matlab.mixin.indexing.RedefinesDot Class

R2026b

Namespace: matlab.mixin.indexing

Customize class indexing operations that use dots

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Description

The matlab.mixin.indexing.RedefinesDot class is an abstract superclass that enables you to customize how index operations with dots behave. The RedefinesParen and RedefinesBrace classes enable you to customize indexing operations with parentheses and curly braces, respectively. You can inherit from these classes individually, customizing one aspect of behavior without affecting the default behavior of the other indexing operations.

To customize how your class handles indexing operations with dots, inherit from RedefinesDot and implement its abstract methods:

  • dotAssign

  • dotListLength

  • dotReference

RedefinesDot also provides two concrete methods—parenDotAssign and parenDotListLength—that handle assignment statements with built-in parentheses indexing immediately followed by customized dot indexing, such as obj(idx).prop = val. These methods handle combinations of parentheses and dot indexing for classes that inherit from matlab.mixin.indexing.RedefinesDot but do not inherit from matlab.mixin.indexing.RedefinesParen. The two methods have default implementations that provide the expected behavior, but you can override them if needed.

Class Attributes

Abstract
true
HandleCompatible
true

For information on class attributes, see Class Attributes.

Methods

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Examples

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Open Live Script

This example shows how to customize dot indexing operations in the ScalarStructClass. Instances of ScalarStructClass behave much like structs. Users can dynamically add fields and associated values like a struct, but the class also serves as a base to which additional properties and methods can be added.

The class inherits from matlab.mixin.Scalar, which means its instances are scalar objects. The only possible array size is 1-by-1, and the instances cannot be concatenated. The class also inherits from matlab.mixin.indexing.RedefinesDot and implements its abstract methods to handle dot indexing operations:

  • dotReference: Handles dot references into the private AddedFields property. The syntax instance.fieldname returns the value assigned to the referenced field.

  • dotAssign: Adds a new field and corresponding value to the AddedFields property. The syntax instance.fieldname = value adds the field and its corresponding value.

  • dotListLength: Determines the number of values to return from dot indexing expressions that return values from or assign values to a comma-separated list.

The class also defines the getAddedFields method, which returns a list of all fields and corresponding values.

ScalarStructClass Code

classdef ScalarStructClass < matlab.mixin.indexing.RedefinesDot & ...
    matlab.mixin.Scalar
     
    properties (Dependent, SetAccess=private)
        FieldNames
    end

    properties (Access=private)
        AddedFields struct
    end

    methods
        function out = get.FieldNames(obj)
            out = string(fieldnames(obj.AddedFields));
        end
    end

    methods (Access=public)
        function obj = ScalarStructClass(fieldName,fieldValue)
            obj.AddedFields = struct(fieldName,fieldValue);
        end

        function out = getAddedFields(obj)
            out = obj.AddedFields;
        end
    end

    methods (Access=protected)
        function varargout = dotReference(obj,indexOp)
            [varargout{1:nargout}] = obj.AddedFields.(indexOp);
        end

        function obj = dotAssign(obj,indexOp,varargin)
            [obj.AddedFields.(indexOp)] = varargin{:};
        end
        
        function n = dotListLength(obj,indexOp,indexContext)
            n = listLength(obj.AddedFields,indexOp,indexContext);
        end
    end
end

Use a ScalarStructClass Instance

Construct a ScalarStructClass instance with one field and a corresponding value.

myStructClass = ScalarStructClass("Field1",75)
myStructClass = 
  ScalarStructClass with properties:

    FieldNames: "Field1"

Add a second field to the instance using dot assignment. The dotAssign method accepts an IndexingOperation object, which describes the type of indexing operation (Dot) and the name of the field, and a second argument that contains the value of the new field.

myStructClass.Field2 = 10;

Use dot notation to verify the value of Field2. Like dotAssign, the dotReference method accepts an IndexOperation object that identifies what field to access.

myStructClass.Field2
ans = 
10

Use getAddedFields to see the full list of fields and values.

myStructClass.getAddedFields
ans = struct with fields:
    Field1: 75
    Field2: 10

ScalarStructClass also supports comma-separated list assignment and reference. Add a third field to myStructClass that contains a cell array.

myStructClass.CellArray = {3 4};

Access the CellArray field. The class calls the dotReference method and returns multiple outputs.

[v1,v2] = myStructClass.CellArray{:}
v1 = 
3

v2 = 
4

Assign multiple new values to the CellArray field. Because the assignment operation begins with a dot reference and ends with a brace index, the class calls the dotListLength method in addition to dotAssign to handle the assignment operation.

[myStructClass.CellArray{:}] = deal(5,6);
myStructClass.CellArray
ans = 1×2 cell array
    {[5]}    {[6]}

Limitations

Inheriting from both matlab.mixin.indexing.RedefinesDot and matlab.mixin.Heteroegenous is not supported.

Version History

Introduced in R2021b

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See Also

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