substitute a symbol instead of zeros in a matrix

i have matrix a=[3 5 0;2 0 5;1 0 0] now i want to replace all zeros with any symbols. for example i need output as a=[3 5 *;2 * 5;1 * *]

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

That cannot be done in a numeric array. You can create a string with that content or you can display to the screen (or file) in the form you want, or you can create a cell array of strings that have '*' in those positions -- but you cannot create a numeric array like that.