How do I change cell array to numeric values in MATLAB?

Question

I want to the do the following

Input: (cell array)

ab

ac

ad

aab

ac

aac

aab

ac

I want the output to map to unique numeric values, like

1

2

3

4

2

5

4

2

Is there an easy way to do this? The input is about 250,000 and of variable length. I just want to map the cells with the same content to the same number.

Thanks.

Floris · Accepted Answer · 2013-04-24 05:52:17Z

5

If we call your cell array A, then the following command does what you need:

[uniqueCells,~,idxYouWant] = unique(A);

In this, the uniqueCells are the unique values you have (in sorted order); and idxYouWant is an array of numbers like you want, where

A = uniqueCells(idxYouWant);

I think this is exactly what you need.

answered Apr 24, 2013 at 5:52

Floris

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2 Comments

user1737564 Over a year ago

Damn. How did I miss this? Thank you so much. I must have used used 'unique' not less than a hundred times. Thanks again!

Floris Over a year ago

You're welcome. Using the third argument was something I needed to google... and I've used unique at least 200 times. :-) It's funny how you used the word "unique" in your question. Sometimes the answer is just hiding in plain sight. We all do it.

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