Access nested cell array

Question

I have a cell array of size 1x84, where the elements are 1x1 or 1x2 cells.

I woluld like to get a cell array of size 1x84 by taking the first element from the nested cells

CellList = <1x84 cell>

CellList  = <1x1 cell>  <1x1 cell>  <1x1 cell>  <1x2 cell>  <1x1 cell> ... <1x2 cell>

The subelements are also cells

I tried using this code:

CellList = cellfun(@(x)x{1,:}{1,:},CellList, 'UniformOutput',0);

But I faced the following error:

error : Cell contents reference from a non-cell array object.

Wolfie · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-08 09:30:45Z

2

cellfun accesses each element of the cell you give it, so you are taking an element x, trying to access its first element, and the first element of that which doesn't exist.

You want to use

CellList2 = cellfun(@(x)x{1}, CellList, 'uniformoutput', false)

Edit:

You claim you're still getting an error, in which case your problem is not reproducible. Here is some setup code:

% define a 1x84 cell array
c = cell(1,84);
% Make each element a 1x2 or 1x1 cell array 
for n = 1:84; c{n} = cell(1,randi([1,2],1)); end;
% Output is as you've described and shown
>> c = <1x84 cell>
     = <1x2 cell> <1x1 cell> <1x1 cell> ... <1x2 cell>

Now use my above code, and it works fine.

d = cellfun(@(x)x{1},c,'uniformoutput',false);
d = <1x84 cell>
  = [] [] [] [] ... []   % All empty elements as we initialised empty cells

edited Sep 8, 2017 at 9:30

answered Sep 8, 2017 at 8:33

Wolfie

30.8k7 gold badges30 silver badges60 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

4 Comments

Rohithsai Sai Over a year ago

error : Cell contents reference from a non-cell array object. still the same error

Wolfie Over a year ago

Then please post example code (in a question edit) which generates an equivalent cell array to use for testing... for example are the sub-elements actually cells or just normal matrices?

Rohithsai Sai Over a year ago

for i = 1:84 c{i} = c{i}(1); end Above code has solved my issue in very short method. Sorry, if my question confused. I feel what u have explained is very complex in my requirement.

Wolfie Over a year ago

What is that supposed to mean?

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Access nested cell array

1 Answer 1

4 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

4 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related