How to read and save data from text file with variable number of columns in a Matrix in Matlab

Question

I have a text file with integer values. each row contains information about specific object. But unfortunately each row has different number of column. because of which when i try to use

    file_content = load('txtfile.txt');

it gives me error message that previous number of columns does not match.

i also tried to use fgetl, fscanf, etc function but was unsuccessful. Can anybody give me a piece of code, or help me how to read a txt file and save in matrix in matlab. Three sample rows are given below.

1 1 1 1 1 95 17 54 111 92 17 54 111 92 17 54 111 92 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 54 109 92 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 58 109 96 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 56 109 94 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 17 58 111 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 56 109 94 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94

1 1 1 2 96 185 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 15 56 109 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 54 107 92 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 54 109 92 15 54 109 92 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94

1 1 1 3 186 245 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 56 109 94 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 15 58 109 96 13 58 107 96 13 56 107 94 13 56 107 94 13 58 107 96 13 58 107 96 13 58 107 96 13 58 107 96 13 58 107 96 13 56 107 94 13 58 107 96 13 58 107 96 13 58 107 96 13 58 107 96 13 58 107 96 13 58 107 96 13 58 107 96 13 58 107 96 13 58 107 96 13 58 107 96 13 58 107 96 13 60 107 98 13 58 107 96 13 58 107 96 15 58 109 96 13 58 107 96

As you can see the rows doesn't have equal number of columns. So how can i read and save it in a Matrix. Any help in this regards will be highly appreciated. Thanks

khan · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-24 10:52:01Z

1

the answer for this question that i found is using the importdata Button in matlab. There one can easily handle data. Arbitory number of columns are filled with NAN, which can also be change to 0. and all the NAN values become zero.

answered Aug 24, 2014 at 10:52

khan

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Luis Mendo · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-24 11:57:54Z

1

Try

A = importdata('txtfile.txt');

This creates A in which all rows have the same number of columns, by filling missing values with NaN. See importdata documentation for details.

You can of course change those NaN's to something else, if needed:

A(isnan(A)) = 0;

edited Aug 24, 2014 at 11:57

answered Aug 24, 2014 at 4:15

Luis Mendo

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khan Over a year ago

I tried by loaddata button in matlab. and there it gives me the NAN handling ption by changing NAN to 0. and than importing data... THanks for your reply and time.

Bharat · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-24 01:21:58Z

0

you can use fopen to open a file, fgetl/fgets to read a file line by line and use a cell array to store arrays of variable length

answered Aug 24, 2014 at 1:21

Bharat

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khan Over a year ago

How? Can you give an example, and keep in mind, my number of colums are not fixed, e.g first row have 40 columns the next row have 45, and so on...

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