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How to properly delete cell element ?

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RuiQi
RuiQi on 27 Jun 2016
Commented: Josep Llobet on 3 Aug 2022
I have a 1x12 cell. How do i remove the last element in the cell ? I tried cell{end} = [] but it did not work. It only emptied the last cell. I would like the result to be a 1x11 cell

Accepted Answer

goerk
goerk on 27 Jun 2016
use normal brackets
cell(end) = [];
  1 Comment
Guillaume
Guillaume on 27 Jun 2016
The reason being:
  • curly brackets act on the content of a cell(s). It does not affect the container (the cell array) itself, so c{end} refers to what's in the last cell, and therefore c{end} = [] puts an empty matrix in that last cell.
  • round brackets act on the cell array itself. So c(end) refers to the last cell, and c(end) = [] deletes it.

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More Answers (3)

Ceethal Kottakali Piyus
Ceethal Kottakali Piyus on 20 Jan 2022
You have to use round parentheses instead of curly braces (which act on the inner cell values and not on the cells themselves):
cell(end) = [];
  1 Comment
Tong Zhao
Tong Zhao on 15 Jun 2022
Edited: Tong Zhao on 15 Jun 2022
Hi Ceethal,
What if I want to remove the second row of a 2x2 cell array?
cell_arr = {1,2;3,4}
cell_arr = 2×2 cell array
{[1]} {[2]} {[3]} {[4]}
cell_arr(2,:) = []
cell_arr = 1×2 cell array
{[1]} {[2]}
Edit: I just found the expression myself. But I'd like to keep this thread for anyone who's running into the same problem.

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Amir Hosein Asaadi
Amir Hosein Asaadi on 27 Sep 2021
I sove it by creating variable again like this:
cell_var = {'var1','var2'};
cell_var = {'var1'};
I hope this work for you.

Josep Llobet
Josep Llobet on 2 Aug 2022
% Cell you want to copy
branques_pixels_new = {[55178] [55593] [62271] [62686] [66858] [67273 123123 12123]}
% element you want to eliminate
n_elm_borrar = 3;
% New cell with the non- element
branques_pixels_new_2 = {};
% Operation
for n_elm = 1:length(branques_pixels_new)
if n_elm ~= n_elm_borrar
branques_pixels_new_2{end+1} = branques_pixels_new{n_elm};
end
end
% New cell
branques_pixels_new_2
  2 Comments
Stephen23
Stephen23 on 2 Aug 2022
The simple and efficient MATLAB approach:
branques_pixels_new_2 = branques_pixels_new;
branques_pixels_new_2(n_elm_borrar) = [];
Josep Llobet
Josep Llobet on 3 Aug 2022
That's true, it's better that one

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