App designer: How to define self-referring properties?

I'm getting into app designer once again, and right from the start I'm getting desperate.

When defining a property, I receive a nasty error message, I don't really comprehend.

Unrecognized function or variable 'x'

Referring to the little thing I have written:

    properties (Access = private)

    x = linspace(0,1);

    VStep = ones(1,length(x)); 

    VWell= zeros(1,length(x)); 

    end

Why this result into an error? Actually it should simply define these variables to be accessible for future functions, but for some reason it won't pass x as a variable. I tried app.x, x.value etc and ALOT of other variations, but why Matlab makes it that complicated?

Where is the non-intuitive logic that will make it work?

[Rik]

How did you make sure this is even possible without inheriting from a parent class?

[Niklas Kurz]

What other classes? Why not only using and passing the variables as they are defined in the current property?

With much more tinkering I figured the following opaque code will work:

    classdef QuantumPotential < matlab.apps.AppBase
        
    properties (Access = private,Constant)

    x = linspace(0,1);

    VStep = ones(1,length(QuantumPotential.x)); 

    VWell= zeros(1,length(QuantumPotential.x)); 

    end
    
    end

Where

    classdef YourAppName < matlab.apps.AppBase
        ...
    end

should be set by default.

Answer 1

[Steven Lord]

That code does not define a variable named x. It defines an object property named x.

You're assuming that defining one property on an object can use the values of other properties on that object, but what guarantee do you have about the order in which those properties are defined? What if MATLAB tried to create the value for the property VStep before it created the value for the property x?

You can do what you want using Constant properties. These are properties that, as the attribute name implies, are constant across all instances of that class. This means you can refer to them using the class name rather than needing to query a class instance. In the example below x and Y are defined using the Hidden private Constant property N.

q = example1901875

q = 
  example1901875 with properties:

    x: [0 0.0101 0.0202 0.0303 0.0404 0.0505 0.0606 0.0707 0.0808 0.0909 0.1010 0.1111 0.1212 0.1313 0.1414 0.1515 0.1616 0.1717 0.1818 0.1919 0.2020 0.2121 0.2222 0.2323 0.2424 0.2525 0.2626 0.2727 0.2828 0.2929 0.3030 0.3131 0.3232 0.3333 0.3434 … ]
    Y: [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0]

[Niklas Kurz]

But in normal script/ code it will work like that. A continuous execution of coding-lines.

If y uses x before x is defined - the script will fail. So why not transfering the same logic to properties?

How did you actually defined the property?

properties  (Access = Hidden,private,Constant) ? 

I'm not familiar to that property. So far only the complicated syntax that I stated above is accepted. I am open for simpler solutions.