shayla Lussiné]

I didn't knew that, and thanks for the correction. What I mean was if you insert a string of characters in a variable and if you want to use one of the letters you just simply type the position. Like

my_variable='abc'

%in case "abc" then just char(my_variable)

my_variable(1)