str2num — Convert text containing numeric matrix literals to a numeric array.
str2num(text) parses a scalar string or character array as a numeric matrix expression. It is a text parser, not a numeric conversion function; use string to turn numeric data into text and str2double for element-wise text parsing.
Syntax
[x, tf] = str2num(text)Inputs
| Name | Type | Required | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
text | Any | Yes | — | Input text. |
Returns
| Name | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
out | Any | Output value. |
Returned values from str2num depend on how many outputs the caller requests.
How str2num works
- Convert text containing numeric matrix literals to a numeric array.
- Parses bracketed numeric matrix text with whitespace, comma, and semicolon separators.
- When a second output is requested, returns a logical success flag instead of throwing for malformed numeric text.
- RunMat currently implements numeric matrix literal parsing. The compatibility target's
Evaluationoption and general expression-evaluation surface remain implementation gaps.
Example
Using str2num with coding agents
Open a RunMat example with live inputs, then ask the agent to explain how str2num changes the result.
Run a small str2num example, explain the result, then change one input and compare the output.
Related Strings functions
Core
blanks · char · compose · convertCharsToStrings · convertContainedStringsToChars · convertStringsToChars · genvarname · int2str · isletter · isspace · isStringScalar · isstrprop · mat2str · native2unicode · newline · num2str · sprintf · sscanf · str2double · strcmp · strcmpi · string · string.empty · strings · strlength · strncmp · strncmpi · strtok · unicode2native
Text Analytics
addDependencyDetails · addEntityDetails · addLemmaDetails · addPartOfSpeechDetails · addSentenceDetails · addTypeDetails · bagOfNgrams · bagOfWords · cosineSimilarity · doc2sequence · encode · extractFileText · extractHTMLText · fastTextWordEmbedding · findElement · getAttribute · htmlTree · ind2word · isVocabularyWord · normalizeWords · readWordEmbedding · removeLongWords · removeShortWords · removeStopWords · removeWords · stopWords · tokenDetails · tokenizedDocument · trainWordEmbedding · vaderSentimentScores · vec2word · word2ind · word2vec · wordEncoding · writeWordEmbedding
Transform
append · deblank · erase · eraseBetween · erasePunctuation · eraseURLs · extractAfter · extractBefore · extractBetween · insertAfter · insertBefore · join · lower · pad · replace · replaceBetween · reverse · split · splitlines · strcat · strip · strjoin · strjust · strrep · strsplit · strtrim · upper
Search
contains · endsWith · matches · startsWith · strfind
Pattern
digitsPattern · lettersPattern · pattern · regexpPattern · textBoundary · wildcardPattern
Open-source implementation
Unlike proprietary runtimes, every RunMat function is open-source. Read exactly how str2num is executed, line by line, in Rust.
- View the source for str2num in Rust on GitHub
- Learn how the RunMat runtime works
- Found a bug? Open an issue with a minimal reproduction.
About RunMat
RunMat is an open-source runtime that executes MATLAB-syntax code blazing on any GPU. It is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license.
- RunMat automatically optimizes your math for GPU execution on Apple, Nvidia, and AMD hardware. No code changes needed. Simulations that took hours now take minutes.
- Start running code in seconds. RunMat runs in the browser, on the desktop, or from the CLI. No license server, no IT ticket.