convertxlrange

Converts Excel ranges to row and column boundary values

This function converts Excel ranges into Matlab-usable format. It can also be used to test if a string is a valid A1-style Excel range.
Below are the description, syntax, and examples you will find in the m-file.
% Function Description
% This function converts excel A1 range strings such as 'A5:B10' into row
% and column pairs that convey the same information in Matlab-friendly
% row and column boundaries. For example, 'A5:B10' is converted to
% outrange.rows=[5 10]
% outrange.cols=[1 2]
%
% This allows for simple extraction of the desired region from cell or
% numerical arrays.
%
% Copyright Kirby Fears, 2015
%
%
% Function Call
% function outrange = convertxlrange(rangestr)
%
% Input: rangestr should be a character string representing a valid A1
% Excel range.
%
% Output: outrange is a struct with outrange.status = bool
% outrange.rows = [startrow endrow]
% outrange.cols = [startcol endcol]
%
% Empty matrix can be returned for rows or cols independently.
% The outrange.status is true if a valid A1 range is provided in
% rangestr and false otherwise.
% If an invalid Excel range is provided, outrange.rows and
% outrange.cols are both empty matrices.
% If the start row (or col) is greater than the end row (or col),
% the rows and columns are returned as is (not necessarily
% empty), and the status is returned as false.
%
% Examples:
% outrange=convertxlrange('A1:B2');
% status: 1
% rows: [1 2]
% cols: [1 2]
%
% Using these outputs, the desired parts of an array can be selected as follows:
% selection=samplearray(outrange.rows(1):outrange.rows(2),...
% outrange.cols(1):outrange.cols(2));
%
% outrange=convertxlrange('A:BC');
% status: 1
% rows: []
% cols: [1 55]
%
% outrange=convertxlrange('5:25');
% status: 1
% rows: [5 25]
% cols: []
%
% outrange = convertxlrange('Oh:my');
% status: 0
% rows: []
% cols: [398 363]