How can I convert a datetime vector to cell??

hi all,

I have a vector of 4000 dates like:

25/07/1996;
26/07/1996;
29/07/1996;
30/07/1996;
31/07/1996;
01/08/1996;
02/08/1996;
05/08/1996;
06/08/1996;
07/08/1996;... and so on

Now, they are in datetime format. My goal is to insert the dates like rows names into a table. For example:

                  Age    Height    Weight    BloodPressure
                  ___    ______    ______    _____________

    25/07/1996     38     71        176       124     93   
    26/07/1996     43     69        163       109     77

I know that the rows names of a table must be cell inputs. Thus, how can I do it? Thanks a lot!

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

Example:

YourTable = array2table((1:6).')

temp = cellstr( datestr(732430:732435) );
YourTable.Properties.RowNames = temp;

[Adriano]

It doesn`t work. Remeber, I need the rows names in the format dd/mm/yyyy and not a number!. Thanks.

[Walter Roberson]

YourTable = array2table((1:6).')

temp = cellstr( datestr(732430:732435, 'dd/mm/yyyy') );
YourTable.Properties.RowNames = temp;

I think you did not notice the datestr()

[Adriano]

Great!!! Many thanks.

Answer 2

[Guillaume]

Rather than using obsolete datestr, simply convert the datetime with char (which will use the Format of the datetime:

array2table(somematrix, 'RowNames', cellstr(char(datetimevector)))

Note that R2016b introduces the timetable that makes this even simpler:

array2timetable(somematrix, 'RowTimes', datetimevector)

[Peter Perkins]

You can even go directly to a cellstr, without char in the middle:

array2table(somematrix, 'RowNames', cellstr(datetimevector))

Answer 3

[Peter Perkins]

Adriano, row names are really convenient when you want to use them for subscripting. But in this case, you need to consider that you are taking a datetime vector and turning it into text. So you lose all the calendar arithmetic that datetime provides, and you will no longer be able to do things like

T(T.Date > '1-Jan-2016',:)

that you would be able to do if you put the datetime vector into your table as a variable rather than as the row names. It depends on what you want to do.

As Guillaume pointed out, the new-for-R2016b timetable type kind of gives you the best of both worlds, a timetable's "row names" are actually row times, stored as either datetimes or durations.