How do you split a newline in Matlab?

To split a string at a newline character in Matlab, you typically use the splitlines function. If your string represents the newline as the literal \\n sequence, you must first convert this sequence into an actual newline character using the compose function before using splitlines.

Splitting Strings by Newline in Matlab

Matlab provides the splitlines function specifically for breaking a string into a string array based on newline characters.

• splitlines(str): Splits the input string str at each newline character and returns a string array where each element corresponds to a line of the original string.

% Example: Splitting a string with actual newlines
textWithNewlines = "First line" + newline + "Second line" + newline + "Third line";
splitResult = splitlines(textWithNewlines);
disp(splitResult);

This will output a string array:

   "First line"
   "Second line"
   "Third line"

Handling \\n Literals with compose

As highlighted in the reference, sometimes a string might contain the literal characters \ followed by n (\\n) to represent a newline, rather than containing an actual newline character. The splitlines function splits only on actual newline characters.

To split a string containing the literal \\n sequence, you must first convert this sequence into a real newline character using the compose function.

• compose(str): Processes escape sequences like \\n, \\t, etc., within a string array and returns a new string array with these sequences converted to their corresponding special characters.

According to the reference: "When the literal \n represents a newline character, convert it to an actual newline using the compose function. Then use splitlines to split the string at the newline character."

Here's how you apply this:

1. Start with your string: Assume you have a string where lines are separated by the literal \\n.
2. Convert \\n: Use the compose function on this string. This transforms \\n into a real newline character (\n).
3. Split by newline: Use the splitlines function on the result of the compose function.

Example Scenario: Splitting a String with \\n Literals

Let's create a string with \\n separating lines and then split it correctly.

% Step 1: Create a string using the literal \\n as a separator
stringWithLiteralNL = "Line 1\\nLine 2\\nLine 3";
disp("Original string with literal \\n:");
disp(stringWithLiteralNL);

% Step 2: Use compose to convert \\n to an actual newline
stringWithActualNL = compose(stringWithLiteralNL);
disp("String after compose (\\n converted):");
disp(stringWithActualNL);

% Step 3: Use splitlines to split the string at the actual newlines
splitResultFromLiteral = splitlines(stringWithActualNL);
disp("Resulting string array after splitlines:");
disp(splitResultFromLiteral);

The output will show the transformation and the final split:

Original string with literal \\n:
Line 1\\nLine 2\\nLine 3
String after compose (\\n converted):
Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Resulting string array after splitlines:
   "Line 1"
   "Line 2"
   "Line 3"

Summary: Steps for Splitting by Newline

By following these steps, you can effectively split strings in Matlab based on newline characters, correctly handling both actual newlines and their \\n literal representations as described in the reference.