Place data within a cell in rows

I have a table like below where the results data contained in the cell is a string. Is there a way to stack the data within the results cells in rows? I would like to write this table into Excel as table for publication.

  OLD TABLE

                                             Left cuneus                                       Left entorhinal
Experiment 1       t = -3.66 p = 0.001 x, y, z = -26.1, -6.2, 52.2   Nvx = 31           t = -3.38 p = 0.002 x, y, z = -48.6, -43.7, 0.7 Nvx = 20

Experiment 2       t = -4.66 p = 0.002 x, y, z = -46.1, -7.2, 52.2 Nvx = 21              t = -7.38 p = 0.003 x, y, z = -48.6, -63.7, 1.7 Nvx = 22
   

NEW TABLE

                                   Left cuneus                                 Left entorhinal
Experiment 1                          t = -3.66                                    t = -3.38
                                     p = 0.001                                     p = 0.002
                           x, y, z = -26.1, -6.2, 52.2                 x, y, z = -48.6, -43.7, 0.7
                                     Nvx = 31                                       Nvx = 20
                                   
Experiment 2                         t = -4.66                                    t = -7.38
                                     p = 0.002                                     p = 0.003
                           x, y, z = -46.1, -7.2, 52.2                      x, y, z = -48.6, -63.7, 1.7
                                     Nvx = 21                                       Nvx = 22

Answer 1

[Voss]

The attached function may be of some use.

t = table(["t = -3.66 p = 0.001 x, y, z = -26.1, -6.2, 52.2   Nvx = 31"; "t = -4.66 p = 0.002 x, y, z = -46.1, -7.2, 52.2 Nvx = 21"],["t = -3.38 p = 0.002 x, y, z = -48.6, -43.7, 0.7 Nvx = 20"; "t = -7.38 p = 0.003 x, y, z = -48.6, -63.7, 1.7 Nvx = 22"],'variablenames',{'Left_cuneus','Left_entorhinal'})

t = 2×2 table
                            Left_cuneus                                                  Left_entorhinal                      
    ____________________________________________________________    __________________________________________________________

    "t = -3.66 p = 0.001 x, y, z = -26.1, -6.2, 52.2   Nvx = 31"    "t = -3.38 p = 0.002 x, y, z = -48.6, -43.7, 0.7 Nvx = 20"
    "t = -4.66 p = 0.002 x, y, z = -46.1, -7.2, 52.2 Nvx = 21"      "t = -7.38 p = 0.003 x, y, z = -48.6, -63.7, 1.7 Nvx = 22"

stack_string(t{1,1})

ans = 4×1 string array
    "t = -3.66"
    "p = 0.001"
    "x, y, z = -26.1, -6.2, 52.2"
    "Nvx = 31"

stack_string(t{2,1})

ans = 4×1 string array
    "t = -4.66"
    "p = 0.002"
    "x, y, z = -46.1, -7.2, 52.2"
    "Nvx = 21"

stack_string(t{1,2})

ans = 4×1 string array
    "t = -3.38"
    "p = 0.002"
    "x, y, z = -48.6, -43.7, 0.7"
    "Nvx = 20"

stack_string(t{2,2})

ans = 4×1 string array
    "t = -7.38"
    "p = 0.003"
    "x, y, z = -48.6, -63.7, 1.7"
    "Nvx = 22"

[DavidL88]

Hi Benjamin,

That's great thanks. How do I then place the stacked string back in the original table cell?

I tried t(1,1) = stack_string(t{1,1}) but I get "To assign to or create a variable in a table, the number of rows must match the height of the table." After stacking them I would like to export the table to Excel in this format.

[Voss]

I'm not sure about that; I never use tables. I would use a cell array of character vectors or a 2D string array and write that to file.

variable_names = {'Left cuneus' 'Left entorhinal'};

t = table(["t = -3.66 p = 0.001 x, y, z = -26.1, -6.2, 52.2   Nvx = 31"; "t = -4.66 p = 0.002 x, y, z = -46.1, -7.2, 52.2 Nvx = 21"],["t = -3.38 p = 0.002 x, y, z = -48.6, -43.7, 0.7 Nvx = 20"; "t = -7.38 p = 0.003 x, y, z = -48.6, -63.7, 1.7 Nvx = 22"],'variablenames',strrep(variable_names,' ','_'))

t = 2×2 table
                            Left_cuneus                                                  Left_entorhinal                      
    ____________________________________________________________    __________________________________________________________

    "t = -3.66 p = 0.001 x, y, z = -26.1, -6.2, 52.2   Nvx = 31"    "t = -3.38 p = 0.002 x, y, z = -48.6, -43.7, 0.7 Nvx = 20"
    "t = -4.66 p = 0.002 x, y, z = -46.1, -7.2, 52.2 Nvx = 21"      "t = -7.38 p = 0.003 x, y, z = -48.6, -63.7, 1.7 Nvx = 22"

N_variables = numel(variable_names);
N_experiments = 2;
s_out = repmat("",5*N_experiments,N_variables+1);
s_out(1,2:end) = string(variable_names);
for i = 1:N_experiments
    s_out(5*(i-1)+2,1) = "Experiment " + i;
    for j = 1:N_variables
        s_out(5*(i-1)+2:5*i,j+1) = stack_string(t{i,j});
    end
end
s_out

s_out = 10×3 string array
    ""                "Left cuneus"                    "Left entorhinal"            
    "Experiment 1"    "t = -3.66"                      "t = -3.38"                  
    ""                "p = 0.001"                      "p = 0.002"                  
    ""                "x, y, z = -26.1, -6.2, 52.2"    "x, y, z = -48.6, -43.7, 0.7"
    ""                "Nvx = 31"                       "Nvx = 20"                   
    ""                ""                               ""                           
    "Experiment 2"    "t = -4.66"                      "t = -7.38"                  
    ""                "p = 0.002"                      "p = 0.003"                  
    ""                "x, y, z = -46.1, -7.2, 52.2"    "x, y, z = -48.6, -63.7, 1.7"
    ""                "Nvx = 21"                       "Nvx = 22"                   

writematrix(s_out,'test.xlsx');

readtable('test.xlsx')

Warning: Column headers from the file were modified to make them valid MATLAB identifiers before creating variable names for the table. The original column headers are saved in the VariableDescriptions property.
Set 'VariableNamingRule' to 'preserve' to use the original column headers as table variable names.

ans = 9×3 table
          Var1                    LeftCuneus                       LeftEntorhinal         
    ________________    _______________________________    _______________________________

    {'Experiment 1'}    {'t = -3.66'                  }    {'t = -3.38'                  }
    {0×0 char      }    {'p = 0.001'                  }    {'p = 0.002'                  }
    {0×0 char      }    {'x, y, z = -26.1, -6.2, 52.2'}    {'x, y, z = -48.6, -43.7, 0.7'}
    {0×0 char      }    {'Nvx = 31'                   }    {'Nvx = 20'                   }
    {0×0 char      }    {0×0 char                     }    {0×0 char                     }
    {'Experiment 2'}    {'t = -4.66'                  }    {'t = -7.38'                  }
    {0×0 char      }    {'p = 0.002'                  }    {'p = 0.003'                  }
    {0×0 char      }    {'x, y, z = -46.1, -7.2, 52.2'}    {'x, y, z = -48.6, -63.7, 1.7'}
    {0×0 char      }    {'Nvx = 21'                   }    {'Nvx = 22'                   }

readcell('test.xlsx')

ans = 10×3 cell array
    {1×1 missing   }    {'Left cuneus'                }    {'Left entorhinal'            }
    {'Experiment 1'}    {'t = -3.66'                  }    {'t = -3.38'                  }
    {1×1 missing   }    {'p = 0.001'                  }    {'p = 0.002'                  }
    {1×1 missing   }    {'x, y, z = -26.1, -6.2, 52.2'}    {'x, y, z = -48.6, -43.7, 0.7'}
    {1×1 missing   }    {'Nvx = 31'                   }    {'Nvx = 20'                   }
    {1×1 missing   }    {1×1 missing                  }    {1×1 missing                  }
    {'Experiment 2'}    {'t = -4.66'                  }    {'t = -7.38'                  }
    {1×1 missing   }    {'p = 0.002'                  }    {'p = 0.003'                  }
    {1×1 missing   }    {'x, y, z = -46.1, -7.2, 52.2'}    {'x, y, z = -48.6, -63.7, 1.7'}
    {1×1 missing   }    {'Nvx = 21'                   }    {'Nvx = 22'                   }