title: MATLAB: dealing with java.lang.String
body: <p>I seem to be stuck in Kafka-land, with a java.lang.String that I can't seem to use in MATLAB functions:</p>
  
  <pre><code>K&gt;&gt; name
  
  name =
  
  Jason
  
  K&gt;&gt; sprintf('%s', name)
  ??? Error using ==&gt; sprintf
  Function is not defined for 'java.lang.String' inputs.
  
  K&gt;&gt; ['my name is ' name]
  ??? Error using ==&gt; horzcat
  The following error occurred converting from char to opaque:
  Error using ==&gt; horzcat
  Undefined function or method 'opaque' for input arguments of type 'char'.
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>how can I get a java.lang.String to convert to a regular MATLAB character array?</p>