Section: String Functions
p = strncmp(x,y,n)
where x and y are two strings. Returns true if x
and y are each at least n characters long, and if the
first n characters from each string are the same. Otherwise,
it returns false.
In the second form, strncmp can be applied to a cell array of
strings. The syntax for this form is
p = strncmp(cellstra,cellstrb,n)
where cellstra and cellstrb are cell arrays of a strings
to compare. Also, you can also supply a character matrix as
an argument to strcmp, in which case it will be converted
via cellstr (so that trailing spaces are removed), before being
compared.
--> x1 = 'astring'; --> x2 = 'bstring'; --> x3 = 'astring'; --> strncmp(x1,x2,4) ans = <logical> - size: [1 1] 0 --> strncmp(x1,x3,4) ans = <logical> - size: [1 1] 1
Here we use a cell array strings
--> x = {'ast','bst',43,'astr'}
x =
<cell array> - size: [1 4]
Columns 1 to 3
ast bst [43]
Columns 4 to 4
astr
--> p = strncmp(x,'ast',3)
p =
<logical> - size: [1 4]
Columns 1 to 4
1 0 0 1
Here we compare two cell arrays of strings
--> strncmp({'this','is','a','pickle'},{'think','is','to','pickle'},3)
ans =
<logical> - size: [1 4]
Columns 1 to 4
1 0 0 1
Finally, the case where one of the arguments is a matrix string
--> strncmp({'this','is','a','pickle'},['peter ';'piper ';'hated ';'pickle'],4);