Operator '>' is not supported for operands of type 'cell'.

Can someone help with the logical operator " extract rows +/- 1 where columns T And V are not zero"? Thank you!

clear
close all
clc
T1= readtable("Performance history + distress ( d-3) reduced.xls",VariableNamingRule="preserve");
T2 = readtable("D-3 Road sections (HPMA) Tran red v2.xlsx",VariableNamingRule="preserve");

% Join tables
joinedData = innerjoin(T2,T1,"LeftKeys",["FROM_REFP","TO_REFP"],"RightKeys",...
    ["begin_refp","end_refp"]);

T = joinedData;
T.Properties.VariableNames = num2cell(char(64+(1:size(T,2))));
%Set the empty cell "iri" ==0
if isempty(T{:,22})
    T(:,22) =0;
end
% set H = G where H == 0
idx = T.H == 0;
T.H(idx) = T.G(idx);
% extract rows +/- 1 where columns T And V are not zero
idx = T.T>0 | T.V >0;
idx = any([idx [false; idx(1:end-1)] [idx(2:end); false]],2);
TT=  T(idx,:); %extracted_rows 
writetable(TT, "Merged&CleanData.csv")

[Dyuman Joshi]

Given the error message, most likely the data stored in the column named T is of datatype cell, for which the operation of comparison is not defined.

Please attach the data files, so we can reproduce the error you get and provide any suggestions/solutions.

[Sanley Guerrier]

I uploaded the merged table T

Thank you!

[Sanley Guerrier]

T = joinedData;
T.Properties.VariableNames = num2cell(char(64+(1:size(T,2))));
%Set the empty cell "iri" ==0
if isempty(T{:,20})
    T(:,20) =0;
end
% set H = G where H == 0
idx = T.H == 0;
T.H(idx) = T.G(idx);
% extract rows +/- 1 where columns T And V are not zero
idx = T(:,18)>0 | T(:,20) >0;
idx = any([idx [false; idx(1:end-1)] [idx(2:end); false]],2);
TT=  T(idx,:); %extracted_rows 
writetable(TT, "Merged&CleanData.csv")

[Dyuman Joshi]

T = readtable('T.xlsx');
T.Properties.VariableNames = num2cell(char(64+(1:size(T,2))))

T = 16×23 table
     A        B             C                D                   E                  F         G       H       I       J      K      L           M             N           O         P       Q        R           S          T      U     V     W 
    ___    _______    _____________    _____________    ____________________    _________    ____    ____    ____    ___    ___    ___    _____________    _______    _________    ____    ____    ______    _________    _____    __    __    __

    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1977    {''''}    {''BAB''}        0    20     0     0
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1981    {''''}    {''BAB''}        0    20     0     0
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1984    {''''}    {''BAB''}        0     2     0    26
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1985    {''''}    {''BAB''}        0     4     0    30
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1988    {''''}    {''BAB''}        0    10     0    30
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1989    {''''}    {''BAB''}        0     2     0    40
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1990    {''''}    {''BAB''}      223     4     0    38
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1991    {''''}    {''BAB''}      165    10     0    30
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1992    {''''}    {''BAB''}      222    12     0    24
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1994    {''''}    {''BAB''}       73    46     0     2
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1996    {''''}    {''BAB''}       79    40     0    10
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1998    {''''}    {''BAB''}       65    44     0    10
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    2000    {''''}    {''BAB''}       78    12    32     6
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    2001    {''''}    {''BAB''}     99.5     0     0     0
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    2002    {''''}    {''BAB''}    119.5    18    26     6
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    2003    {''''}    {''BAB''}      142     0     0     0

Hmmm.

The 20th column of the table is not empty -

isempty(T{:,20})

ans = logical
   0

Nor does the column H have any value equalto 0 -

idx = T.H == 0

idx = 16×1 logical array
   0
   0
   0
   0
   0
   0
   0
   0
   0
   0
   0
   0
   0
   0
   0
   0

And the 18th column (R) has scalar cell arrays with text data inside, thus you can't use > on that.

idx = T(:,18)>0 | T(:,20) >0

Error using >
Applying the function 'gt' to the variable 'R' generated an error.

Caused by:
Undefined function 'gt' for input arguments of type 'cell'.

So, none of these 3 commands make sense to me.

What exactly you are trying to do? What is the objective here?

[Sanley Guerrier]

I want to extract non empty rows in Column R that correspond to nonzero row in column T and add +/- 1 rows.

[Sanley Guerrier]

T is a Data 14000X23, this is just a sample.

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

filename = 'T.xlsx';
opt = detectImportOptions(filename);
opt = setvaropts(opt, [2:6,13:15,18:19], 'Prefixes', "'", 'Suffixes', "'");
T = readtable(filename, opt);
T.Properties.VariableNames = num2cell(char(64+(1:size(T,2))));

mask = T.T ~= 0 & ~strcmp(T.R, "");
mask = conv(mask, [1 1 1], 'same') > 0;
selected_rows = T(mask,:);

selected_rows

selected_rows =

  0×23 empty table

[Walter Roberson]

The result is empty because in that sample data file, all of the R entries are ''

[Sanley Guerrier]

It it a big file 14000X23

I uploaded a new sample where R is not empty

[Walter Roberson]

filename = 'T.xlsx';
opt = detectImportOptions(filename);
opt = setvaropts(opt, [2:6,13:15,18:19], 'Prefixes', "'", 'Suffixes', "'");
T = readtable(filename, opt);
T.Properties.VariableNames = num2cell(char(64+(1:size(T,2))));

mask = T.T ~= 0 & ~strcmp(T.R, "");
mask = conv(mask, [1 1 1], 'same') > 0;
selected_rows = T(mask,:);

selected_rows

selected_rows = 12×23 table
     A       B           C              D                 E                F        G       H       I       J      K       L          M           N         O        P       Q            R             S         T      U     V     W 
    ___    _____    ___________    ___________    __________________    _______    ____    ____    ____    ___    ____    ___    ___________    _____    _______    ____    ____    _____________    _______    _____    __    __    __

    107    {'U'}    {'0+0.000'}    {'0+0.151'}    {'2010 RECON BIT'}    {'BAB'}    2005    2013    4500    2.9     166    107    {'MN107-U'}    {'U'}    {'BAB'}    4500    2004    {0×0 char   }    {'BAB'}    138.5     6    24    26
    107    {'U'}    {'0+0.000'}    {'0+0.151'}    {'2010 RECON BIT'}    {'BAB'}    2005    2013    4500    2.9     166    107    {'MN107-U'}    {'U'}    {'BAB'}    4500    2005    {'BAB Rural'}    {'BAB'}       55     0     0     0
    107    {'U'}    {'0+0.000'}    {'0+0.151'}    {'2010 RECON BIT'}    {'BAB'}    2005    2013    4500    2.9     166    107    {'MN107-U'}    {'U'}    {'BAB'}    4500    2006    {0×0 char   }    {'BAB'}       47     0     0     0
    107    {'U'}    {'0+0.000'}    {'0+0.151'}    {'2010 RECON BIT'}    {'BAB'}    2005    2013    4500    2.9     166    107    {'MN107-U'}    {'U'}    {'BAB'}    4500    2009    {0×0 char   }    {'BAB'}     54.5     0     0     0
    107    {'U'}    {'0+0.000'}    {'0+0.151'}    {'2010 RECON BIT'}    {'BAB'}    2005    2013    4500    2.9     166    107    {'MN107-U'}    {'U'}    {'BAB'}    4500    2010    {'Chip Seal'}    {'BAB'}       60    26     0     0
    107    {'U'}    {'0+0.000'}    {'0+0.151'}    {'2010 RECON BIT'}    {'BAB'}    2005    2013    4500    2.9     166    107    {'MN107-U'}    {'U'}    {'BAB'}    4500    2011    {0×0 char   }    {'BAB'}     75.5     0     0     0
    107    {'U'}    {'0+0.000'}    {'0+0.151'}    {'2010 RECON BIT'}    {'BAB'}    2005    2013    4500    2.9     166    107    {'MN107-U'}    {'U'}    {'BAB'}    4500    2012    {0×0 char   }    {'BAB'}     69.5    38     0     0
    107    {'U'}    {'0+0.000'}    {'0+0.151'}    {'2010 RECON BIT'}    {'BAB'}    2005    2013    4500    2.9     166    107    {'MN107-U'}    {'U'}    {'BAB'}    4500    2013    {'Patching' }    {'BAB'}       72     0     0     0
    107    {'U'}    {'0+0.000'}    {'0+0.151'}    {'2010 RECON BIT'}    {'BAB'}    2005    2013    4500    2.9     166    107    {'MN107-U'}    {'U'}    {'BAB'}    4500    2014    {0×0 char   }    {'BAB'}     88.5    38     4     0
    238    {'U'}    {'0+0.000'}    {'0+0.302'}    {'2014 BAB'      }    {'BAB'}    2014    2014    1400    3.4    82.5    238    {'MN238-U'}    {'U'}    {'BAB'}    1400    2013    {0×0 char   }    {'BAB'}    293.5    10    20    12
    238    {'U'}    {'0+0.000'}    {'0+0.302'}    {'2014 BAB'      }    {'BAB'}    2014    2014    1400    3.4    82.5    238    {'MN238-U'}    {'U'}    {'BAB'}    1400    2014    {'BAB Urban'}    {'BAB'}     70.5     0     0     0
    238    {'U'}    {'0+0.000'}    {'0+0.302'}    {'2014 BAB'      }    {'BAB'}    2014    2014    1400    3.4    82.5    238    {'MN238-U'}    {'U'}    {'BAB'}    1400    2015    {0×0 char   }    {'BAB'}     69.5     0     0     0

[Sanley Guerrier]

It is working perfectly fine.

Appreciate you, Voss.

[Sanley Guerrier]

Appreciate you too, Walter

Answer 2

[VBBV]

T is a table array/datatype, and you try to access variable inside the table with same name , this is not valid operation

idx = T.T>0 | T.V >0;  %T.T is not valid operation

[Dyuman Joshi]

"%T.T is not valid operation"

Are you sure about that?

Yo = [38;43;38;40;49];
Wassup = [71;69;64;67;64];
Yo = table(Yo, Wassup);
Yo.Yo

ans = 5×1

38 43 38 40 49

[Sanley Guerrier]

Yes, I am sure. It is pretty much the same as idx = T(:,18)>0 | T(:,20) >0;

I want to extract cloumn T and V +/- 1

[Sanley Guerrier]

My bad, it's columns R and T

[Dyuman Joshi]

@Sanley Guerrier, my comment was a response to VBBV's answer, not your question.

[Sanley Guerrier]

Thanks, Dyuman.

How do you the logical operator for a tablearray like mine?

[Walter Roberson]

@VBBV

Nearly the only variable name that you cannot use in a table is Properties .

T = table((1:5).', 'VariableNames', {'T'})

T = 5×1 table
    T
    _

    1
    2
    3
    4
    5

T.T

ans = 5×1

1 2 3 4 5

[Stephen23]

"T.T is not valid operation"

Why not?

T = array2table(pi, "VariableNames","T")

T = table
      T   
    ______

    3.1416

T.T % why do you think that this is "not valid operation" ?

ans = 3.1416

Answer 3

[Voss]

T = readtable('T.xlsx');
T.Properties.VariableNames = num2cell(char(64+(1:size(T,2))))

T = 16×23 table
     A        B             C                D                   E                  F         G       H       I       J      K      L           M             N           O         P       Q        R           S          T      U     V     W 
    ___    _______    _____________    _____________    ____________________    _________    ____    ____    ____    ___    ___    ___    _____________    _______    _________    ____    ____    ______    _________    _____    __    __    __

    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1977    {''''}    {''BAB''}        0    20     0     0
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1981    {''''}    {''BAB''}        0    20     0     0
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1984    {''''}    {''BAB''}        0     2     0    26
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1985    {''''}    {''BAB''}        0     4     0    30
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1988    {''''}    {''BAB''}        0    10     0    30
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1989    {''''}    {''BAB''}        0     2     0    40
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1990    {''''}    {''BAB''}      223     4     0    38
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1991    {''''}    {''BAB''}      165    10     0    30
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1992    {''''}    {''BAB''}      222    12     0    24
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1994    {''''}    {''BAB''}       73    46     0     2
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1996    {''''}    {''BAB''}       79    40     0    10
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1998    {''''}    {''BAB''}       65    44     0    10
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    2000    {''''}    {''BAB''}       78    12    32     6
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    2001    {''''}    {''BAB''}     99.5     0     0     0
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    2002    {''''}    {''BAB''}    119.5    18    26     6
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    2003    {''''}    {''BAB''}      142     0     0     0

"extract rows +/- 1 where columns T And V are not zero"

idx = T.T ~= 0 & T.V ~= 0;
idx = any([idx [false; idx(1:end-1)] [idx(2:end); false]],2);
result = T(idx,:)

result = 5×23 table
     A        B             C                D                   E                  F         G       H       I       J      K      L           M             N           O         P       Q        R           S          T      U     V     W 
    ___    _______    _____________    _____________    ____________________    _________    ____    ____    ____    ___    ___    ___    _____________    _______    _________    ____    ____    ______    _________    _____    __    __    __

    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    1998    {''''}    {''BAB''}       65    44     0    10
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    2000    {''''}    {''BAB''}       78    12    32     6
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    2001    {''''}    {''BAB''}     99.5     0     0     0
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    2002    {''''}    {''BAB''}    119.5    18    26     6
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9    166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    2003    {''''}    {''BAB''}      142     0     0     0

[Sanley Guerrier]

Thanks a lot Voss.

My bad, I made a mistake it should be idx = T.R ~= 0 & T.V ~= 0;

but column R is a character array vector.

What I want is to extract non empty rows in Column R that correspond to nonzero row in column T and add +/- 1 rows.

I appriciate you!

[Voss]

T = readtable('T.xlsx');
T.Properties.VariableNames = num2cell(char(64+(1:size(T,2))));

"extract non empty rows in Column R that correspond to nonzero row in column T and add +/- 1 rows"

idx = T.T ~= 0 & ~strcmp(T.R,char([39 39]));
% idx = T.T ~= 0 & ~strcmp(T.R,'''''');      % alternate, equivalent to the above

idx = any([idx [false; idx(1:end-1)] [idx(2:end); false]],2);
result = T(idx,:)

result = 12×23 table
     A        B             C                D                   E                  F         G       H       I       J      K       L           M             N           O         P       Q             R               S          T      U     V     W 
    ___    _______    _____________    _____________    ____________________    _________    ____    ____    ____    ___    ____    ___    _____________    _______    _________    ____    ____    _______________    _________    _____    __    __    __

    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9     166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    2004    {''''         }    {''BAB''}    138.5     6    24    26
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9     166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    2005    {''BAB Rural''}    {''BAB''}       55     0     0     0
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9     166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    2006    {''''         }    {''BAB''}       47     0     0     0
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9     166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    2009    {''''         }    {''BAB''}     54.5     0     0     0
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9     166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    2010    {''Chip Seal''}    {''BAB''}       60    26     0     0
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9     166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    2011    {''''         }    {''BAB''}     75.5     0     0     0
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9     166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    2012    {''''         }    {''BAB''}     69.5    38     0     0
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9     166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    2013    {''Patching'' }    {''BAB''}       72     0     0     0
    107    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.151''}    {''2010 RECON BIT''}    {''BAB''}    2005    2013    4500    2.9     166    107    {''MN107-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    4500    2014    {''''         }    {''BAB''}     88.5    38     4     0
    238    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.302''}    {''2014 BAB''      }    {''BAB''}    2014    2014    1400    3.4    82.5    238    {''MN238-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    1400    2013    {''''         }    {''BAB''}    293.5    10    20    12
    238    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.302''}    {''2014 BAB''      }    {''BAB''}    2014    2014    1400    3.4    82.5    238    {''MN238-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    1400    2014    {''BAB Urban''}    {''BAB''}     70.5     0     0     0
    238    {''U''}    {''0+0.000''}    {''0+0.302''}    {''2014 BAB''      }    {''BAB''}    2014    2014    1400    3.4    82.5    238    {''MN238-U''}    {''U''}    {''BAB''}    1400    2015    {''''         }    {''BAB''}     69.5     0     0     0

For this purpose, I considered the 1x2 character vector where each element is the single quote character (i.e., the character vector char([39 39])) to be the "empty" entries in column R you want to avoid. No doubt using setvaropts as in Walter's approach results in a table whose contents are easier to deal with.

[Sanley Guerrier]

Thanks a lot, Voss. Both approaches work perfectly great. Your comment is very helpful.