Indexing Array Elements Using Row Number Stored in another Matrix

This seems like it should be a fairly simple common thing to do and Yet I cannot find any similar questions or information anywhere on the forums. Basically, all I want to do is index values in a matrix using the numbers stored in another Matix. For example if I have a Matrix A
A = [5 14 24 5; 16 12 22 15; 8 55 44 21; 3 2 34 65]
and a Matix B
B = [1; 2; 4; 3]
The numbers contained in B correspond to row numbers that need to be accessed in A. In otherwords I would like to access the values in the following locations of matrix A (1,1), (2,2), (4,3), (3,4). I would then like to store these values in a new Matrix. So in this instance, the output contained in that new Matrix would be 5 12 34 21
I tried the following:
A = [5 14 24 5; 16 12 22 15; 8 55 44 21; 3 2 34 65];
B = [1; 2; 4; 3];
for i = 1:4
z = B(1,i)
Y(i) = A(z,i)
end

 Accepted Answer

Wanted = A(sub2ind(size(A), B, (1:numel(B)).'))

5 Comments

Doesn't seem to work. I get the following error
A =
5 14 24 5
16 12 22 15
8 55 44 21
3 2 34 65
B =
1
2
4
3
Error using sub2ind (line 51)
The subscript vectors must all be of the same size.
Error in Untitled (line 35)
Wanted = A(sub2ind(size(A), B, 1:numel(B)))
Please try the answer properly before commenting.
Perhaps you could kindly elaborate slightly on you answer above. It's not completely clear to me from that one line how this code works. you are saying that linear indices for the row and column subscripts need to be extracted.
If you could elaborate slightly it would be appreciated.
Ben
>> A = [5,14,24,5;16,12,22,15;8,55,44,21;3,2,34,65];
>> B = [1;2;4;3]; % row subscript indices
>> C = 1:numel(B); % column subscript indices
>> X = sub2ind(size(A),B(:),C(:)); % linear indices
>> Y = A(X)
Y =
5
12
34
21
Thank You,
I understand this now. That works perfectly.

Sign in to comment.

More Answers (0)

Asked:

Ben
on 26 Aug 2020

Commented:

Ben
on 27 Aug 2020

Community Treasure Hunt

Find the treasures in MATLAB Central and discover how the community can help you!

Start Hunting!