MATLAB Programming Fundamentals - MathWorks

Convert from Character Arrays to Numeric Values

In this section...

“Function Summary” on page 6-63

“Convert from Character Code” on page 6-64

“Convert Text that Represents Numeric Values” on page 6-64

“Convert from Specific Radix” on page 6-65

Function Summary

The functions listed in this table provide a number of ways to convert character arrays to

numeric data.

Function Description Example

uintN (e.g., uint8) Convert a character to an integer code that

represents that character.

'Hi' → 72 105

str2num Convert a character type to a numeric type. '72 105' → [72 105]

str2double Similar to str2num, but offers better

performance and works with string arrays and

cell arrays of character vectors.

"72" "105" → [72

105]

{'72' '105'} → [72

105]

hex2num Convert a numeric type to a character type of

specified precision, returning a character array

that MATLAB can evaluate.

'A' → '-1.4917e-154'

hex2dec Convert a character type of hexadecimal base to

a positive integer.

'A' → 10

bin2dec Convert a character type of binary number to a

decimal number.

'1010' → 10

base2dec Convert a character type of any base number

from 2 through 36 to a decimal number.

'12' → 10 (if base ==

8 )

Convert from Character Arrays to Numeric Values