How can I convert an array of binary values into the corresponding decimal number within MATLAB?

I have an array of values that represents the binary value of a number. For example:

x = [1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0];

is used to represent the binary value 10000000, which is the decimal value 128. The BIN2DEC function is used to convert binary strings into decimal numbers. I would like to convert my array into the corresponding decimal value.

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

You can convert the array to a decimal number by first converting it into a binary string, then using the BIN2DEC function to convert the string into a number:

x = [1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0];

% convert x to a string array

str_x = num2str(x);

% remove the spaces in the string, so it 

% becomes '10000000'

str_x(isspace(str_x)) = '';

% now use BIN2DEC to convert the binary 

% string to a decimal number

y = bin2dec(str_x);

For MATLAB 7.0 (R14) and releases after that, BIN2DEC ignores any space (' ')

characters in the input string. Hence, the following step is not required in the above code:

str_x(isspace(str_x)) = '';

Please note that the BIN2DEC function works with strings of size less than 52 bits.

To convert a binary string with more than 52 bits, you would need to use the symbolic Math Toolbox in MATLAB.

For example, a binary string can be converted using the text2int function in MATLAB 7.8 (R2009a).

z = evalin(symengine,'text2int("1111000101111100010111110001011111000001011111000101010",2)')