// pre calculate the compound values and cache it in compoundElement.
StringBuilder compoundValues = new StringBuilder();
compoundValues.append('(');
for (int j = 0; j < numItems; j++) {
Double2DArray anItem = continuousData.getItem(j);
double elementValue = anItem.getValue(colIndex, pRowIndex);
ContinuousMatrixElement anElement = new ContinuousMatrixElement();
anElement.setValue(elementValue);
anElement.setColumn(matrixColumn);