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in matlab, find the array position of an entry closest to some arbitrary value

March 4th, 2006 by Lawrence David


a friend asked:

matlab question: i have an array of data. how do i get matlab to find the position of an entry closest to some arbitrary value?
for instance, i would have
a= [1; 4; 6; 8; 12]
i want to search for 9 and have matlab spit back 4, the entry in a closest to 9.

here’s one way to solve that problem (assuming that variable k=9):

>> [min_difference, array_position] = min(abs(a - k))

wheree array_position is the desired index value.

Posted in Matlab |

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12 Responses to “in matlab, find the array position of an entry closest to some arbitrary value”

  1. on 01 Feb 2007 at 1:01 pm   Cruchon

    Something like
    [rte,index]=min(abs(X-x0)); where x0 is the target and X is the array you want to search in works. The answer is index.

  2. on 01 Feb 2007 at 1:08 pm   Lawrence David

    i believe that’s exactly what i wrote above.

  3. on 29 May 2007 at 10:28 am   Roman

    Thanks guys!

  4. on 20 Jul 2007 at 4:00 pm   Hilikus

    ??? that returns the difference between the closest and the target vale not its INDEX

  5. on 20 Jul 2007 at 4:13 pm   lawrence

    hilikus:

    the second argument returned is the index; the first argument returned is the difference.

  6. on 20 Jul 2007 at 4:21 pm   Hilikus

    Bah, nevermind, i didnt see the double output

  7. on 15 Sep 2007 at 10:18 am   D

    >> [trash array_position] = min(abs(a - k))

    probably should have a “,” or odd things may happen.

    [trash, array_position] = min(abs(a - k))

    I wasted a lot of time recently and that simple problem caused it.

    D

  8. on 29 Feb 2008 at 2:58 pm   jess

    I love you for this! *mwah*

  9. on 05 Mar 2008 at 12:44 pm   huzzzaa

    thanks guys!!!!!!!!! saved me hours developing my own algorithm!

  10. on 28 May 2008 at 12:43 pm   Chan

    Man, you guys really rock! Thanks a lot, saved me hours. Keep up the good work!!

  11. on 27 Aug 2008 at 12:01 pm   marchessoux

    Thanks a lot, exacty what I needed, so economy of many time ;=)
    Cédric

  12. on 23 Sep 2008 at 11:44 am   dave

    can you do something similar but for several k’s at a time?

Did I get this wrong? Let me know!

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