% PASTE copies the content of the clipboard to a variable; creates a
% string, a cell array, or a numerical array, depending on content.
%
% Usage:
% x = paste;
% x = paste(dec,sep,lf);
%
% The program will try to create an array. For this to succeed, the
% material that is passed from the clipboard must be a tab delimited array,
% such as produced by Excel's copy command. If the content does not have
% this structure, the program simply returns a string. If the content is an
% array, x will be a numerical array if all its components qualify as
% numerical. If not, it will be a cell array.
%
% Optional arguments:
% dec Single character that indicates the decimal separator. Default is
% the period ('.').
% sep Single character that indicates how horizontal neigbors of a
% matrix or cell array are separated. Default is the tabulator code
% (char 9).
% lf Single character that indicates how rows are separated.(lf stands
% for line feed). Default is the line feed code (char 10).
%
% Examples:
%
% 1) If the clipboard contains 'George's job is to chop wood.', then
% x = paste produces x = 'George's job is to chop wood.'
%
% 2) If the content of the clipboard is a simple text with multiple lines
% (copied from Notepad or Word or similar), then x = paste produces a
% cell array with one column and one row per line of the input so each
% line of text will be separated in different cells. For example, if you
% copy the follwing text from some other program,
%
% Manche meinen lechts und rinks kann man nicht velwechsern.
% Werch ein Illtum!
%
% then, in Matlab, x = paste produces a 2x1 cell array with
%
% x{1} = 'Manche meinen lechts und rinks kann man nicht velwechsern.'
% x{2} = 'Werch ein Illtum!'
%
% [Note: x = clipboard('copy') would produce just a string in this case,
% not an array of stringcells, so choose the code that is most useful for
% your purpose.]
%
% 3) However, if your text contains an equal number of tabs on each line,
% for instance because you've copied something like this from Word,
% 1 -> item 1
% 2 -> item 2
% 3 -> item 3
% where -> denotes TABs, then x = paste produces a 3x2 cell array,
% x =
% [1] 'item 1'
% [2] 'item 2'
% [3] 'item 3'
%
% 4) If the clipboard contains an array of cells, e.g.
% 1 2 3
% 4 5 6
% for instance by copying these six cells from an Excel spreadsheet,
% then x = paste makes a 2x3 array of doubles with the same content.
% The same is true if there are NaN cells. So if the Excel excerpt was
% 1 2 3
% 4 #N/A 6
% then x =
% 1 2 3
% 4 NaN 6
%
% 5) If the cell collection in the clipboard is
% A 1.3 NaN
% then x will not be a numerical array, but a 1x3 cell array, with
% x =
% 'A' [1.3000] [NaN]
% so x{1} is a string, but x{2} and x{3} are doubles.
%
% 6) If the clipboard contains '1,2', then x=paste with no arguments will
% be 12 (because Matlabs str2double('1,2') interprets this as the number
% 12). However, x=paste(',') will return 1.2
%
% 7) If the clipboard contains '1,2 & 100', then x=paste with no arguments
% will return just the string '1,2 & 100'. x=paste(',','&'), on the
% other hand, will return a numerical array [1.2, 100].
%
% Here is a practical example:
% ----------------------------
% In Excel, select your data, say, a sample of observations organized in
% a few columns. Place them into the clipboard with Ctrl-C.
% Now switch to Matlab and say
% x = paste;
% This puts the data that you copied in Excel into a variable x in
% Matlab's workspace.
% Next, you can analyze the data. For instance, compute the principal
% components (an analysis that is not readily available in Excel), and
% push the result back into the clipboard,
% [c,s] = princomp(x);
% copy(s)
% Now, back in Excel, you can paste the result into your spreadsheet with
% Ctrl-V.
%
%
% Author : Yvan Lengwiler
% Release: $1.05$
% Date : $2013-03-19$
%
% See also COPY, CLIPBOARD
% History:
% Version 1.01 (2010-06-25): correction of a bug that occurred with
% multiple string cells on a single line.
% Version 1.02 (2011-06-05): Simplified detection of line feeds.
% Version 1.03 (2011-06-22): Removal of an unused variable.
% Version 1.04 (2012-02-03): Tries to identify non-conventional decimal
% and thousand separators.
% Version 1.05 (2013-03-19): Three optional arguments (dec, sep, and
% lf).
function x = paste(dec,sep,lf)
% handle optional parameters
if nargin < 3
lf = char(10); % default is line feed (char 10)
end
if nargin < 2
sep = char(9); % default is tabulator (char 9)
end
if nargin < 1
dec = '.'; % default is a period '.'
end
% get the material from the clipboard
p = clipboard('paste');
% get out of here if nothing usable is in the clipboard
% (Note: MLs 'clipboard' interface supports only text, not images or
% the like.)
if isempty(p)
x = [];
return;
end
% find linebreaks
if p(end) ~= lf
p = [p,lf]; % append linefeed if missing
end
posLF = find(ismember(p,lf)); % find linefeeds
nLF = numel(posLF); % count linefeeds
% break into separate lines; parse each line by tab
lines = cell(nLF,1);
posTab = cell(nLF,1);
numTab = zeros(nLF,1);
last = 0;
for i = 1:nLF
lines{i} = [p(last+1:posLF(i)-1),sep]; % append a tabulator
last = posLF(i);
tabs = ismember(lines{i},sep); % find tabulators
aux = linspace(1,numel(lines{i}),numel(lines{i}));
posTab{i} = aux(tabs); % positions of tabs
numTab(i) = sum(tabs(:)); % count tabs in line
end
% is it an array (i.e. a rectangle of cells)?
isArray = true;
i = 1;
while isArray && i <= nLF
isArray = (numTab(i) == numTab(1));
i = i+1;
end
if ~isArray
% it's not an array, so just return the raw content of the clipboard
x = p;
% Note: A simple single or multi-line text with no tabs *does*
% qualify as an array, so the program splits such content line-wise
% into a one-column cell array.
else
% it is an array, so put it into a Matlab cell array
isNum = true; % will remain true if it is never switched off below
x = cell(nLF,numTab(1));
for i = 1:nLF
last = 0;
pos = posTab{i};
for j = 1:numTab(1);
x{i,j} = lines{i,1}(last+1:pos(j)-1);
% try to make numerical cells if possible
if ismember(x{i,j},{'NaN','#N/A'})
x{i,j} = NaN;
else
aux = x{i,j}; % copy to work on
% deal with decimal and thousand separators
if dec ~= '.'
aux = strrep(aux,dec,'.'); % replace decimal
% separators with periods
else
if numel(strfind(aux,'''')) > 0
% remove apostrophes
aux = strrep(aux,'''','');
% if it is a number, it is formatted conventionally
else
% determine if decimal separator is comma and
% thousand separator is period
posComma = strfind(aux,',');
posPeriod = strfind(aux,'.');
if numel(posComma == 1) && numel(posPeriod) > 0
if all(mod(posComma-posPeriod,4) == 0) && ...
posComma > posPeriod(end)
% this is potentially a non-conventionally
% formatted number: remove periods first,
% then replace comma with period
aux = strrep(aux,'.','');
aux = strrep(aux,',','.');
end
end
end
end
% determine if the cell is numerical
aux = str2double(aux); % try to make a double
if isnan(aux)
% this cell is not numerical (turn off switch for
% later)
isNum = false;
else
% str2double has produced a ligit number
x{i,j} = aux;
end
end
last = pos(j);
end
end
if isNum % make a numerical array if possible
x = cell2mat(x);
end
end
% remove cell encapsulation if there is only one cell
if numel(x) == 1
try
x = x{1};
end
end
