Help finding cell array indices for unique characters in string names

How might i search a cell array for indices corresponding to character strings containing, say, 'H2O' as part of the full name. Tried:
exact_match_mask = strcmp(names, 'H2O'); exact_match_locations = find(exact_match_mask);
but it only identifies index 4. I need to identify the abcH2Oxyz possibility to capture indices 4 and 10.
names = cell(1, 10);
names{1} = '*H';
names{2} = 'HO2';
names{3} = '*H2';
names{4} = 'H2O';
names{5} = 'H2O2';
names{6} = '*O';
names{7} = '*OH';
names{8} = '*O2';
names{9} = 'O3';
names{10} = 'H2O(S)';

4 Comments

According to the criteria you mentioned i.e. "abcH2Oxyz", the 5th index should be captured as well.
But you have not mentioned it.
That means that there are some restrictions on what abc and xyz is supposed to be. Do you mind specifying more information about that?
Apologies, yes you are correct the 5th also.
What i was trying to say is any combination of characters might come before and after H2O, including blank spaces.
A more direct way of creating the cell array names is:
names = {'*H','HO2','*H2','H2O','H2O2','*O','*OH','*O2','O3','H2O(S)'};

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 Accepted Answer

All combined into one:
names = cell(1, 10);
names{1} = '*H';
names{2} = 'HO2';
names{3} = '*H2';
names{4} = 'H2O';
names{5} = 'H2O2';
names{6} = '*O';
names{7} = '*OH';
names{8} = '*O2';
names{9} = 'O3';
names{10} = 'H2O(S)';
[TF, IDX] = find(contains(names,"H2O"))
TF = 1×3
1 1 1
IDX = 1×3
4 5 10

1 Comment

Fantastic. Many thanks for this.
The other contributions are also much appreciated :)

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More Answers (1)

names = cell(1, 10);
names{1} = '*H';
names{2} = 'HO2';
names{3} = '*H2';
names{4} = 'H2O';
names{5} = 'H2O2';
names{6} = '*O';
names{7} = '*OH';
names{8} = '*O2';
names{9} = 'O3';
names{10} = 'H2O(S)';
contains(names,'H2O')
ans = 1×10 logical array
0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1

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