Extract column from text file

Hi, for my research project I have to analyze a certain output. The output gives a lot of measurements (also a lot of data I don't need), but I don't know how to extract the specific column of data that I do need. The data looks like this:

P1,R0,14:17:36.779,47,0.01421266,[-0.03077913; 0.3226232; -0.4286367],[0; 0; 0],[-0.4424625; 0.120887; -0.9627059],[-0.03836464; 0.5967162; 0.3170188],[-6.699989; -7.350024; 5.199996],50.48101,0.7456555,0,0,0,-5.2,0

P0,R0,14:17:36.823,47,0.01403595,[-0.03077913; 0.3226232; -0.4286367],[0; 0; 0],[-0.4424625; 0.120887; -0.9627059],[-0.03836464; 0.5967162; 0.3170188],[-6.699989; -7.350024; 5.199996],50.48101,0.7456555,0.08738,0.6293842,17.97661,-5.2,0

But I only need the first number between brackets (value -0.03077913 here). How do I do this?

[the cyclist]

The best method will depend on exactly what format of file you have. (For example, is it Excel, a CSV, etc.?) Can you upload the file (using the paper clip icon from the INSERT area of the toolbar), or at least a few representative lines?

[Suuz HMS]

The file gets downloaded as a txt-file, but can also be saved as a .m file.

Answer 1

[Kautuk Raj]

To extract the first number between the brackets in the data provided, we can use regular expressions in MATLAB.

This regular expression pattern \[([-0-9\.]+);([-0-9\.]+);([-0-9\.]+)\] will match the three numbers between the brackets and captures them in separate groups.

Answer 2

[Stephen23]

Fake data (you would use FILEREAD):

S = sprintf('%s\n','P1,R0,14:17:36.779,47,0.01421266,[-0.03077913; 0.3226232; -0.4286367],[0; 0; 0],[-0.4424625; 0.120887; -0.9627059],[-0.03836464; 0.5967162; 0.3170188],[-6.699989; -7.350024; 5.199996],50.48101,0.7456555,0,0,0,-5.2,0','P0,R0,14:17:36.823,47,0.01403595,[-0.03077913; 0.3226232; -0.4286367],[0; 0; 0],[-0.4424625; 0.120887; -0.9627059],[-0.03836464; 0.5967162; 0.3170188],[-6.699989; -7.350024; 5.199996],50.48101,0.7456555,0.08738,0.6293842,17.97661,-5.2,0')

S = 
    'P1,R0,14:17:36.779,47,0.01421266,[-0.03077913; 0.3226232; -0.4286367],[0; 0; 0],[-0.4424625; 0.120887; -0.9627059],[-0.03836464; 0.5967162; 0.3170188],[-6.699989; -7.350024; 5.199996],50.48101,0.7456555,0,0,0,-5.2,0
     P0,R0,14:17:36.823,47,0.01403595,[-0.03077913; 0.3226232; -0.4286367],[0; 0; 0],[-0.4424625; 0.120887; -0.9627059],[-0.03836464; 0.5967162; 0.3170188],[-6.699989; -7.350024; 5.199996],50.48101,0.7456555,0.08738,0.6293842,17.97661,-5.2,0
     '

C = regexp(S,'(?<=\[)(-|+)?\d+\.?\d*','match')

C = 1×10 cell array
    {'-0.03077913'}    {'0'}    {'-0.4424625'}    {'-0.03836464'}    {'-6.699989'}    {'-0.03077913'}    {'0'}    {'-0.4424625'}    {'-0.03836464'}    {'-6.699989'}

V = str2double(C)

V = 1×10

-0.0308 0 -0.4425 -0.0384 -6.7000 -0.0308 0 -0.4425 -0.0384 -6.7000