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2026.1.0 - English


summary

Summary of table or timeseries variables

Syntax

summary(t)
summary(t, statistics)
summary(t, statistics, datavars)
S = summary(t, statistics, datavars)

Arguments

t

table or timeseries object.

statistics

string (optional). Specifies which statistics to compute. Possible values are:

  • "default" (default value): computes a standard set of statistics (NumMissing, Min, Median, Max, Mean, Std)

  • "none": no statistics are computed

  • "allstats": computes all available statistics

datavars

string (optional). Names of variables to include in the summary. Default is "all", meaning all variables are summarized.

S

A structure containing the summary information for each variable.

Description

The summary function displays or returns a structure containing a summary of the variables of in a table or timeseries.

For each variable, summary reports:

  • Size and data type

  • Variable description and units (if available)

  • Statistical information depending on the variable type

If no output argument is specified, the summary is displayed in the console.

When an output argument is requested, summary returns a structure where each field corresponds to a variable name which contains a sub-structure with metadata (Size, Type, Description and Units) and statistics (depending on variable type).

For timeseries, row time information (start time, sample rate, time step) is also summarized.

Supported Statistics for Numeric Data

Depending on the selected options, the following statistics may be computed:

  • NumMissing: number of missing values (%nan or NaT)

  • Min: minimum value

  • Max: maximum value

  • Median: median value

  • Mean: mean value

  • Std: standard deviation

  • Var: variance

  • Q1: first quartile (25th percentile)

  • Q3: third quartile (75th percentile)

  • Mode: mode

  • Range: range of values

  • Sum: sum of values

  • NumUnique: number of unique non-missing values

  • Sum: number of non-zero values

Numeric types include: double, integer types, duration and datetime.

Boolean Variables

For boolean variables, the summary reports:

  • True: number of true values

  • False: number of false values

String Variables

For string variables, the summary reports:

  • NumMissing: number of undefined values

  • Values: unique string values

  • Counts: occurence count of each value

Examples

// Create a table
t = table([1; 2; %nan], [10; 20; 30], ...
"VariableNames", ["A", "B"]);
t.Properties.VariableDescriptions = ["First variable", "Second variable"];
t.Properties.VariableUnits = ["m", "s"];

// Display default summary
summary(t)

// Summary without statistics
summary(t, "none")

// Summary with all statistics
summary(t, "allstats")

// Summary for selected variables
summary(t, "default", "A")

// Return summary as a structure
S = summary(t)
disp(S.A.Mean)
--> t = table([1; 2; %nan], [10; 20; 30], ...
  >           "VariableNames", ["A", "B"]);

--> t.Properties.VariableDescriptions = ["First variable", "Second variable"];

--> t.Properties.VariableUnits = ["m", "s"];

// Display default summary

--> summary(t)

 table: [3x2 table]

 Variables:
     A: double
        Description: First variable
        Units: m
     B: double
        Description: Second variable
        Units: s

 Statistics for numeric data:
                    A        B 
                _________   ___
                               
   NumMissing   1           0  
          Min   1           10 
       Median   1           20 
          Max   2           30 
         Mean   1.5         20 
          Std   0.7071068   10 

// Summary without statistics

--> summary(t, "none")

 table: [3x2 table]

 Variables:
     A: double
        Description: First variable
        Units: m
     B: double
        Description: Second variable
        Units: s

// Summary with all statistics

--> summary(t, "allstats")

 table: [3x2 table]

 Variables:
     A: double
        Description: First variable
        Units: m
     B: double
        Description: Second variable
        Units: s

 Statistics for numeric data:
                    A        B 
                _________   ___
                               
   NumMissing   1           0  
          Min   1           10 
       Median   1           20 
          Max   2           30 
           Q1   1           10 
         Mean   1.5         20 
           Q3   Nan         30 
          Std   0.7071068   10 
          Var   0.5         100
         Mode   1           10 
        Range   1           20 
          Sum   Nan         60 
    NumUnique   2           3  
          Nnz   2           3  

// Summary for selected variables

--> summary(t, "default", "A")

 table: [3x2 table]

 Variables:
     A: double
        Description: First variable
        Units: m

 Statistics for numeric data:
                    A    
                _________
                         
   NumMissing   1        
          Min   1        
       Median   1        
          Max   2        
         Mean   1.5      
          Std   0.7071068

// Return summary as a structure

--> S = summary(t)

 S = [struct] with fields:

  A: [struct] with fields:
      Size = [3,1]
      Type = "double"
      Description = "First variable"
      Units = "m"
      NumMissing = 1
      Min = 1
      Median = 1
      Max = 2
      Mean = 1.5
      Std = 0.7071068
  B: [struct] with fields:
      Size = [3,1]
      Type = "double"
      Description = "Second variable"
      Units = "s"
      NumMissing = 0
      Min = 10
      Median = 20
      Max = 30
      Mean = 20
      Std = 10

--> disp(S.A.Mean)

   1.5

See also

  • table — create a table from variables
  • timeseries — create a timeseries - table with time as index

History

VersionDescription
2026.1.0 Function added.
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with contributors 		Last updated:
Tue May 19 13:56:17 CEST 2026