Delimiting a text file like "Text to columns"

Hello, I am trying to import data from a Text file (.txt). This data has a single column of mixed (numeric and string) data that is | (bar) delimited. My goal is to import this data and seperate each delimited portion into a seperate columns while maintaining the rows. Essentially, I am trying to do the Excel "Text to columns" with MATLAB. Thank you

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

%open file
fid = fopen(YourFile,'rt');

%figure out how many columns are there
firstline = fgetl(fid);
ncol = 1 + sum(firstline == '|');

%reset to beginning of file
fseek(fid,0,0);

%read data
indata = textscan(fid,repmat('%s',1,ncol),'Delimiter','|','CollectOutput',1);

%close file
fclose(fid);

The result will be indata, a cell array of strings.

[Brian]

Keep getting error:

??? indata = textscan(fid,repmat('%s'1,ncol),'Delimiter','|','CollectOutput',1);

|

Error: Unexpected MATLAB expression.

[Walter Roberson]

Sorry; I have edited the answer to add the missing comma.

[Brian]

How do I look at indata's data? Below is a step-by-step output:

>> fid = fopen('RMS_Functional_Block_Report.txt','rt')

fid =

5

>> firstline = fgetl(fid)

firstline =

RMS Functional Block|Reference Designator|Part Number|Sheet Number|Description|Invisible

>> ncol = 1 + sum(firstline == '|')

ncol =

6

>> fseek(fid,0,0)

ans =

0

>> indata = textscan(fid,repmat('%s',1,ncol),'Delimiter','|','CollectOutput',1)

indata =

{646x6 cell}

>> fclose(fid)

ans =

0

[Walter Roberson]

indata{L,C} will be the string that was on line #L at column #C

For example, indata{3,7} is column 7 of line 3.