error Undefined operator '.*' for input arguments of type 'table'.

Hi guys,

I am still a beginner with Matlab and I am trying to use the IP-VAR toolbox of Weber and Towbin ( http://sebastianweber.weebly.com/codes.html) . Unfortunatly I am running into an error when I am estimating my InteractPvar. The error indicates " error Undefined operator '.*' for input arguments of type 'table'. "

Does anyone know what is happening here? I have indicated the line with the Error below.

Many thanks in advance!

Kind regards,

Kiethan

%-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
% CREATE REGRESSORS
%----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

for i=1:lag+1
    Xn(i).X = [];
end

for i=1:lag+1
for j=1:I
    X=[];
    for nx=1:Kx
        Xh=[];
        for nint=1:Ki

            start = 1+lag+(j-1)*time;
            ende  = j*time;

            if i==lag+1
            Xh=[Xh ydata(i+(j-1)*time:j*time-lag-1+i,nx).*Idata(start:ende,nint)];  
            else
 % --> this is the line with the error according to Matlab --> Xh=[Xh xdata(i+(j-1)*time:j*time-lag-1+i,nx).*Idata(start:ende,nint)];  
            end
        end
        if i==lag+1
        Xh=[ydata(i+(j-1)*time:j*time-lag-1+i,nx) Xh];
        else
        Xh=[xdata(i+(j-1)*time:j*time-lag-1+i,nx) Xh];
        end
        X=[X Xh];
    end
    Xhelp(j).X(:,:) = X;
    Xn(i).X = [Xn(i).X
              Xhelp(j).X];
    clear X
end
    XX(i).X = Xn(i).X;
    clear Xhelp(j).X   Xn(i).X
end

%  added to include interaction
Idata2=[];
for i=1:I 
 
        start = (i-1)*time;
        ende  = i*time;

    Idatah = Idata(1+lag+start:ende,:); % Idata(1+lag+(j-1)*time:j*time,:) for time t;
    Idata2=  [Idata2
               Idatah];
    clear Idatah
end

% Create intercept
X = ones(size(XX(1).X,1),1);

% Create intercept interactions
Xinter=[];
for nint=1:Ki
   Xinter=[Xinter X.*Idata2(:,nint)];  %  added to include interaction
end

 X=[X Xinter]; %  added to include interaction
%don't include constant (for fixed effects)
%X=[Xinter];
% Create Regressors (NOTE: THE ORDER IS REVERSED, i.e. XX(2).X is the first
% lag in a PVAR(2) and XX(1).X is the second lag!!)
for i=1:lag+1
    X = [XX(i).X X];   
end

Answer 1

[Stephen23]

The problem is very simple: you are using the wrong type of indexing: instead of () you should be using {} to access the contents of tables. This is explained in the MATLAB documentation:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_prog/access-data-in-a-table.html

The rule is the same for container arrays (e.g. cell, string, table):

• () parentheses refer to the container array itself.
• {} curly braces refer to the contents of the container array.

[Kiethan Vijayabalan]

Hi Stephen,

My apologies for this utterly late reply. I did not think that my question would be answered this swiftly!

Thanks for taking the time and making the effort to assist me!

So in the end I found out that the mistake was in the way I imported the excel data into Matlab. It should have been a matrix, but it was imported as a table. Luckily that is fixed right now!

However, I am completely stuck on something else with the toolbox ( mostly questions related to pre-and post- estimation of the IP-VAR).

Do you maybe have experience with the toolbox, or are you aware of any posts about the IP-VAR toolbox of Weber and Towbin?

Kind regards,

Kiethan Vijayabalan