Read data in Matlab

Hi, how can I read and plot data from a file in Matlab. I have the following data format:

 # Axial
0.26889788E+11
0.89731269E+11
0.15931918E+15
0.20239994E+15
0.24342588E+15
0.28013145E+15
...

I have used the textscan function but I have not been able to obtain results. I tried something like this:

fileID = fopen ('/path/to/textfile', 'r+');
data = textscan (fileID, %f%f);
celldisp(data)

but I get an empty array

data = [ ]

Regards, thanks in advance.

[Rik]

To avoid confusion, did you use this code, or did you actually use data=textscan(fileID,'%f%f');?

As for you question, you need to skip the first line in your processing. It would also help if you provided a sample file so it is possible to write code that works for your data.

[dpb]

The headerline would cause failure with the format string either way...

data = cell2mat(textscan(fileID, '%f%f',headerlines',1);

You might look at importdata(); it will handle simple file structures such as this automagically for you.

Answer 1

[Kritika Bansal]

Hi,

Assuming that you are using MATLAB R2006a or above, you have the following options to read a text file in matlab:

1. Using textscan()

fid = fopen('data.txt', 'rt');                     %opens the file 
data = textscan(fid, '%f%f', 'HeaderLines', 1);    %skips the first line 
ar = data{1};                                      %retrieves the column vector 

2. Using readmatrix()

data = readmatrix('data.txt', 'NumHeaderLines', 1);    %reads the data in column vector

3. Using importdata()

y= importdata('data.txt','',1);     %reads the data as a structure into 3 fields 
ar = y.data;                        %retrieves the column vector

You can find the documentation link of these functions below:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/textscan.html

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/readmatrix.html

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/importdata.html

[madhan ravi]

Also readtable() is a good option.