Finding elements in column that meet some criteria

Hello,

I have a matrix that has 3 columns and 186 rows. Values are something like this:

       Velocity         X        Y
  6.73568234861034  0  500
  6.73568234861034  2000  520
  6.73568234861034  -2000  540
  6.73568234861034  4000  560
  6.76077918572001  0  580
  6.76071354732644  6000  600

I need to transform this into matrix that will be like this

X Z Velocity

X and Z have to start from 0 and go up to maximum (8000 for x and 600 for z). This was easy. I used "sort" function, so I took care of X and Z columns.

However, now I need to figure out how to copy "Velocity" values from the first table into the second, but in a way that "Velocity" values correspond to the right value of X and Z. I guess I could use "for" loops with "if" statements, but I was wondering is there any other (easier) way; just using built-in functions?

Could you please help me with this?

Thanks, DjR

[per isakson]

• Are you aware of the second output of sort?
• You cannot sort on both X and Y at the same time - what do i miss?
• The words "matrix" and "table" are they synonyms?
• ... or table is that table, Create table from workspace variables

Answer 1

[dpb]

M=sortrows([m(:,2:3) m(:,1)],[1 2]);

Presuming m is original array w/o the header line and your "Z" is really "Y"

Or, the explicit column rearrangement can be written in a "more Matlaby" manner, and the result as

M=sortrows(circshift(m,[0 -1]),[1 2]);

Answer 2

[djr]

Thanks so much. Yes, Z is Y (my bad).

[dpb]

You're welcome...always a challenge to find the proper function(s) when first becoming familiar with Matlab. NB:

lookfor sort

would have located sortrows for you altho it's listed in the "friends" category of See Also under sort. Always look into the alternatives therein if the base function doesn't quite fit as here. The 'rows' part of the name given your requirements should've been a hint.

circshift isn't quite so easy, granted... :)