How can I withdraw a colon operator from a string

I have a colon operator within a string input (<1x30> char) that I would like to withdraw for later plotting.

The variable input is this:

 WIND = NORTHEAST WINDS 8  :  13 KNOTS

I want just the characters

 '8  :  13'

and make them operate as a colon operator. I was thinking of using a variation of 'find' command, but I don't know how to tell MATLAB to find colon operators within a text string.

Can you please help?

Answer 1

[Azzi Abdelmalek]

 c1='WIND = NORTHEAST WINDS 8  :  13 KNOTS'
 a=regexp(c1,'[0-9]')
 result=c1(min(a):max(a))

Answer 2

[Matt Kindig]

Mr. Azzi's technique is more general, and I would use it for your purpose.

However, if you did want to use 'find' to locate specific characters in a text string, you can do it simply as:

a = 'WIND = NORTHEAST WINDS 8  :  13 KNOTS'
location = find(a==':');

Answer 3

[Matt Fig]

Here is another.

str = 'WIND = NORTHEAST WINDS 8  :  13 KNOTS';  % Example string
m = regexp(str,'\d+\s*:\s*\d+','match')
% Now to make it operate as a colon operator in an expression:
N = str2num(m{1})