MATLAB: Convert folder of functions – > Class folder

class foldersclassesimportMATLABooppackages

I have a folder full of functions and I would like to turn it into a class folder.

example: my folder of function has

func1.m

func2.m

func3.m

Currently I have dumped all the function signatures into a class method.

classdef myclassname<handle
    % properties blah blah
    % constructor here etc etc
    methods (Static)
        func1()
        func2()
        func3()
    end
    
    end
end

These functions call out other functions and I would have to create dot notation each time, ex:

function func1()
 myclassname.func2
 myclassname.func3 
end

Now, I have more than 50 functions. I dont want to keep looking around to find out where I need to put the class handle and dot wherever a function within myclass folder is being called — Is there something more efficient that will do all of that for me?

Best Answer

One solution would be to move all the functions to a private/ sub-folder within the @myclassname folder. Then, assuming you still even need static versions of those functions, you can simply add aliases for them in a Static methods block:

methods (Static)
    function varargout=func1(varargin)
      [varargout{1:nargout}]=func1(varargin{:});   %calls @myclassname/private/func1
    end
    
    function varargout=func2(varargin)
       [varargout{1:nargout}]=func2(varargin{:});  %calls @myclassname/private/func2
    end
    
    function varargout=func3(varargin)
       [varargout{1:nargout}]=func3(varargin{:});  %calls @myclassname/private/func3
    end
    ...
        
end

Related Solutions

MATLAB: Do I get an error if do not define a constructor in the inherited class

Classes and subclasses do not need a constructor.

classdef mysimpleclass
end

is perfectly valid. If a subclass does not have a constructor it calls the superclass constructor with no arguments. In other words the default constructor looks something like

function obj = mysubclass()
  obj = obj@myclass;
end

It sounds like you would like the default constructor to look like

function obj = mysubclass(varargin)
  obj = obj@myclass(varargin{:});
end

such that it would pass the arguments up the chain. I think both are reasonable defaults. There is a slight difference between MATLAB and Python (and most other languages) which potentially swayed TMW to go with the former approach in which no arguments get passed to the superclass. Because everything is an array in MATLAB, and how TMW chose to implement the OO system, the constructor for every MATLAB class needs to support being called with no input arguments (this is well documented).

EDIT

I think the choice becomes clearer if expand from the no constructor case a little bit. Consider

classdef mysubclass < myclass
  methods
    function obj = mysubclass(varargin)
    end
  end
end

Calling the mysubclass constructor invisibly calls the myclass constructor with no arguments. I believe this is documented. As we are guaranteed that the myclass constructor can be called with no arguments, it makes a little more sense to pass it no arguments (which will not crash) than pass it all the arguments which might result in an error. Either way you will end up with having to explicitly call the superclass constructor sometimes (either to pass all arguments or to pass no/some arguments). Passing all arguments seems less robust than pass no arguments. Passing a subset just seems silly.

MATLAB: How to test if a function handle belongs to a particular package

Probably the simplest would be to parse the output of

functions(yourfunctionhandle)

The file field of that output will contain the full path to the anonymous function, so will contain the package name, if any.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

MATLAB: Do I get an error if do not define a constructor in the inherited class

MATLAB: How to test if a function handle belongs to a particular package

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