more efficient way to use strtok / selecting parts of a string

Greetings,

I have a huge cell array with time data arranged in the following format :

[one empty cell];
ABC/DEF QTR/3/99 (Thousands);
ABC/DEF QTR/6/99 (Thousands);
ABC/DEF QTR/9/99 (Thousands);
ABC/DEF QTR/12/99 (Thousands);
etc...

I would like to change the format into this :

ABC/DEF;
QTR/3/99;
QTR/6/99;
QTR/9/99;
QTR/12/99;
etc...

I've solved the problem but think it can be done much more efficiently:

[varname,  mthtime2(2:end)] = strtok(mthtime2(2:end));
mthtime2(2:end)= strtok(mthtime2(2:end));% drops the "thousands"                             mthtime2(1)=varname(1);

Suggestions for a faster method would be most appreciated. Thank you for your time!

Iliya

[Walter Roberson]

Is the mthtime2(1)=varname(1) commented out, or should it be on the next line?

[Daniel Shub]

In order to get what iilya wants, mthtime2(1)=varname(1) needs to be uncommented.

Answer 1

[Daniel Shub]

If the format is as rigid as your example ...

Given a cell array

x = {[]; 'ABC/DEF QTR/3/99 (Thousands)'; 'ABC/DEF QTR/6/99 (Thousands)'; 'ABC/DEF QTR/9/99 (Thousands)'; 'ABC/DEF QTR/12/99 (Thousands)'};

Then for each element

y = x{i};

you want

y(9:17);

and then need to deal with the possible blank space. The function deblank can handle this. Putting it all together ...

x = {[]; 'ABC/DEF QTR/3/99 (Thousands)'; 'ABC/DEF QTR/6/99 (Thousands)'; 'ABC/DEF QTR/9/99 (Thousands)'; 'ABC/DEF QTR/12/99 (Thousands)'};

[{'ABC/DEF'};cellfun(@(y)(deblank(y(9:17))), x(2:end), 'UniformOutput', false)]

edit to handle variable ABC/DEF

firstCell = x{2};
[{firstCell(1:7)};cellfun(@(y)(deblank(y(9:17))), x(2:end), 'UniformOutput', false)]