MATLAB: How to sort filenames base on the numbers right before file name in MATLAB

sortstring

Hi
I have file names containing everything, but before the file format (like .mat), there is always a number indicating trials. how can I sort it only base on the trial number before the file format ''.mat''.
here are some examples of my files: S202T4_19112018_MS_T-_21.mat , S202T4_19112018_MS_stay_1.mat
Thanks.

Best Answer

This should to the trick. Note that this will return an error if there is no match.
names={'example_1.mat','example_15.mat','example_2.mat'};
numbers=cellfun(@extract_number,names);
[~,order]=sort(numbers);
names=names(order);
function val=extract_number(str)
tokens=regexp(str,'_(\d*).mat','tokens');
val=str2double(tokens{end}{end});
end
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