MATLAB Object-Oriented Programming

Evaluation of Expressions in Class Definitions

In this section...

“Why Use Expressions” on page 6-10

“Where to Use Expressions in Class Definitions” on page 6-10

“How MATLAB Evaluates Expressions” on page 6-13

“When MATLAB Evaluates Expressions” on page 6-13

“Expression Evaluation in Handle and Value Classes” on page 6-14

Why Use Expressions

An expression used in a class definition can be any valid MATLAB statement that

evaluates to a single array. Use expressions to define property default values and in

attribute specifications. Expressions are useful to derive values in terms of other values.

For example, suppose you want to define a constant property with the full precision value

of 2 π. You can assign the property the value returned by the expression 2*pi. MATLAB

evaluates the function the when first loading the class.

For information on assign property default values and attribute values, see the following

topics:

• “Property Definition” on page 8-17


• “Attribute Specification” on page 5-22

Where to Use Expressions in Class Definitions

Here are some examples of expressions used in a class definition:

classdef MyClass

% Some attributes are set to logical values

properties (Constant = true)

CnstProp = 2*pi

end

properties

% Static method of this class

Prop1 = MyClass.setupAccount

% Constant property from this class

Prop2 = MyClass.CnstProp

6 Defining and Organizing Classes