How do I increment a 4-digit number in a character array?

I've got a 1x4 character array containing a 4-digit number.

IRN = '0050';

I'm looking for a way to increment this number in a for loop. For example, with 3 iterations the output of the for loop would be as follows;

MRN = 

0051

0052

0053

Can MATLAB increment numbers, within a character array, in a for loop?

Answer 1

[Star Strider]

I’m not quite sure what you want.

One approach:

IRN = '0050';
IRN0 = IRN;
for k1 = 1:3
    IRN = sprintf('%04d', str2num(IRN0)+k1)
end

[Stephen Cobeldick]

str2double would be faster and more robust then str2num. sscanf would be best:

IRN = '0098'
for k = 1:5
    IRN = sprintf('%04d',1+sscanf(IRN,'%d'))
end

[Star Strider]

Good points!

Answer 2

[Walter Roberson]

IRN = '0098';

L = length(IRN);

for k = 1 : 5
  for J = L : -1 : 1;
    if IRN(J) == '9'
      IRN(J) = '0';
    else
      IRN(J) = IRN(J)+1;
      break;
    end
  end
  disp(IRN)
end