Convert categorical back to integer

Hi,

i convert an integer to a categorical

a=[-1 0 1]
b=categorical(a)

now how do i convert b back to the same integers in a?

Just can't find the function to do this.

thanks,

steven

[dpb]

>> str2num(char(b(:)))
ans =
    -1
     0
     1
>>

But, not recommended; the underlying content of a categorical variable aren't really numeric even if they are numbers. The representation internally is an ordered set of the integers 1:N as I'm sure you've already discovered via double()

>> categories(b)
ans =
  3×1 cell array
    {'-1'}
    {'0' }
    {'1' }
>> 

Gives the values of the categories that make up the unique elements but not the corresponding location in the original array.

Answer 1

[Eric Sofen]

Peter's answer to this similar post provides a few other suggestions to consider.