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I'm used to MATLAB so this might be a stupid question but Mathematica is freaking me out.

I have a big matrix with the following format:

M = {{A,B,C},{1,{1,3,6,7},0},{1,{3,7,9},1}}

As you can see, each element in the second column is a separate list again. These separate lists contain integers, so it's no problem to get back to them. For example if I use MemberQ[M[[2,2]],1] it returns True, as it's supposed to do.

What I want to do now: my Matrix is a little longer, contains approx. 5'000 rows. I want to check every seperate list mentioned above for the appearance of a specific integer, as I did above with the MemberQ.

As a result it should give me something like the following (taking M as example): {True,False}.

I thought that's supposed to be easy with a for-loop as it is in MATLAB, but Mathematica always stops when condition is not met...

Looking forward to your answers. Please state if I need to clarify my question!

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  • $\begingroup$ Please be precise in the problem description. The second row of this matrix is {1,{1,3,6,7},0}. The elements of the second row are not lists, contradicting what you said. memberQ[M[2,2],1] is not correct Mathematica code and won't return True. If you mean MemberQ[M[[2,2]],1], please write it as such. $\endgroup$
    – Szabolcs
    Commented Jun 14, 2014 at 13:21
  • $\begingroup$ Sorry for that, recognized it myself, already edited. Meant second column, and memberQ now correct. $\endgroup$
    – Phily
    Commented Jun 14, 2014 at 13:22
  • $\begingroup$ So B is a list then? $\endgroup$
    – Szabolcs
    Commented Jun 14, 2014 at 13:22
  • $\begingroup$ Not a Mma matrix (see MatrixQ) ... but a tensor. $\endgroup$
    – wolfies
    Commented Jun 14, 2014 at 13:23
  • $\begingroup$ Is MemberQ[#[[2]], 1] & /@ M what you are looking for? $\endgroup$
    – Öskå
    Commented Jun 14, 2014 at 13:24

1 Answer 1

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All you need is to do Map MemberQ over the second column (a.k.a. [[2]]) of each lines:

M = {{A,B,C},{1,{1,3,6,7},0},{1,{3,7,9},1}}
MemberQ[#[[2]], 1] & /@ M

{False, True, False}

An equivalent would be (thanks to Mr.Wizard):

MemberQ[#2, 1] & @@@ M
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    $\begingroup$ Slightly cleaner and faster: MemberQ[#2, 1] & @@@ M (+1) $\endgroup$
    – Mr.Wizard
    Commented Jun 14, 2014 at 14:49
  • $\begingroup$ @Mr.Wizard I'm surprised that it's faster (haven't tried), but it's definitely more appealing to me. $\endgroup$
    – Szabolcs
    Commented Jun 14, 2014 at 15:31
  • $\begingroup$ @Szabolcs The statement only holds for unpacked data, but if we're working with packed data numeric methods are likely to be much faster (as I'm sure you know; stating it for others). $\endgroup$
    – Mr.Wizard
    Commented Jun 14, 2014 at 15:55

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