MATLAB Programming

1 Data Structures
As you add dimensions to an array, you also add subscripts. A four-dimensional
array, for example, has four subscripts. The first two reference a row-column
pair; the second two access the third and fourth dimensions of data.
Note The general multidimensional array functions reside in the datatypes
directory.
Creating Multidimensional Arrays
You can use the same techniques to create multidimensional arrays that you
use for two-dimensional matrices. In addition, MATLAB provides a special
concatenation function that is useful for building multidimensional arrays.
This section discusses
• “Generating Arrays Using Indexing” on page 1-54
• “Extending Multidimensional Arrays” on page 1-55
• “Generating Arrays Using MATLAB Functions” on page 1-56
• “Building Multidimensional Arrays with the cat Function” on page 1-56
Generating Arrays Using Indexing
One way to create a multidimensional array is to create a two-dimensional
array and extend it. For example, begin with a simple two-dimensional array
A.
A = [5 7 8; 0 1 9; 4 3 6];
A is a 3-by-3 array, that is, its row dimension is 3 and its column dimension
is 3. To add a third dimension to A,
A(:,:,2) = [1 0 4; 3 5 6; 9 8 7]
MATLAB responds with
A(:,:,1) =
5 7 8
0 1 9
1-54