assign symbol for given range of data

I have sequences

a=[1 5 3 5 5 2 12 7 14 2 11 11 5 7 7 3];
b=[0 0.1 3 0.8 0.8 5 5 7 7 0.56 0.56 1 1 0 3 4].

a has min 1, max 14 value and b has min 0, max 7 value. I want to make range for a and b and want to assign symbol for numbers falls in that particular range. i.e. for a range is 3 so 1-3,4-6,7-9,10-12,13-15 and for b range is 0.5 i.e. 0-0.5,0.5-1,1-1.5,.....,6.5-7. i.e.

              1-3    4-6    7-9   10-12   13-15 

0-0.5         p1     p2     p3    p4       p5

0.51-1        p6     p7     p8    p9       p10

1.01-1.5      p11   p13     p14   p15      p16

1.51-2        ................................

2.01-2.5      ................................

,......,      ................................

6.5-7         ................................

i.e. numbers falls between a=1-3 and b=0-0.5 will assign value p1, numbers falls between a=4-6 and b=0.5-1 will assign value p2 and likewise. p1, p2,.. are symbols so they can be anything I want to take them as numbers i.e. p1=1, p2=2, p3=3,....

so here I write for 2 variables but I have data 4 variable and want to do this for 4 variable data so how to do for 4 variable data.

finally I want output which indicates that for particular number of a and b which symbol is assign i.e.

     a      b       symbol   
     1      0        p1
     5     0.1       p3      
     3      3        p7
     5     0.8       .
     5     0.8       .
     2      5        .
    12      5
     7      7
    14      7   
     2    0.56
    11    0.56
    11      1
     5      1
     7      0
     7      3
     3      4

so like this for 4 variable data, I used p1, p2,.... just to indicate as symbol but I want use symbol as numbers i.e. 1,2,3,.... i.e. 1,2,3,... instead p1,p2,...

Answer 1

[Image Analyst]

Just define your ranges and have a 4-nested for loop and create a cell array

counter = 1;
for v1 = 1 : length(ranges1)
    for v2 = 1 : length(ranges2)
        for v3 = 1 : length(ranges3)
            for v4 = 1 : length(ranges4)
                % Assign the p string to the cell array.
                ca{v1,v2,v3,v4} = sprintf('p%d', counter);
                counter = counter + 1;
            end
        end
    end
end

[Jay Hanuman]

I don't understand, what ranges should I mention ranges means for a total range i.e. min:max i.e. 1:14 or range means for a 1:3

[Image Analyst]

For example range1 would be [1,4,7,10,13] which is a list of the starting points for each of your ranges 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, and 13-15

[Jay Hanuman]

can u paste full code, I also add some part in question, and instead of p1,p2,..., symbol,I want to use 1,2,3,4 i.e. numbers

[Image Analyst]

Try this, or else adapt it:

counter = 1;
ranges1 = [1,4,7,10,13] 
ranges2 = [0, 0.51:0.5:7]
for v1 = 1 : length(ranges1)
  for v2 = 1 : length(ranges2)
    % Assign the number to the array.
    out(v1,v2) = counter;
    counter = counter + 1;
  end
end
out

[Jay Hanuman]

how to write as

       v1     v2       symbol   
       1      0        1
       5     0.1       3      
       3      3        20
       5     0.8       .
       5     0.8       .
       2      5        .
      12      5
       7      7
      14      7   
       2    0.56
      11    0.56
      11      1
       5      1
       7      0
       7      3
       3      4

[Image Analyst]

Try this:

a=[1 5 3 5 5 2 12 7 14 2 11 11 5 7 7 3]; 
b=[0 0.1 3 0.8 0.8 5 5 7 7 0.56 0.56 1 1 0 3 4];
maxAIndex = ceil(max(a)/3)
fprintf(' a     b    symbol    aIndex   bIndex\n');
for k = 1 : length(a)
  aIndex = ceil(a(k)/3);
  bIndex = ceil(b(k)/0.5);
  % handle special case of 0
  if bIndex == 0
    bIndex = 1;
  end
  symbol(k) = (bIndex-1) * maxAIndex + aIndex;
  fprintf('%2d   %.2f   %3d, %8d %8d\n', a(k), b(k), symbol(k), aIndex, bIndex);
end

a     b    symbol    aIndex   bIndex
 1   0.00     1,        1        1
 5   0.10     2,        2        1
 3   3.00    26,        1        6
 5   0.80     7,        2        2
 5   0.80     7,        2        2
 2   5.00    46,        1       10
12   5.00    49,        4       10
 7   7.00    68,        3       14
14   7.00    70,        5       14
 2   0.56     6,        1        2
11   0.56     9,        4        2
11   1.00     9,        4        2
 5   1.00     7,        2        2
 7   0.00     3,        3        1
 7   3.00    28,        3        6
 3   4.00    36,        1        8

[Jay Hanuman]

how to do for 4 variable data as

a=[1 5 3 5 5 2 12 7 14 2 11 11 5 7 7 3]; 
b=[0 0.1 3 0.8 0.8 5 5 7 7 0.56 0.56 1 1 0 3 4];
c=[1 0.5 5 10 10 15 12 12 26 9 16 18 18 16 20 20 18 17 22 26 23 24];
d=[10 16 51 26 23 23 52 88 54 74 74 46 1 15 12 64  56 54 45 55 16 46];