Importing date & time data from a txt file in Matlab

Question

Hello,

I have a txt file from which I want to load date & time data. UI import wizard ignores date & time string and loads only numeric data, which is also present in the file. How can I write a script that would load this date & time data as a vector of multiple values (I mean, 1st date, 2nd date and so on). I know how to manipulate this string with datestr & datenum, my problem lies within loading data.

The file looks like this:

{headerlines}

15/11/08-12:17:00 423.85 234.54 672.42
15/11/08-12:17:10 456.54 245.98 723.41
15/11/08-12:17:20 478.65 320.67 952.73

I have a problem only with loading this date&time string. I can manage numeric data.

Looking forward to your answers,
Hamilcar

Answer 1

You may have a look at Reading Data in a Formatted Pattern.

While not taking care of your header, a solution could look like this:

fid = fopen('data.txt');
dateItem = [];
values = [];
while ~feof(fid)
  [dateItem]= [dateItem ; fscanf(fid,'%s',1)]; 
  [values]= [values ;fscanf(fid,'%f %f %f',3)'];
end
fclose(fid);