Read custom time format from txt or xlsx file

Hi

I'm having some trouble with the time stamp from a dataset.

The data is pulled from LabVIEW and gives the following timestamp to each reading.

it represents HHmmss,sss but i can't find a way to convert it into HH:mm:ss,sss.

Best Regards

Answer 1

[Rik]

As long as you process each line as a char array it is as easy as simply inserting the colons:

%read your file to cellstr with my readfile function, or to a string vector
%with readlines (R2020b or later)
data={'Time';'083550,422';'083550,923';'083551,424'};
time_list=data(2:end);
for n=1:numel(time_list)
    tmp=time_list{n};
    tmp=[tmp(1:2),':',tmp(3:4),':',tmp(5:end)];
    time_list{n}=tmp;
end
time_list

time_list = 3×1 cell array
    {'08:35:50,422'}
    {'08:35:50,923'}
    {'08:35:51,424'}

[Mads Lysbeck Nymann]

Yeah, but i can't seem to get it to read as a char array.

I have Matlab R2021a but the readlines function can't read my txt or xlsx file.

Is there a way to read it as a number?

[Rik]

Please attach the txt file to your question. That way I can test with your file specifically.

Also, if you are encountering any errors, you should describe them. The only response to 'it doesn't work' is 'then try something else'.

[Mads Lysbeck Nymann]

Ofcourse.

Here it is.

[Rik]

I don't see any issues.

data=readlines(...
    'https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/uploaded_files/620253/PT1000.txt',...
    'EmptyLineRule','skip');
%the next update to readfile will also include this switch
%(https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/68780-readfile)

data=cellstr(data);%cast string to cellstr to make indexing easier

for n=1:numel(data)
    tmp=data{n};
    tmp=[tmp(1:2),':',tmp(3:4),':',tmp(5:end)];
    data{n}=tmp;
end
data

data = 49136×1 cell array
    {'08:35:50,422→22,034444E+0→21,876206E+0→19,941067E+0'}
    {'08:35:50,923→22,034444E+0→21,876206E+0→19,941067E+0'}
    {'08:35:51,424→22,034444E+0→21,876206E+0→19,941067E+0'}
    {'08:35:51,924→22,034444E+0→21,876206E+0→19,941067E+0'}
    {'08:35:52,425→22,034444E+0→21,876206E+0→19,941067E+0'}
    {'08:35:53,145→22,034768E+0→21,880902E+0→19,913695E+0'}
    {'08:35:53,426→22,034768E+0→21,880902E+0→19,913695E+0'}
    {'08:35:53,984→22,034768E+0→21,880902E+0→19,913695E+0'}
    {'08:35:54,428→22,034768E+0→21,880902E+0→19,913695E+0'}
    {'08:35:55,099→22,034444E+0→21,884790E+0→19,892478E+0'}
    {'08:35:55,428→22,034444E+0→21,884790E+0→19,892478E+0'}
    {'08:35:55,928→22,034444E+0→21,884790E+0→19,892478E+0'}
    {'08:35:56,428→22,034444E+0→21,884790E+0→19,892478E+0'}
    {'08:35:56,928→22,033310E+0→21,889001E+0→19,875310E+0'}
    {'08:35:57,428→22,033310E+0→21,889001E+0→19,875310E+0'}
    {'08:35:57,930→22,033310E+0→21,889001E+0→19,875310E+0'}
    {'08:35:58,431→22,033310E+0→21,889001E+0→19,875310E+0'}
    {'08:35:58,930→22,033310E+0→21,893860E+0→19,862353E+0'}
    {'08:35:59,431→22,033310E+0→21,893860E+0→19,862353E+0'}
    {'08:35:59,932→22,033310E+0→21,893860E+0→19,862353E+0'}
    {'08:36:00,433→22,033310E+0→21,893860E+0→19,862353E+0'}
    {'08:36:00,933→22,034606E+0→21,899690E+0→19,851663E+0'}
    {'08:36:01,433→22,034606E+0→21,899690E+0→19,851663E+0'}
    {'08:36:01,935→22,034606E+0→21,899690E+0→19,851663E+0'}
    {'08:36:02,435→22,034606E+0→21,899690E+0→19,851663E+0'}
    {'08:36:03,029→22,033148E+0→21,905683E+0→19,839354E+0'}
    {'08:36:03,435→22,033148E+0→21,905683E+0→19,839354E+0'}
    {'08:36:04,144→22,033148E+0→21,905683E+0→19,839354E+0'}
    {'08:36:04,479→22,033148E+0→21,905683E+0→19,839354E+0'}
    {'08:36:04,936→22,032824E+0→21,911999E+0→19,828827E+0'}

(the tabs are shown as arrows here)

[Mads Lysbeck Nymann]

It works.

Thank you.

[Rik]

You're welcome. If my answer solved your issue, please consider marking it as accepted answer. If not feel free to comment with your remaining issues.