MATLAB Object-Oriented Programming

Class Precedence

In this section...

“Use of Class Precedence” on page 6-23

“Why Mark Classes as Inferior” on page 6-23

“InferiorClasses Attribute” on page 6-23

Use of Class Precedence

MATLAB uses class precedence to determine which method to call when multiple classes

have the same method. You can specifying the relative precedence of user-defined classes

with the class InferiorClasses attribute.

The material presented in this topic builds on an understanding of the following

information:

• “Class Metadata” on page 16-2


• “Attribute Specification” on page 5-22

Why Mark Classes as Inferior

When more than one class defines methods with the same name or when classes overload

functions, MATLAB determines which method or function to call based on the dominant

argument. Here is how MATLAB determines the dominant argument:

(^1) Determine the dominant argument based on the class of arguments.
(^2) If there is a dominant argument, call the method of the dominant class.
(^3) If arguments are of equal precedence, use the leftmost argument as the dominant
argument.
(^4) If the class of the dominant argument does not define a method with the name of the
called function, call the first function on the path with that name.
InferiorClasses Attribute
Specify the relative precedence of user-defined classes using the class
InferiorClasses attribute. To specify classes that are inferior to the class you are
defining, assign a cell array of class meta.class objects to this attribute.
Class Precedence