Loading cell array data from a .dat file reformatting data into doubles?

hi all,

Basically, my problem is that I have a 2D cell array full of data that has a mixture of numbers and strings that contain numbers. I saved this huge cell array into a .dat file so that I could reference it later. When I try to load the data in, Matlab auto formats it into a double matrix and I lose my information contained in the strings. Within my cell array, I have data in the for of 0 and x_y, where the x and y can be any real number. I can't describe it clearly, so I've attatched a few pictures of the behavior.

My .data file looks like this:

I ran this quick few lines to import the data:

[filename, directory_name] = uigetfile('*.dat', 'filename.dat');
fullname = fullfile(directory_name, filename);
data = load(fullname);

This saves the data into the variable . However, when I open to take a look, matlab has optimized(?) the strings into doubles, essentially taking only the first occuring number and the data seen here:

2_3 becomes just 2 and etc.

I was wondering I there was a special load function that would preserve my strings instead of formatting them into doubles. It seems like an easy fix to go in manually, but I really want to save this as a last resort since the matrix is well over 1000x1000 in size ...

Thanks in advance

[infinity]

I think you could try this

https://it.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/readtable.html

[Justin Sung]

ohhhh.... it worked....

thanks for taking the time to help, I appreciate it