MATLAB: Importfile regexp thousands separator returns NaN when negative

import fileregexpthousands separator

I used "Import Data" to generate a function importfile for importing a csv file. Unfortunately, the function returns NaN for every number less than or equal to -1,000.
When I step through the generated code, I discover that the error happens in the following code:
            % Detected commas in non-thousand locations.
            invalidThousandsSeparator = false;
            if numbers.contains(',')
                thousandsRegExp = '^\d+?(\,\d{3})*\.{0,1}\d*$';
                if isempty(regexp(numbers, thousandsRegExp, 'once'))
                    numbers = NaN;
                    invalidThousandsSeparator = true;
                end
            end
Let's say that:
numbers = "-1,167.67627";
Then:
regexp(numbers, thousandsRegExp, 'once')
ans =
     []
Hence, the code returns a NaN when it should be giving me a number of -1167.67627.
Compare this to the result when the number is positive:
 numbers = "1,167.67627";
 regexp(numbers, thousandsRegExp, 'once')
 ans =
       1
Obviously, the error comes from the following code, but I have no idea how to fix this 'matched regular expression':
 thousandsRegExp = '^\d+?(\,\d{3})*\.{0,1}\d*$';

Best Answer

str2double(regexprep(numbers,',',''))
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