MATLAB Object-Oriented Programming

Call Superclass Methods on Subclass Objects

In this section...

“Superclass Relation to Subclass” on page 5-25

“How to Call Superclass Methods” on page 5-25

“How to Call Superclass Constructor” on page 5-26

Superclass Relation to Subclass

Subclasses can override superclass methods to support the greater specialization defined

by the subclass. Because of the relationship that a subclass object is a superclass object,

it is often useful to call the superclass version of the method before executing the

specialized subclass code.

How to Call Superclass Methods

Subclass methods can call superclass methods if both methods have the same name.

From the subclass, reference the method name and superclass name with the @ symbol.

This diagram illustrates how to call the superMethod defined by MySuperClass.

Subclass object passed to

the superclass method

superMethod@MySuperClass(obj,superMethodArguments)

Superclass name

Superclass method

Arguments passed to the

superclass method

For example, a subclass can call a superclass disp method to implement the display of

the superclass part of the object. Then the subclass adds code to display the subclass part

of the object:

Call Superclass Methods on Subclass Objects 5-