classUnderlying

Class of parts within quaternion

Since R2023b

Syntax

underlyingClass = classUnderlying(quat)

Description

underlyingClass = classUnderlying(quat) returns the name of the class of the parts of the quaternion quat.

Examples

Get Underlying Class of Quaternion

A quaternion is a four-part hyper-complex number used in three-dimensional representations. The four parts of the quaternion are of data type single or double.

Create two quaternions, one with an underlying data type of single, and one with an underlying data type of double. Verify the underlying data types by calling classUnderlying on the quaternions.

qSingle = quaternion(single([1,2,3,4]))

qSingle = quaternion
     1 + 2i + 3j + 4k

classUnderlying(qSingle)

ans = 
'single'

qDouble = quaternion([1,2,3,4])

qDouble = quaternion
     1 + 2i + 3j + 4k

classUnderlying(qDouble)

ans = 
'double'

You can separate quaternions into their parts using the parts function. Verify the parts of each quaternion are the correct data type. Recall that double is the default MATLAB® type.

[aS,bS,cS,dS] = parts(qSingle)

aS = single

1

bS = single

2

cS = single

3

dS = single

4

[aD,bD,cD,dD] = parts(qDouble)

aD = 
1

bD = 
2

cD = 
3

dD = 
4

Quaternions follow the same implicit casting rules as other data types in MATLAB. That is, a quaternion with underlying data type single that is combined with a quaternion with underlying data type double results in a quaternion with underlying data type single. Multiply qDouble and qSingle and verify the resulting underlying data type is single.

q = qDouble*qSingle;
classUnderlying(q)

ans = 
'single'

Input Arguments

quat — Quaternion to investigate

quaternion object | array of quaternion objects

Quaternion to investigate, specified as a quaternion object or an array of quaternion objects of any dimensionality.

Output Arguments

underlyingClass — Underlying class of quaternion object

'single' | 'double'

Underlying class of quaternion, returned as the character vector 'single' or 'double'.

Data Types: char

Extended Capabilities

C/C++ Code Generation
Generate C and C++ code using MATLAB® Coder™.

Version History

Introduced in R2023b