readtable
Create table from file
Description
T = readtable(filename)
readtable determines the file format from
the file extension:
.txt,.dat, or.csvfor delimited text files.xls,.xlsb,.xlsm,.xlsx,.xltm,.xltx, or.odsfor spreadsheet files.xmlfor Extensible Markup Language (XML) files.docxfor Microsoft® Word document files.html,.xhtml, or.htmfor Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) files
For text and spreadsheet files, readtable creates one variable in
T for each column in the file and reads variable names from the first row of
the file. For XML files, readtable creates one variable in
T for each element or attribute node detected as a table variable. Variable
names correspond to element and attribute names. For Microsoft Word document files, readtable, by default, imports data from the
first table in the document and creates one variable in T for each column in
the file and reads variable names from the first row of the table. For HTML files,
readtable, by default, imports data from the first
<TABLE> element and creates one variable in T for each
column in the file and reads variable names from the first row of the table.
By default, readtable creates variables that have data types that are
appropriate for the data values detected in each column of the input file.
T = readtable(___,Name,Value)readtable reads the first row
of the file as variable names or as data.
To set specific import options for your data, you can either use the
opts object or you can specify name-value pairs. When you specify name-value
pairs in addition to opts, then readtable supports only
these name-value pairs:
Text and spreadsheet parameters —
ReadVariableNames,ReadRowNamesText only parameters —
DateLocale,EncodingSpreadsheet only parameters —
Sheet,UseExcel
Examples
Create Table from Text File
Load the file myCsvTable.dat and preview its contents in a text editor. A screen shot is shown below. Notice that the file contains comma-separated column oriented data.
filename = 'myCsvTable.dat';
Create a table from the comma-separated text file. The resulting table T contains one variable for each column in the file and readtable treats the entries in the first line of the file as variable names.
T = readtable(filename)
T=5×6 table
LastName Gender Age Height Weight Smoker
____________ ______ ___ ______ ______ ______
{'Smith' } {'M'} 38 71 176 1
{'Johnson' } {'M'} 43 69 163 0
{'Williams'} {'F'} 38 64 131 0
{'Jones' } {'F'} 40 67 133 0
{'Brown' } {'F'} 49 64 119 0
Ignore Headers and Fill Missing Values
Starting in R2020a, the readtable function read an input file as though it automatically called the detectImportOptions function on the file. It can detect data types, discard extra header lines, and fill in missing values.
For example, preview the file headersAndMissing.txt in a text editor. The file has a line with column names and another line with headers. The last two rows have gaps where the previous rows have data values.
Create a table from the file. The readtable function discards the headers. Also, it fills in gaps with appropriate missing values—a NaN value for numeric variables, and an empty character vector for text.
T = readtable('headersAndMissing.txt')T=5×6 table
LastName Gender Age Height Weight Smoker
___________ __________ ___ ______ ______ ______
{'Wu' } {'M' } 38 71 176 1
{'Johnson'} {'M' } 43 69 163 0
{'Sanchez'} {'F' } 38 64 131 0
{'Brown' } {'F' } NaN 67 133 0
{'Picard' } {0x0 char} NaN 64 119 0
To restore the default behavior from previous releases, specify the 'Format','auto' name-value pair argument. readtable reads the headers as data, and as a result, it converts all the table variables to text.
T = readtable('headersAndMissing.txt','Format','auto')
T=6×6 table
LastName Gender Age Height Weight Smoker
___________ __________ __________ _______ _______ ___________
{'string' } {'string'} {'int' } {'int'} {'int'} {'boolean'}
{'Wu' } {'M' } {'38' } {'71' } {'176'} {'1' }
{'Johnson'} {'M' } {'43' } {'69' } {'163'} {'0' }
{'Sanchez'} {'F' } {'38' } {'64' } {'131'} {'0' }
{'Brown' } {'F' } {0x0 char} {'67' } {'133'} {'0' }
{'Picard' } {0x0 char} {0x0 char} {'64' } {'119'} {'0' }
For more information, see the Compatibility Considerations section on this page.
Create Table from Text File Without Column Headings
Preview the file mySpaceDelimTable.txt in a text editor. A screen shot is shown below. Notice that the file contains space delimited, column oriented data.
Create a table from the space delimited text file. The readtable function assigns the default variable names Var1 to Var5 because the file does not contain detectable column names in its first row.
T = readtable('mySpaceDelimTable.txt')T=3×5 table
Var1 Var2 Var3 Var4 Var5
_____ ____ ____ ______ _________
{'M'} 45 45 {'NY'} {'true' }
{'F'} 41 32 {'CA'} {'false'}
{'M'} 40 34 {'MA'} {'false'}
Create and Format Table from Text File
Load the file myCsvTable.dat and preview its contents in a text editor. A screen shot is shown below. Notice that the file contains comma-separated column oriented data.
filename = 'myCsvTable.dat';
Create a table from the comma-separated text file. Import the first two columns as character vectors, the third column as uint32, and the next two columns as double-precision, floating-point numbers. Import the entries of the last column as character vectors.
T = readtable(filename,'Format','%s%s%u%f%f%s')
T=5×6 table
LastName Gender Age Height Weight Smoker
____________ ______ ___ ______ ______ ______
{'Smith' } {'M'} 38 71 176 {'1'}
{'Johnson' } {'M'} 43 69 163 {'0'}
{'Williams'} {'F'} 38 64 131 {'0'}
{'Jones' } {'F'} 40 67 133 {'0'}
{'Brown' } {'F'} 49 64 119 {'0'}
The conversion specifiers are %s for a cell array of character vectors, %f for double, and %u for uint32.
Read Foreign-Language Dates from Text File
Read German dates from a file and add them to a table as English dates.
Preview the file german_dates.txt in a text editor. A screen shot is shown below. Notice that the first column of values contains dates in German and the second and third columns are numeric values.
Read the sample file using readtable. The conversion specifiers is %D dates and %f for floating-point values. Specify the file encoding using the FileEncoding name-value pair argument. Specify the format and locale of the dates using the DateLocale name-value pair argument.
T = readtable('german_dates.txt',... 'Format','%{dd MMMM yyyy}D %f %f',... 'FileEncoding','ISO-8859-15',... 'DateLocale','de_DE')
T=3×3 table
Var1 Var2 Var3
________________ ____ _____
01 January 2014 20.2 100.5
01 February 2014 21.6 102.7
01 March 2014 20.7 99.8
Create Table from Spreadsheet Including Row Names
Create a table from a spreadsheet that contains variable names in the first row and row names in the first column.
T = readtable('patients.xls','ReadRowNames',true);
Display the first five rows and first four variables of the table.
T(1:5,1:4)
ans=5×4 table
Gender Age Location Height
__________ ___ _____________________________ ______
Smith {'Male' } 38 {'County General Hospital' } 71
Johnson {'Male' } 43 {'VA Hospital' } 69
Williams {'Female'} 38 {'St. Mary's Medical Center'} 64
Jones {'Female'} 40 {'VA Hospital' } 67
Brown {'Female'} 49 {'County General Hospital' } 64
View the DimensionNames property of the table.
T.Properties.DimensionNames
ans = 1x2 cell
{'LastName'} {'Variables'}
'LastName' is the name in the first column of the first row of the spreadsheet.
Read Specific Range of Data from Spreadsheet
Create a table using data from a specified region of the spreadsheet patients.xls. Use the data from the 5-by-3 rectangular region between the corners C2 and E6. Do not use the first row of this region as variable names.
T = readtable('patients.xls',... 'Range','C2:E6',... 'ReadVariableNames',false)
T =
Var1 Var2 Var3
____ ___________________________ ____
38 'County General Hospital' 71
43 'VA Hospital' 69
38 'St. Mary's Medical Center' 64
40 'VA Hospital' 67
49 'County General Hospital' 64
T contains default variable names.
Detect and Use Import Options for Text Files
Create import options, tailor the data types for multiple variables, and then read the data.
Create an import options object from a text file.
opts = detectImportOptions('airlinesmall.csv')opts =
DelimitedTextImportOptions with properties:
Format Properties:
Delimiter: {','}
Whitespace: '\b\t '
LineEnding: {'\n' '\r' '\r\n'}
CommentStyle: {}
ConsecutiveDelimitersRule: 'split'
LeadingDelimitersRule: 'keep'
TrailingDelimitersRule: 'ignore'
EmptyLineRule: 'skip'
Encoding: 'ISO-8859-1'
Replacement Properties:
MissingRule: 'fill'
ImportErrorRule: 'fill'
ExtraColumnsRule: 'addvars'
Variable Import Properties: Set types by name using setvartype
VariableNames: {'Year', 'Month', 'DayofMonth' ... and 26 more}
VariableTypes: {'double', 'double', 'double' ... and 26 more}
SelectedVariableNames: {'Year', 'Month', 'DayofMonth' ... and 26 more}
VariableOptions: Show all 29 VariableOptions
Access VariableOptions sub-properties using setvaropts/getvaropts
VariableNamingRule: 'modify'
Location Properties:
DataLines: [2 Inf]
VariableNamesLine: 1
RowNamesColumn: 0
VariableUnitsLine: 0
VariableDescriptionsLine: 0
To display a preview of the table, use preview
Examine the Type property of the variables TaxiIn and TaxiOut.
getvaropts(opts,{'TaxiIn','TaxiOut'})ans =
1x2 TextVariableImportOptions array with properties:
Name
Type
FillValue
TreatAsMissing
QuoteRule
Prefixes
Suffixes
EmptyFieldRule
WhitespaceRule
Change the type of the variables TaxiIn and TaxiOut to double.
opts = setvartype(opts,{'TaxiIn','TaxiOut'},'double');Specify the subset of variables to import and examine.
opts.SelectedVariableNames = {'TaxiIn','TaxiOut'};Use the readtable function along with the options object to import the selected variables. Display a summary of the table.
T = readtable('airlinesmall.csv',opts);
summary(T)Variables:
TaxiIn: 123523x1 double
Values:
Min 0
Median 5
Max 1451
NumMissing 37383
TaxiOut: 123523x1 double
Values:
Min 0
Median 13
Max 755
NumMissing 37364
Detect and Use Import Options for Spreadsheet Files
Detect import options for a spreadsheet file, specify the variables to import, and then read the data.
Create an import options object from a file.
opts = detectImportOptions('patients.xls')opts =
SpreadsheetImportOptions with properties:
Sheet Properties:
Sheet: ''
Replacement Properties:
MissingRule: 'fill'
ImportErrorRule: 'fill'
Variable Import Properties: Set types by name using setvartype
VariableNames: {'LastName', 'Gender', 'Age' ... and 7 more}
VariableTypes: {'char', 'char', 'double' ... and 7 more}
SelectedVariableNames: {'LastName', 'Gender', 'Age' ... and 7 more}
VariableOptions: Show all 10 VariableOptions
Access VariableOptions sub-properties using setvaropts/getvaropts
VariableNamingRule: 'modify'
Range Properties:
DataRange: 'A2' (Start Cell)
VariableNamesRange: 'A1'
RowNamesRange: ''
VariableUnitsRange: ''
VariableDescriptionsRange: ''
To display a preview of the table, use preview
Modify the options object to specify which variables to import.
opts.SelectedVariableNames = {'Systolic','Diastolic'};Use readtable along with the options object to import the specified variables.
T = readtable('patients.xls',opts);
summary(T)Variables:
Systolic: 100x1 double
Values:
Min 109
Median 122
Max 138
Diastolic: 100x1 double
Values:
Min 68
Median 81.5
Max 99
Read Tabular Data Containing Arbitrary Variable Names
You can read tabular data while preserving variable names that include any characters, including spaces and non-ASCII characters. First, create a table with arbitrary variable names and write the table to a text file. Then, read the tabular data back while preserving the original variable names.
Create a table containing arbitrary variable names and write the tabular data to the file 'sampletable.txt'.
LastName = {'Sanchez';'Johnson';'Li';'Diaz';'Brown'};
Age = [38;43;38;40;49];
Smoker = logical([1;0;1;0;1]);
varNames = {'Last Name','Age','Smoker (1 or 0)'};
T = table(LastName,Age,Smoker,'VariableNames',varNames)T=5×3 table
Last Name Age Smoker (1 or 0)
___________ ___ _______________
{'Sanchez'} 38 true
{'Johnson'} 43 false
{'Li' } 38 true
{'Diaz' } 40 false
{'Brown' } 49 true
writetable(T,'sampletable.txt')Read the tabular data back using readtable. By default, MATLAB® converts any variable names that include spaces and non-ASCII characters into valid MATLAB® identifiers. For example, MATLAB® converts the variable names 'Last Name' to 'LastName', and 'Smoker (1 or 0)' to 'Smoker_1or0_'. To read the tabular data while preserving variable names, set the 'VariableNamingRule' parameter to preserve.
T_preserve = readtable('sampletable.txt',"VariableNamingRule","preserve")
T_preserve=5×3 table
Last Name Age Smoker (1 or 0)
___________ ___ _______________
{'Sanchez'} 38 1
{'Johnson'} 43 0
{'Li' } 38 1
{'Diaz' } 40 0
{'Brown' } 49 1
Read Hexadecimal and Binary Numbers from File
You can read hexadecimal and binary numbers from a file and store them as numeric variables in a table. The readtable function automatically reads hexadecimal and binary numbers when they include the 0x and 0b prefixes respectively. The numeric values are stored using integer data types. You can also use import options to read such numbers when they do not have prefixes.
Preview the hexAndBinary.txt file in a text editor. It has columns of hexadecimal and binary numbers with prefixes, and one column without.
Read the file using readtable. The function detects the numbers with 0x and 0b prefixes and stores them as integers. The third column does not have prefixes so its values are treated as text.
T = readtable('hexAndBinary.txt')T=3×4 table
Var1 Var2 Var3 Var4
_____ ____ ________ ___________
255 255 {'C7F9'} {'Device1'}
256 4 {'05BF'} {'Device2'}
43981 129 {'F00F'} {'Device3'}
The readtable function stores the numeric values in different integer classes (uint16 and uint8) because T.Var1 has a value that requires more than 8 bits of storage.
class(T.Var1)
ans = 'uint16'
class(T.Var2)
ans = 'uint8'
To specify the data types for storing the numeric values imported from hexadecimal and binary numbers, use the 'HexType' and 'BinaryType' name-value pair arguments. Store the values as signed 32-bit integers.
T = readtable('hexAndBinary.txt','HexType','int32','BinaryType','int32'); class(T.Var1)
ans = 'int32'
class(T.Var2)
ans = 'int32'
You can use import options to detect hexadecimal and binary numbers without prefixes, and specify storage for them. Create an import options object for hexAndBinary.txt.
opts = detectImportOptions('hexAndBinary.txt')opts =
DelimitedTextImportOptions with properties:
Format Properties:
Delimiter: {','}
Whitespace: '\b\t '
LineEnding: {'\n' '\r' '\r\n'}
CommentStyle: {}
ConsecutiveDelimitersRule: 'split'
LeadingDelimitersRule: 'keep'
TrailingDelimitersRule: 'ignore'
EmptyLineRule: 'skip'
Encoding: 'UTF-8'
Replacement Properties:
MissingRule: 'fill'
ImportErrorRule: 'fill'
ExtraColumnsRule: 'addvars'
Variable Import Properties: Set types by name using setvartype
VariableNames: {'Var1', 'Var2', 'Var3' ... and 1 more}
VariableTypes: {'auto', 'auto', 'char' ... and 1 more}
SelectedVariableNames: {'Var1', 'Var2', 'Var3' ... and 1 more}
VariableOptions: Show all 4 VariableOptions
Access VariableOptions sub-properties using setvaropts/getvaropts
VariableNamingRule: 'modify'
Location Properties:
DataLines: [1 Inf]
VariableNamesLine: 0
RowNamesColumn: 0
VariableUnitsLine: 0
VariableDescriptionsLine: 0
To display a preview of the table, use preview
To specify that the third column should be imported as hexadecimal values, despite the lack of a prefix, use the setvaropts function to modify the variable type for the third variable of the table. Set the variable type to int32.
opts = setvaropts(opts,3,'NumberSystem','hex','Type','int32')
opts =
DelimitedTextImportOptions with properties:
Format Properties:
Delimiter: {','}
Whitespace: '\b\t '
LineEnding: {'\n' '\r' '\r\n'}
CommentStyle: {}
ConsecutiveDelimitersRule: 'split'
LeadingDelimitersRule: 'keep'
TrailingDelimitersRule: 'ignore'
EmptyLineRule: 'skip'
Encoding: 'UTF-8'
Replacement Properties:
MissingRule: 'fill'
ImportErrorRule: 'fill'
ExtraColumnsRule: 'addvars'
Variable Import Properties: Set types by name using setvartype
VariableNames: {'Var1', 'Var2', 'Var3' ... and 1 more}
VariableTypes: {'auto', 'auto', 'int32' ... and 1 more}
SelectedVariableNames: {'Var1', 'Var2', 'Var3' ... and 1 more}
VariableOptions: Show all 4 VariableOptions
Access VariableOptions sub-properties using setvaropts/getvaropts
VariableNamingRule: 'modify'
Location Properties:
DataLines: [1 Inf]
VariableNamesLine: 0
RowNamesColumn: 0
VariableUnitsLine: 0
VariableDescriptionsLine: 0
To display a preview of the table, use preview
Read the file and import the third column as numeric values, not text.
T = readtable('hexAndBinary.txt',opts)T=3×4 table
Var1 Var2 Var3 Var4
_____ ____ _____ ___________
255 255 51193 {'Device1'}
256 4 1471 {'Device2'}
43981 129 61455 {'Device3'}
Create XML Import Options for XML File
Create XML import options for an XML file, specify the variables to import, and then read the data.
The XML file students.xml has four sibling nodes named Student, which each contain the same child nodes and attributes.
type students.xml<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Students>
<Student ID="S11305">
<Name FirstName="Priya" LastName="Thompson" />
<Age>18</Age>
<Year>Freshman</Year>
<Address>
<Street xmlns="https://www.mathworks.com">591 Spring Lane</Street>
<City>Natick</City>
<State>MA</State>
</Address>
<Major>Computer Science</Major>
<Minor>English Literature</Minor>
</Student>
<Student ID="S23451">
<Name FirstName="Conor" LastName="Cole" />
<Age>18</Age>
<Year>Freshman</Year>
<Address>
<Street xmlns="https://www.mathworks.com">4641 Pearl Street</Street>
<City>San Francisco</City>
<State>CA</State>
</Address>
<Major>Microbiology</Major>
<Minor>Public Health</Minor>
</Student>
<Student ID="S119323">
<Name FirstName="Morgan" LastName="Yang" />
<Age>21</Age>
<Year>Senior</Year>
<Address>
<Street xmlns="https://www.mathworks.com">30 Highland Road</Street>
<City>Detriot</City>
<State>MI</State>
</Address>
<Major>Political Science</Major>
</Student>
<Student ID="S201351">
<Name FirstName="Salim" LastName="Copeland" />
<Age>19</Age>
<Year>Sophomore</Year>
<Address>
<Street xmlns="https://www.mathworks.com">3388 Moore Avenue</Street>
<City>Fort Worth</City>
<State>TX</State>
</Address>
<Major>Business</Major>
<Minor>Japanese Language</Minor>
</Student>
<Student ID="S201351">
<Name FirstName="Salim" LastName="Copeland" />
<Age>20</Age>
<Year>Sophomore</Year>
<Address>
<Street xmlns="https://www.mathworks.com">3388 Moore Avenue</Street>
<City>Fort Worth</City>
<State>TX</State>
</Address>
<Major>Business</Major>
<Minor>Japanese Language</Minor>
</Student>
<Student ID="54600">
<Name FirstName="Dania" LastName="Burt" />
<Age>22</Age>
<Year>Senior</Year>
<Address>
<Street xmlns="https://www.mathworks.com">22 Angie Drive</Street>
<City>Los Angeles</City>
<State>CA</State>
</Address>
<Major>Mechanical Engineering</Major>
<Minor>Architecture</Minor>
</Student>
<Student ID="453197">
<Name FirstName="Rikki" LastName="Gunn" />
<Age>21</Age>
<Year>Junior</Year>
<Address>
<Street xmlns="https://www.mathworks.com">65 Decatur Lane</Street>
<City>Trenton</City>
<State>ME</State>
</Address>
<Major>Economics</Major>
<Minor>Art History</Minor>
</Student>
</Students>
Create an XMLImportOptions object from a file. Specify the value of VariableSelectors as //@FirstName to select the FirstName element node to import as a table variable.
opts = xmlImportOptions("VariableSelectors","//@FirstName")
opts =
XMLImportOptions with properties:
Replacement Properties:
MissingRule: "fill"
ImportErrorRule: "fill"
RepeatedNodeRule: "addcol"
Variable Import Properties: Set types by name using setvartype
VariableNames: "Var1"
VariableTypes: "char"
SelectedVariableNames: "Var1"
VariableOptions: Show all 1 VariableOptions
Access VariableOptions sub-properties using setvaropts/getvaropts
VariableNamingRule: "preserve"
Location Properties:
TableSelector: <missing>
RowSelector: <missing>
VariableSelectors: "//@FirstName"
VariableUnitsSelector: <missing>
VariableDescriptionsSelector: <missing>
RowNamesSelector: <missing>
RegisteredNamespaces: [0x2 string]
Use readtable along with the options object to import the specified variable.
T = readtable("students.xml",opts)T=7×1 table
Var1
__________
{'Priya' }
{'Conor' }
{'Morgan'}
{'Salim' }
{'Salim' }
{'Dania' }
{'Rikki' }
Register Custom XML Namespace Prefix
Register a custom XML namespace prefix to the existing namespace URL in the input file using the RegisteredNamespaces name-value argument.
Create an XMLImportOptions object from an XML file. Specify the XPath expression of the Street element node as the value of 'VariableSelectors', and register the prefix myPrefix to the URL belonging to the Street node.
opts = detectImportOptions("students.xml","RegisteredNamespaces", ["myPrefix","https://www.mathworks.com"],... "VariableSelectors","//myPrefix:Street")
opts =
XMLImportOptions with properties:
Replacement Properties:
MissingRule: "fill"
ImportErrorRule: "fill"
RepeatedNodeRule: "addcol"
Variable Import Properties: Set types by name using setvartype
VariableNames: "Street"
VariableTypes: "string"
SelectedVariableNames: "Street"
VariableOptions: Show all 1 VariableOptions
Access VariableOptions sub-properties using setvaropts/getvaropts
VariableNamingRule: "preserve"
Location Properties:
TableSelector: <missing>
RowSelector: <missing>
VariableSelectors: "//myPrefix:Street"
VariableUnitsSelector: <missing>
VariableDescriptionsSelector: <missing>
RowNamesSelector: <missing>
RegisteredNamespaces: ["myPrefix" "https://www.mathworks.com"]
Use the readtable function along with the options object to import the selected variable.
T2 = readtable("students.xml",opts)T2=7×1 table
Street
___________________
"591 Spring Lane"
"4641 Pearl Street"
"30 Highland Road"
"3388 Moore Avenue"
"3388 Moore Avenue"
"22 Angie Drive"
"65 Decatur Lane"
Read Specific Table from Microsoft Word Document
The readtable function, by default, reads the first table from a Microsoft Word document file. The file MaintenanceReport.docx contains two tables. The last row of the second table contains a cell with merged columns that do not match the table variables.
Read the second table by setting the TableIndex option to 2. To skip rows that have cells with merged columns, set the MergedCellColumnRule option to 'omitrow'.
filename = "MaintenanceReport.docx"; T = readtable(filename,'TableIndex',2,'MergedCellColumnRule','omitrow')
T=3×5 table
Description Category Urgency Resolution Cost
_____________________________________________________________________ ____________________ ________ __________________ ________
"Items are occasionally getting stuck in the scanner spools." "Mechanical Failure" "Medium" "Readjust Machine" "$45"
"Loud rattling and banging sounds are coming from assembler pistons." "Mechanical Failure" "Medium" "Readjust Machine" "$35"
"There are cuts to the power when starting the plant." "Electronic Failure" "High" "Full Replacement" "$16200"
Alternatively, you can select a table using an XPath selector using the TableSelector option. To select the Microsoft Word document table that contains the text "Description", use the XPath selector "//w:tbl[contains(.,'Description')]".
T = readtable(filename, ... 'TableSelector',"//w:tbl[contains(.,'Description')]", ... 'MergedCellColumnRule','omitrow')
T=3×5 table
Description Category Urgency Resolution Cost
_____________________________________________________________________ ____________________ ________ __________________ ________
"Items are occasionally getting stuck in the scanner spools." "Mechanical Failure" "Medium" "Readjust Machine" "$45"
"Loud rattling and banging sounds are coming from assembler pistons." "Mechanical Failure" "Medium" "Readjust Machine" "$35"
"There are cuts to the power when starting the plant." "Electronic Failure" "High" "Full Replacement" "$16200"
Read Table from HTML Webpage
Read the first table from the URL https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/text-files.html that contains the text "readtable" using the XPath selector "//TABLE[contains(.,'readtable')]". The table does not have a header row, so set the ReadVariableNames option to false.
url = "https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/text-files.html"; T = readtable(url,'TableSelector',"//TABLE[contains(.,'readtable')]", ... 'ReadVariableNames',false)
T=4×2 table
Var1 Var2
________________ ____________________________
"readtable" "Create table from file"
"writetable" "Write table to file"
"readtimetable" "Create timetable from file"
"writetimetable" "Write timetable to file"
Input Arguments
Output Arguments
Tips
Large files in XLSX format sometimes load slowly. For better import and export performance, Microsoft recommends that you use the XLSB format.
Use XPath selectors to specify which elements of the XML input document to import. For example, suppose you want to import the XML file
myFile.xml, which has the following structure:This table provides the XPath syntaxes that are supported for XPath selector name-value arguments, such as<data> <table category="ones"> <var>1</var> <var>2</var> </table> <table category="tens"> <var>10</var> <var>20</var> </table> </data>VariableSelectorsorTableSelector.Selection Operation Syntax Example Result Select every node whose name matches the node you want to select, regardless of its location in the document. Prefix the name with two forward slashes ( //).data = readtable('myFile.xml', 'VariableSelectors', '//var')
data = 4×1 table var ___ 1 2 10 20Read the value of an attribute belonging to an element node. Prefix the attribute with an at sign ( @).data = readtable('myFile.xml', 'VariableSelectors', '//table/@category')
data = 2×1 table categoryAttribute _________________ "ones" "tens"Select a specific node in a set of nodes. Provide the index of the node you want to select in square brackets ( []).data = readtable('myFile.xml', 'TableSelector', '//table[1]')
data = 2×1 table var ___ 1 2Specify precedence of operations. Add parentheses around the expression you want to evaluate first. data = readtable('myFile.xml', 'VariableSelectors', '//table/var[1]')
data = 2×1 table var ___ 1 10data = readtable('myFile.xml', 'VariableSelectors', '(//table/var)[1]')
data = table var ___ 1
Version History
Introduced in R2013bSee Also
writetable | table | textscan | Import
Tool | detectImportOptions | preview | readtimetable | readcell | readmatrix | readvars | setvaropts
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