Using excel data for input into a pop up menu.

[material_num, material_text, material_all] = xlsread('MaterialList.xlsx', 'B:B');

[value_num, value_text, value_all] = xlsread('MaterialList.xlsx', 'C:C');

[m,n] = size(material_text)

for x=1:m

string_list{x} = material_text(x,1)

end

set(handles.popupmenu1,'String', string_list)

currently I have this code above which takes words from an excel file and assigns the words into the variable string_list using a for loop. My problem is using string_list to input multiple words into the popup menu. Everytime I run this I get the error

Error using matlab.ui.control.UIControl/set
While setting the 'String' property of 'UIControl':
Cell arrays input to String property may only contain character and numeric matrices.

Error in SolderAngleGUI3>SolderAngleGUI3_OpeningFcn (line 62)
set(handles.popupmenu1,'String', string_list)

Error in gui_mainfcn (line 220)
    feval(gui_State.gui_OpeningFcn, gui_hFigure, [], guidata(gui_hFigure), varargin{:});

Error in SolderAngleGUI3 (line 42)
    gui_mainfcn(gui_State, varargin{:});

I want the list to be made before my GUI appears so I currently have this code in the OpeningFcn of the GUI.

Are there problems with my code? Are they located in the correct function?

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

When you use xlsread(), the second output is already a cell array of strings. You are using

for x=1:m

string_list{x} = material_text(x,1)

end

which indexes the cell array using array notation, which gives a cell array of size 1 rather than giving the content of the cell array. Therefor your string_list becomes a cell array of cell arrays of string.

You should use

string_list = material_text(1:m,1);

[Christine Cunningham]

Thank you! your answer helped me simplify it even more by using material_text without string_list and putting it directly into the popmenu:

[material_num, material_text, material_all] = xlsread('MaterialList.xlsx', 'B:B');
set(handles.popupmenu1,'String', material_text)

Overthinking things in MATLAB happens much too often. :)

[Trick Verzosa]

Hi, just a question regarding the above code.. I don't quite understand the '[material_num, material_text, material_all]'... is it a code or I have to replace 'material_num' with a variable/string? Newbie here.

[Walter Roberson]

In that line, material_num and material_text and material_all are the variables that will receive the output of xlsread()

[Trick Verzosa]

I see. Thanks Walter!