Index in position 2 exceeds array bounds (must not exceed 6).

clear all
clc 
% creates grid (horizontal)
hx0 = [0, 10]; hy0 = [0, 0];
hx1 = [0, 10]; hy1 = [1, 1];
hx2 = [0, 10]; hy2 = [2, 2];
hx3 = [0, 10]; hy3 = [3, 3];
hx4 = [0, 10]; hy4 = [4, 4];
hx5 = [0, 10]; hy5 = [5, 5];
hx6 = [0, 10]; hy6 = [6, 6];
hx7 = [0, 10]; hy7 = [7,7];
hx8 = [0, 10]; hy8 = [8,8];
hx9 = [0, 10]; hy9 = [9,9];
hx10 = [0, 10]; hy10 = [10,10];
% creates grid (vertical)
vx0 = [0, 0]; vy0 = [0, 10];
vx1 = [1, 1]; vy1 = [0, 10];
vx2 = [2, 2]; vy2 = [0, 10];
vx3 = [3, 3]; vy3 = [0, 10];
vx4 = [4, 4]; vy4 = [0, 10];
vx5 = [5, 5]; vy5 = [0, 10];
vx6 = [6, 6]; vy6 = [0, 10];
vx7 = [7, 7]; vy7 = [0, 10];
vx8 = [8, 8]; vy8 = [0, 10];
vx9 = [9, 9]; vy9 = [0, 10];
vx10 = [10, 10]; vy10 = [0, 10];
plot(hx1,hy1,'b',hx2,hy2,'b',hx3,hy3,'b',hx4,hy4,'b',hx5,hy5,'b',...
    hx6,hy6,'b',hx7,hy7,'b',...
	hx8,hy8,'b',hx9,hy9,'b',hx10,hy10,'b',vx0, vy0, 'b', vx1, vy1, 'b',...
    vx2, vy2, 'b', vx3, vy3, 'b', vx4, vy4, 'b', vx5, vy5, 'b', vx6, vy6, 'b', ...
	vx7, vy7, 'b',vx8,vy8,'b',vx9,vy9,'b',vx10,vy10,'b')

% creates alphabet array
alpha26 = {'A','B','C','D','E','F','G','H','I','J','K','L',...
	'M','N','O','P','Q','R','S','T','U','V','W','X','Y','Z'};
 
% inputs first word
word1 = {'A','L','P','A','C','A'};
% generates random letters

for i = 1:10
   for j = 1:10
	ws{i,j} = alpha26{randi([1,26],1)};
   end
end
search = 10;

% puts random letters in the grid
for p=1:search
	for n = 1:search
	te1 = text(p-0.5, n-0.5 , ws{p,n}, ...
    	'fontsize', 20, 'horizontalalignment', 'center');
	set(te1, 'color', 'k')
	
	end	
end
search = 10;
lo = randi(10)-0.5;
po = randi(5) - 0.5;
chance=randi(2);
% puts letters of first word in the grid
for p = 1:search
for n = 1:search
        if chance==1
	te1 = text(lo, po , word1(p,n), ...
    	'fontsize', 20, 'horizontalalignment', 'center');
    	elseif chance==2
	set(te1, 'color', 'k')
	te1 = text(po, lo , word1(p,n), ...
    	'fontsize', 20, 'horizontalalignment', 'center');
	set(te1, 'color', 'k')
        end 
po = po + 1;
end
end

I am trying to create a 10 x 10 word search but I keep getting an error message [below] and I do not know how to fix the situation. All help is appreciated.

Index in position 2 exceeds array bounds (must not exceed 6).

Error in WordSearch (line 69)
	te1 = text(po, lo , word1(p,n), ...

[Guillaume]

% creates grid (horizontal)
%followed by a bunch of numbered variables (Don't number variables!)
%and some plot

How about?

xlim([0 10]);
ylim([0 10]);
grid('on');

So much simpler!

[Walter Roberson]

word1 = {'A', 'L', 'P', 'A', 'C', 'A'};

creates a 1 x 6 cell array.

search = 10;
for p = 1:search
    for n = 1:search
          te1 = text(lo, po, word1(p,n), ...)
    end
end

tries to access the 1 x 6 cell array at indices up to (10, 10) . But only up to (1,6) exist.

Answer 1

[Guillaume]

Your code:

word1 = {'A','L','P','A','C','A'};

so, word1 is a 1x6 cell array, 1 row, 6 columns

search = 10;
for p = 1:search
    for n = 1:search
                .. word1(p,n)

so yes, it's going to cause an index exceeds matrix dimension error, for any p greater than 1 (you go up to 10) and any n greater than 6 (again you go up to 10).

It's unclear what you're trying to do here. But clearly if you have only 6 elements, trying to access elements 7 to 100 is not going to work.

Note that if all you're going to store in your cell arrays are single letters, you'd be better off using matrices instead. It would made your life easier (but certainly wouldn't solve the above problem). e.g:

alpha26 = 'A':'Z';  %char vector
ws = alpha26(randi(26), 10, 10);  %10x10 matrix of random characters

Perhaps you meant to use ws in your loop instead of word1.

[Nydea Ortega]

Is there a way in which we could delete the letters inside the existing matrix so that the letters don't overlap?

[Walter Roberson]

If you are referring to overlapping on the display, then you would need to delete the corresponding text() object.

You could, for example, keep a 10 x 10 array of handles, such as

thand = gobjects(10,10);

Then as you go to text a letter into place, you could

delete(thand(p,n));
thand(p,n) = text(...)

Though you should consider just creating the 10 x 10 array of text() with string set to blank, and then as you go to put a character there, just update the String property of the corresponding handle instead of creating a new text object.