MATLAB Object-Oriented Programming

The name of each class definition file must match the name of the class that is specified

with the classdef keyword. Using a path folder eliminates the need to create a separate

class folder for each class. However, the entire class definition, including all methods,

must be contained within a single file.

Suppose that you have three classes defined in a single folder:

.../path_folder/MyClass1.m

.../path_folder/MyClass2.m

.../path_folder/MyClass2.m

To use these classes, add path_folder to your MATLAB path:

addpath path_folder

Using Class Folders

A class folder name always begins with the @ character followed by the class name for the

folder name. A class folder must be contained in a path folder, but the class folder is not

on the MATLAB path. Place the class definition file inside the class folder, which also can

contain separate method files. The class definition file must have the same name as the

class folder (without the @ character). The class definition (beginning with the classdef

keyword) must appear in the file before any other code (white space and comments do not

constitute code).

.../parent_folder/@MyClass/MyClass.m

.../parent_folder/@MyClass/myMethod1.m

.../parent_folder/@MyClass/myMethod2.m

Define only one class per folder. All files must have a .m extension.

Use a class folder when you want to use more than one file for your class definition.

MATLAB treats any .m file in the class folder as a method of the class. Class files provide

the advantage that MATLAB can explicitly identify any file in the folder as a method of

that class. For more information, see “Changing Path to Update Class Definition” on page

6-21.

The base name of each file must be a valid MATLAB function name. Valid function names

begin with an alphabetic character and can contain letters, numbers, or underscores. For

more information, see “Methods in Separate Files” on page 9-11.

6 Defining and Organizing Classes