Create a string array of names, where some names contain Paul.

Starting in R2017a, you can create strings using double quotes.

str = ["Mary Ann Jones","Paul Jay Burns","John Paul Smith"]

str = 1x3 string
    "Mary Ann Jones"    "Paul Jay Burns"    "John Paul Smith"

If you are using R2016b, create string arrays using the string function instead of double quotes.

Return a logical array where the position of each element equal to 1 corresponds to the position of a string in str that contains Paul.

pat = "Paul";
TF = contains(str,pat)

TF = 1x3 logical array

   0   1   1

Display the strings that contain Paul. Index back into str using TF.

str(TF)

ans = 1x2 string
    "Paul Jay Burns"    "John Paul Smith"

Since R2020b

Create a string array that contains addresses.

str = ["221B Baker St.","Tour Eiffel Champ de Mars","4059 Mt Lee Dr."]

str = 1x3 string
    "221B Baker St."    "Tour Eiffel Champ..."    "4059 Mt Lee Dr."

To find addresses that contain numbers, create a pattern that matches an arbitrary number of digits by using the digitsPattern function.

pat = digitsPattern

pat = pattern
  Matching:

    digitsPattern

Return a logical array indicating which strings contain digits. Display the matching strings.

TF = contains(str,pat)

TF = 1x3 logical array

   1   0   1

str(TF)

ans = 1x2 string
    "221B Baker St."    "4059 Mt Lee Dr."

Search for strings that have a sequence of digits followed by one letter. You can build more complex patterns by combining simple patterns.

pat = digitsPattern + lettersPattern(1)

pat = pattern
  Matching:

    digitsPattern + lettersPattern(1)

TF = contains(str,pat);
str(TF)

ans = 
"221B Baker St."

For a list of functions that create pattern objects, see pattern.

Create a string array of names, where some names contain either Ann or Paul.

str = ["Mary Ann Jones","Christopher Matthew Burns","John Paul Smith"]

str = 1x3 string
    "Mary Ann Jones"    "Christopher Matth..."    "John Paul Smith"

Find the elements of str that contain either Ann or Paul.

pat = ["Ann","Paul"];
TF = contains(str,pat)

TF = 1x3 logical array

   1   0   1

Index back into str using TF.

str(TF)

ans = 1x2 string
    "Mary Ann Jones"    "John Paul Smith"

Create a string array that contains names. Determine which names contain anne, ignoring case.

Starting in R2017a, you can create strings using double quotes.

str = ["Anne","Elizabeth","Marianne","Tracy"]

str = 1x4 string
    "Anne"    "Elizabeth"    "Marianne"    "Tracy"

pat = "anne";
TF = contains(str,pat,'IgnoreCase',true)

TF = 1x4 logical array

   1   0   1   0

Display the strings that contain anne. Index back into str using TF.

str(TF)

ans = 1x2 string
    "Anne"    "Marianne"

Create a character vector that contains a list of foods. Determine if the names of different foods are in the character vector.

chr = 'peppers, onions, and mushrooms';
TF = contains(chr,'onion')

TF = logical
   1

TF = contains(chr,'pineapples')

TF = logical
   0