MATLAB: Numerical Sorting of Cell Matrix by Single Column

cell arraycell arrayssortsortrows

This is the cell array I am trying to numerically sort.
CombinedRanking_unsorted =
12×4 cell array
    'Wt0,4_Bw8,3_Bt0,4_Ah15_Aa0'       '158.6'       '9653.1008'    '11'
    'Wt0,4_Bw8,3_Bt0,4_Ah15_Aa10'      '158.6'       '9388.1686'    '3' 
    'Wt0,4_Bw8,3_Bt0,4_Ah15_Aa15'      '158.6'       '9366.2083'    '2' 
    'Wt0,4_Bw8,3_Bt0,4_Ah15_Aa5'       '158.6'       '9482.5697'    '7' 
    'Wt0,5_Bw8,2_Bt0,5_Ah15,5_Aa0'     '197.4875'    '9715.4104'    '13'
    'Wt0,5_Bw8,2_Bt0,5_Ah15,5_Aa10'    '197.4875'    '9448.7681'    '6' 
    'Wt0,5_Bw8,2_Bt0,5_Ah15,5_Aa15'    '197.4875'    '9426.6661'    '5' 
    'Wt0,5_Bw8,2_Bt0,5_Ah15,5_Aa5'     '197.4875'    '9543.7786'    '10'
    'Wt0,5_Bw8,3_Bt0,5_Ah15_Aa0'       '198.25'      '9750.3424'    '15'
    'Wt0,5_Bw8,3_Bt0,5_Ah15_Aa10'      '198.25'      '9482.7414'    '10'
    'Wt0,5_Bw8,3_Bt0,5_Ah15_Aa15'      '198.25'      '9460.5599'    '8' 
    'Wt0,5_Bw8,3_Bt0,5_Ah15_Aa5'       '198.25'      '9578.0935'    '12'
I am trying to sort these numerically according to the value in the 4th column. I am doing this using the "sortrows" function. My input is:
FinalRanking = sortrows(CombinedRanking_unsorted,4)
The output of this is
FinalRanking =
12×4 cell array
    'Wt0,5_Bw8,2_Bt0,5_Ah15,5_Aa5'     '197.4875'    '9543.7786'    '10'
    'Wt0,5_Bw8,3_Bt0,5_Ah15_Aa10'      '198.25'      '9482.7414'    '10'
    'Wt0,4_Bw8,3_Bt0,4_Ah15_Aa0'       '158.6'       '9653.1008'    '11'
    'Wt0,5_Bw8,3_Bt0,5_Ah15_Aa5'       '198.25'      '9578.0935'    '12'
    'Wt0,5_Bw8,2_Bt0,5_Ah15,5_Aa0'     '197.4875'    '9715.4104'    '13'
    'Wt0,5_Bw8,3_Bt0,5_Ah15_Aa0'       '198.25'      '9750.3424'    '15'
    'Wt0,4_Bw8,3_Bt0,4_Ah15_Aa15'      '158.6'       '9366.2083'    '2' 
    'Wt0,4_Bw8,3_Bt0,4_Ah15_Aa10'      '158.6'       '9388.1686'    '3' 
    'Wt0,5_Bw8,2_Bt0,5_Ah15,5_Aa15'    '197.4875'    '9426.6661'    '5' 
    'Wt0,5_Bw8,2_Bt0,5_Ah15,5_Aa10'    '197.4875'    '9448.7681'    '6' 
    'Wt0,4_Bw8,3_Bt0,4_Ah15_Aa5'       '158.6'       '9482.5697'    '7' 
    'Wt0,5_Bw8,3_Bt0,5_Ah15_Aa15'      '198.25'      '9460.5599'    '8'
What would be the best method for sorting this numerically. This is only a sample set of a larger volume of data.

Best Answer

A = {    'Wt0,4_Bw8,3_Bt0,4_Ah15_Aa0'       '158.6'       '9653.1008'    '11'
'Wt0,4_Bw8,3_Bt0,4_Ah15_Aa10'      '158.6'       '9388.1686'    '3'
'Wt0,4_Bw8,3_Bt0,4_Ah15_Aa15'      '158.6'       '9366.2083'    '2'
'Wt0,4_Bw8,3_Bt0,4_Ah15_Aa5'       '158.6'       '9482.5697'    '7'
'Wt0,5_Bw8,2_Bt0,5_Ah15,5_Aa0'     '197.4875'    '9715.4104'    '13'
'Wt0,5_Bw8,2_Bt0,5_Ah15,5_Aa10'    '197.4875'    '9448.7681'    '6'
'Wt0,5_Bw8,2_Bt0,5_Ah15,5_Aa15'    '197.4875'    '9426.6661'    '5'
'Wt0,5_Bw8,2_Bt0,5_Ah15,5_Aa5'     '197.4875'    '9543.7786'    '10'
'Wt0,5_Bw8,3_Bt0,5_Ah15_Aa0'       '198.25'      '9750.3424'    '15'
'Wt0,5_Bw8,3_Bt0,5_Ah15_Aa10'      '198.25'      '9482.7414'    '10'
'Wt0,5_Bw8,3_Bt0,5_Ah15_Aa15'      '198.25'      '9460.5599'    '8'
'Wt0,5_Bw8,3_Bt0,5_Ah15_Aa5'       '198.25'      '9578.0935'    '12'}
[~,ii] = sort(str2double(A(:,4)));
out = A(ii,:);
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