Turn one matrix into many matrices

Say I have an Nx2 Matrix, called 'A' -- how would I turn this into N vectors called 'A1', 'A2'...'AN'?

My current solution is to open Excel, add row headers, and then import the data. Looking for a more automated way to do this in MATLAB.

More details:

I have two matrices, one is Nx2, the other is MxP.

For each row in matrix 1, I need to extract rows out of matrix 2 and append four columns of additional data to them. Sometimes a particular row could be extracted from the second matrix multiple times. In that case, the appended data would be different each time.

At the end of the day, I need N matrices of size Qx(P+4). I would prefer this to having one 3D matrix of size NxQx(P+4), as the number of rows that I extract from the second matrix will not be the same each time.

Since I would prefer to have N matrices as the output, I thought it would be best to just start with N vectors as the input.

Answer 1

[Sean de Wolski]

DON'T DO THIS!

http://matlab.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ#How_can_I_create_variables_A1.2C_A2.2C....2CA10_in_a_loop.3F

Explain the problem to us and we can help you find a better way.

[Chris]

Hmmm, ok. I am definitely open minded that there can be a better way, so I will try to explain. Give me a couple minutes to write it up and post as the next comment :)

[Chris]

I have two matrices, one is Nx2, the other is MxP.

For each row in matrix 1, I need to extract rows out of matrix 2 and append four columns of additional data to them. Sometimes a particular row could be extracted from the second matrix multiple times. In that case, the appended data would be different each time.

At the end of the day, I need N matrices of size Qx(P+4) (or, yes, one 3D matrix, NxQx(P+4)).

[Sean de Wolski]

Can you provide a small example (input/operation/output) please. Edit your original question so that you can use the markup which makes it easier for us to read.

[Chris]

Actually, I should be more clear, each time I extract rows from the second matrix, it will typically be a different amount.

So at the end of the day, having N differently named Qx(P+4) matrices is preferable to having a single 3D matrix, which might need a bunch of zeros to fill in extra space since Q is different depending on how many rows I extract from the second matrix.

Since I would prefer to have N matrices as the output, I thought it would be best to just start with N vectors as the input.

[Sean de Wolski]

This is what cell arrays are for.

[Chris]

Ah, yes, I see now. Thank you!

[Jan]

@Sean: Exactly. A CELL array is an efficient and clean solution. It is impressive, that the OP and the wiki artical use the same "A1, A2, ..." naming scheme. +1