How do I assign part of a matrix to be a variable

I have a 9x10 matrix of data and I want to assign the first 3 rows to one variable then 4 through 6 rows to the second variable and then 7 through 9 to the last variable.

How do I do this while making sure I get all 10 columns in each row along with the rows?

[Valerie McCarron]

How would this be done for columns instead of rows?

[Walter Roberson]

data=rand(9,10);%generate some random data
a=data(:,1:3);
b=data(:,4:6);
c=data(:,7:9);
d=data(:,10);

Answer 1

[Rik]

data=rand(9,10);%generate some random data
a=data(1:3,:);
b=data(4:6,:);
c=data(7:9,:);

Answer 2

[Torsten]

A1 = A(1:3,:);
A2 = A(4:6,:);
A3 = A(7:9,:);