MATLAB: How to find and replace strings in a cell array with numerical values

cell arraysfind and replace strings with numbers

I've got the following 3 x 5 cell array;
10000.1110000000  20000.9000000000  100.450000000000  22445  'SET_THRESH'
20000.2220000000  20000.9000000000  200.670000000000  22445  'HOLD_THRESH'
30000.3330000000  20004.6000000000  300.890000000000  22445  'DELETE_THRESH'
I'm trying to come up with a technique where the strings in column 5 are automatically replaced with their numerical equivalents (SET_THRESH is 0, HOLD_THRESH is 2, DELETE_THRESH is 3). The resulting 3 x 5 cell array would look like this;
    10000.1110000000  20000.9000000000  100.450000000000  22445  '0'
    20000.2220000000  20000.9000000000  200.670000000000  22445  '2'
    30000.3330000000  20004.6000000000  300.890000000000  22445  '3'
Is it possible to achieve the desired output using a combination of functions within a loop?

Best Answer

possible_threshes = {'SET_THRESH', 'HOLD_THRESH', 'DELETE_THRESH'};
thresh_vals = [0, 2, 3]
[tf, idx] = ismember(YourCell(:,5), possible_threshes);
YourCell(tf, 5) = num2cell( thresh_vals( idx(tf) ) );
Any entry that is unmatched will be left as a string.
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