Convert character vector to evaluable expression

I have a similar problem to this: Convert cell array of character vectors to evaluable expressions - (mathworks.com)

However, the elements in my cell array are not numerical expressions, but rather variables and struct paths. I tried using sscanf using %f, %d, or %s as formatSpecs. The first 2 returns empty arrays and the latter just returns the original character vector. This is what I am doing.

struct.field1.subfield = 5;
vec = {'struct.field1.subfield'};
sscanf(vec{1},'%s')

ans = 'struct.field1.subfield'

I want to get 5.

Answer 1

[Stephen23]

S.field1.subfield = 5; % do NOT use STRUCT as a variable name.
vec = 'S.field1.subfield';
spl = split(vec,'.');
val = getfield(S,spl{2:end})

val = 5

Good data design avoids dynamically accessing the variable name (S in the above example):

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/304528-tutorial-why-variables-should-not-be-named-dynamically-eval

[Gaddiel Kamto]

Thank you.

Thanks for the tutorial link as well.