FLOAT Convert to 32-bit Floating Point

Section: Type Conversion Functions

Usage

Converts the argument to a 32-bit floating point number. The syntax for its use is 
   y = float(x)

where x is an n-dimensional numerical array. Conversion follows the saturation rules. Note that both NaN and Inf are both preserved under type conversion.

Example

The following piece of code demonstrates several uses of float. First, we convert from an integer (the argument is an integer because no decimal is present): 
--> float(200)

ans = 
 200

In the next example, a double precision argument is passed in 

--> float(400.0)

ans = 
 400

In the next example, a complex argument is passed in. 

--> float(3.0+4.0*i)

ans = 
   3.0000 +  4.0000i

In the next example, a string argument is passed in. The string argument is converted into an integer array corresponding to the ASCII values of each character. 

--> float('helo')

ans = 
 104 101 108 111

In the last example, a cell-array is passed in. For cell-arrays and structure arrays, the result is an error. 

--> float({4})
Error: Cannot perform type conversions with this type