Undefined function or variable 'fixedWidt​hImportOpt​ions'.

I get the following error message whenever I try to use the object 'fixedWidthImportOptions':

" Undefined function or variable 'fixedWidthImportOptions'. "

I am using Matlab R2018a. The object was introduced with R2017a. What is wrong and what can I do to remedy this?

Answer 1

[Star Strider]

It’s an options structure to be used with the readtable (link) function. See the documentation section on Examples (link).

How are you using it?

[Rod Letchford]

Star Strider: I am trying to use it to read data from a text file with sections in fixed column width, and mixed data (double and strings) as in another question of mine. I've tried readtable, textscan and others I can't remember. It is strangely complicated.

[Rod Letchford]

It looks like I was using the wrong syntax for FixedWidthImportOptions. I was using this syntax:

opts = fixedWidthImportOptions('NumVariables',NumVariables,...
                               'DataLines',DataStartLine,...
                               'VariableNames',VariableNames,...
                               'VariableWidths',VariableWidths,...
                               'VariableTypes',DataType);

for readtable, where I should have used something like:

opts = matlab.io.text.FixedWidthImportOptions;
opts.DataLines = DataStartLine;
opts.VariableNames = VariableNames;
opts.VariableWidths = VariableWidths;
opts = setvartype(opts,DataType);

It is far from clear that this is the case nor why.