dec2hex

Convert decimal integer to its hexadecimal representation

Syntax

hexStr = dec2hex(D)

hexStr = dec2hex(D,minDigits)

Description

hexStr = dec2hex(D) returns the hexadecimal, or base-16, representation of the decimal integer D. The output argument hexStr is a character vector that represents hexadecimal digits using the characters 0-9 and A-F.

If D is a numeric vector, matrix, or multidimensional array, then hexStr is a two-dimensional character array. Each row of hexStr represents an element of D.

hexStr = dec2hex(D,minDigits) returns a hexadecimal representation with no fewer than minDigits digits.

Examples

Convert Decimal Number

Convert a decimal number to a character vector that represents its hexadecimal value.

D = 1023;
hexStr = dec2hex(D)

hexStr = 
'3FF'

Specify Minimum Number of Digits

Specify the minimum number of hexadecimal digits that dec2hex returns. If you specify more digits than are required, then dec2hex pads the output.

D = 1023;
hexStr = dec2hex(D,6)

hexStr = 
'0003FF'

If you specify fewer digits, then dec2hex still returns as many hexadecimal digits as required to represent the input number.

hexStr = dec2hex(D,1)

hexStr = 
'3FF'

Convert Numeric Array

Create a numeric array.

D = [1023 122 14];

To represent the elements of D as hexadecimal values, use the dec2hex function. Each row of hexStr corresponds to an element of D.

hexStr = dec2hex(D)

hexStr = 3×3 char array
    '3FF'
    '07A'
    '00E'

The dec2hex function returns a padded character array. Starting in R2016b, the compose function is recommended for converting numeric arrays to hexadecimal representations. It returns a string array whose elements are not padded. To represent the elements of D as hexadecimal values, use either the %X or %x formatting operator.

hexStr = compose("%X",D)

hexStr = 1×3 string
    "3FF"    "7A"    "E"

Represent Negative Numbers

Starting in R2020a, the dec2hex function converts negative numbers using their two's complement binary values.

For example, these calls to dec2hex convert negative numbers.

dec2hex(-1)

ans = 
'FF'

dec2hex(-16)

ans = 
'F0'

Input Arguments

D — Input array

numeric array | char array | logical array

Input array, specified as a numeric array, char array, or logical array.

• If D is an array of floating-point numbers, and any element of D has a fractional part, then dec2hex produces an error. For example, dec2hex converts 10 to 'A' but does not convert 10.5.

• If D is a character or logical array, then dec2hex treats the elements of D as integers. However, dec2hex treats characters as their Unicode^® values, so specifying D as a character array is not recommended.

Since R2020a

D can include negative numbers. The function converts negative numbers using their two's complement binary values.

Data Types: single | double | int8 | int16 | int32 | int64 | uint8 | uint16 | uint32 | uint64 | logical | char

minDigits — Minimum number of digits in output

nonnegative integer

Minimum number of digits in the output, specified as a nonnegative integer.

• If D can be represented with fewer than minDigits hexadecimal digits, then dec2hex pads the output.

  D >= 0	Pads with leading zeros
  D < 0	Pads with leading F characters (since R2020b)

• If D is so large that it must be represented with more than minDigits digits, then dec2hex returns the output with as many digits as required.

Extended Capabilities

C/C++ Code Generation

Generate C and C++ code using MATLAB® Coder™.

Usage notes and limitations:

• If minDigits is specified, the output will have that number of columns even if D is empty. If minDigits is not specified, the output will have at least one column.

• If input D is double or single, then it must be greater than or equal to intmin('int64') and less than 2^64.

• This function usually produces a variable-size output. To make the output fixed-size, supply minDigits as a constant large enough that the output has a fixed number of columns regardless of input values. For fixed-size output, minDigits must be at least 16 for double, 16 for single, 8 for half, 1 for logical, 2 for char, 16 for int64, 16 for uint64, 8 for int32, 8 for uint32, 4 for int16, 4 for uint16, 2 for int8, and 2 for uint8.

Thread-Based Environment

Run code in the background using MATLAB® backgroundPool or accelerate code with Parallel Computing Toolbox™ ThreadPool.

This function fully supports thread-based environments. For more information, see Run MATLAB Functions in Thread-Based Environment.

Version History

Introduced before R2006a

R2022a: Restrict input type to primitive numeric types

User-defined datatypes are restricted to primitive numeric types and classes that inherit from a primitive numeric type.