# Create Matrix from vectors returned from for loop
**URL:** https://discourse.julialang.org/t/create-matrix-from-vectors-returned-from-for-loop/100821
**Category:** New to Julia
**Tags:** question, plotting
**Created:** [June 25, 2023, 9:30pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/create-matrix-from-vectors-returned-from-for-loop/100821 "2023-06-25T21:30:15Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Haro](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Haro)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 9:30pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/create-matrix-from-vectors-returned-from-for-loop/100821/1 "2023-06-25T21:30:16Z")
Hi all!
I’m running a simulation where I’m tracking the behavior of multiple elements over time. Say like the instantaneous speed of several cars on a race track. I can use the command
`sim_time, spd_c1 = get_state_series(results, ("Car 1", :speed))`
to get the time steps (saved as sim\_time which is type Vector{Float64}) and the speed of Car 1 (saved as spd\_c1 which is type Vector{Float64}) which I can then plot with PlotlyJS using the command
`plot([scatter(x=sim_time, y=spd_c1, mode="lines", name="Car 1")])`
which is fine, except I have to manually specify the name of each car I want to gather results from manually. I’d like to be able to gather all the results for all the cars for plotting automatically, but I’m struggling with how to accomplish this.
I’ve tried something like:
```julia
c1 = [2, 6, 8, 2]
c2 = [3, 20, 12, 1]
c3 = [6, 12, 4, 8]
sim_time = [1, 2, 3, 4]
for n in [c1, c2, c3]
global car_spd = similar(sim_time)
push!(car_spd, n)
return car_spd
end
display(car_spd)
```
But I get the error
```julia
ERROR: MethodError: Cannot `convert` an object of type Vector{Int64} to an object of type Int64
Closest candidates are:
convert(::Type{T}, ::ColorTypes.Gray24) where T<:Real at ~/.julia/packages/ColorTypes/1dGw6/src/conversions.jl:114
convert(::Type{T}, ::ColorTypes.Gray) where T<:Real at ~/.julia/packages/ColorTypes/1dGw6/src/conversions.jl:113
convert(::Type{T}, ::Ptr) where T<:Integer at pointer.jl:23
...
Stacktrace:
[1] push!(a::Vector{Int64}, item::Vector{Int64})
@ Base ./array.jl:1057
[2] top-level scope
@ ./Untitled-1:8
```
Whereas I was hoping for a result that looked something like
```julia
[2, 6, 8, 2;
3, 20, 12, 1;
6, 12, 4, 8]
```
Any ideas?
---
### Author:  [@Dan](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Dan)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 10:39pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/create-matrix-from-vectors-returned-from-for-loop/100821/2 "2023-06-25T22:39:41Z")
using `stack` function available on 1.9:
```julia
julia> stack([c1, c2, c3],dims=1)
3×4 Matrix{Int64}:
2 6 8 2
3 20 12 1
6 12 4 8
```
but this may not solve the overall problem. Note that using `push!` often needs to allocate. If you know the number of vectors, it may be best to pre-allocate the matrix and fill the vectors one by one. Ideally, filling the matrix column by column, as Julia stores columns first.
---
### Author:  [@Dan](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Dan)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 10:52pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/create-matrix-from-vectors-returned-from-for-loop/100821/3 "2023-06-25T22:52:49Z")
The `push!` is often not the direct problem (as a list of vectors is just a list of references to those vectors), but those vectors have been allocated at some point, and will need to be copied into the organized matrix memory.
A more efficient method, is to send to the vector-calculating-code a view of the part of the matrix to populate, and let it use this already allocated memory.
You can often see this pattern in the standard libraries where functions come with mutating versions (with a `!`) and the non-mutating versions allocate and call the non-allocating mutating versions.
---
### Author:  [@Haro](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Haro)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 10:53pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/create-matrix-from-vectors-returned-from-for-loop/100821/4 "2023-06-25T22:53:10Z")
In my real use-case, c1, c2, and c3 won’t be explicitly defined in advance like they are here. The actual entry into the for loop will be something like
```julia
for c in get_name.(get_components(Cars, sys))
sim_time, car_s = get_state_series(results, (c, :speed))
global car_spd = similar(sim_time)
push!(car_spd, car_s)
end
```
so stacking won’t work, I need to combine the results one at a time from inside the for loop like I attempted to do in my example. I just didn’t write this out explicitly before because any helpful responders couldn’t run the code using these functions (they are specific to my simulation package), and I was trying to create a minimum example that created the same error as I was seeing in my full code.
---
### Author:  [@Dan](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Dan)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 10:55pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/create-matrix-from-vectors-returned-from-for-loop/100821/5 "2023-06-25T22:55:37Z")
If the number of elements can be quickly calculated in advance, then a pre-allocation strategy can work. Otherwise, collecting the results 1-by-1 using `push!` and later arranging them in a matrix is the idiomatic solution.
---
### Author:  [@Dan](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Dan)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 10:58pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/create-matrix-from-vectors-returned-from-for-loop/100821/6 "2023-06-25T22:58:27Z")
The problem is in:
> [@Haro](#):
>
> `global car_spd = similar(sim_time)`
The error is because `car_spd` is a vector of Int instead of a vector of vectors of Int. Instead try:
```julia
global car_spd = typeof(sim_time)[]
```
instead of the `similar` call, will fix it.
---
### Author:  [@Haro](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Haro)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 11:08pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/create-matrix-from-vectors-returned-from-for-loop/100821/7 "2023-06-25T23:08:34Z")
Ooh! That is close! Using
```julia
for n in [c1, c2, c3]
global car_spd = typeof(sim_time)[]
push!(car_spd, n)
return car_spd
end
```
I get out
```julia
1-element Vector{Vector{Int64}}:
[2, 6, 8, 2]
```
if I remove the return command I get
```julia
1-element Vector{Vector{Int64}}:
[6, 12, 4, 8]
```
Moving car\_spd out of the for loop like this
```julia
car_spd = typeof(sim_time)[]
for n in [c1, c2, c3]
push!(car_spd, n)
end
```
returns
```julia
3-element Vector{Vector{Int64}}:
[2, 6, 8, 2]
[3, 20, 12, 1]
[6, 12, 4, 8]
```
which I think is close enough to what I want because I can index that in my plot code.
Alternatively I was able to find
```julia
car_spd = Array{Vector{Int64}}([sim_time])
for n in [c1, c2, c3]
global car_spd = push!(car_spd, n)
end
```
returned
```julia
4-element Vector{Vector{Int64}}:
[1, 2, 3, 4]
[2, 6, 8, 2]
[3, 20, 12, 1]
[6, 12, 4, 8]
```
which is also acceptable to me since I can just adjust my index to account for the vector containing my time steps. Which I only note in case it’s helpful to someone else down the line. Thanks!
---
### Author:  [@Dan](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Dan)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 11:12pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/create-matrix-from-vectors-returned-from-for-loop/100821/8 "2023-06-25T23:12:27Z")
Yes, `global car_spd = typeof(sim_time)[]` in every iteration of the loop, resets `car_spd` to an empty vector, which is no good.
Seems this is on the way to being resolved. If it isn’t performance critical, then any efforts to optimize might be a distraction.
---
### Author:  [@Haro](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Haro)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2023, 11:18pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/create-matrix-from-vectors-returned-from-for-loop/100821/9 "2023-06-25T23:18:29Z")
This isn’t a performance critical application, however in the interest of learning more Julia best practices, I’d be interested in a more efficient solution. My current system only has 5 “Cars” to gather results from, but down the road I could be needing to gather results from hundreds of “Cars” at a time, in which case performance might matter more.