How can I define a wrapper function to call a built in function such that the wrapper function has the same name as the built-in function?

How can I define a wrapper function to call a built in function such that the wrapper function has the same name as the built-in function?

For example, when I call "xlswrite", I want it to call a custom function, perhaps some routine, then call the builtin "xlswrite" function. I want to call the function "xlswrite" so I do not need to modify all my existing code. 

 

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

You can utilize the "builtin" function to call the MATLAB built-in "xlswrite" from your overloaded "xlswrite" function. Your "xlswrite" will probably have a format as below:

function [success,theMessage]=xlswrite(file,data,sheet,range) % same structure as built-in "xlswrite"

     % do the pre-processing
     data = ...;

     % call the MATLAB built-in "xlsread"
     builtin('xlswrite', file, data, sheet, range);

end

Following is the documentation link for the "builtin" function that you can refer to:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/builtin.html

Using this function will result in warning messages, since you are shadowing the MATLAB built-in "xlswrite" function. If you want to turn the warning messages off, you can execute the following commands at the MATLAB Command Window:

 

warning('off','MATLAB:dispatcher:nameConflict');

On the other hand, to turn the warnings on execute:

warning('on','MATLAB:dispatcher:nameConflict');

Following is the documentation link for "warning" function:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/ref/warning.html