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matlab.mixin.indexing.RedefinesParen class

Package: matlab.mixin.indexing

Customize class indexing operations that use parentheses

Since R2021b

Description

The matlab.mixin.indexing.RedefinesParen class is an abstract superclass that enables you to customize how indexing operations with parentheses behave. RedefinesBrace and RedefinesDot enable you to customize indexing operations with curly braces and dots. 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 parentheses, inherit from RedefinesParen and implement its abstract methods:

  • cat

  • empty

  • size

  • parenAssign

  • parenDelete

  • parenListlength

  • parenReference

Class Attributes

Abstract
true
HandleCompatible
true

For information on class attributes, see Class Attributes.

Methods

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Examples

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The ArrayWithLabel class has two properties: ContainedArray and Label. ArrayWithLabel customizes parentheses indexing into ContainedArray by inheriting from matlab.mixin.indexing.RedefinesParen and implementing all of its abstract methods:

  • parenReference: Handles parentheses indexing into ContainedArray.

  • parenDelete: Deletes parentheses-indexed elements of ContainedArray.

  • parenAssign: Assigns values to the indexed elements of ContainedArray. The right-hand side of the assignment expression must be an instance of ArrayWithLabel.

  • parentListLength: Determines the number of values to return from parentheses indexing operations on ContainedArray.

  • cat: Concatenates the ContainedArray property of one or more instances of the class.

  • empty: Returns an instance of the class with an empty ContainedArray.

  • size: Returns the dimensions of ContainedArray.

ArrayWithLabel also provides two public methods:

  • value: Displays the indexed values of ContainedArray.

  • sum: Calculates the sum of the indexed values of ContainedArray.

ArrayWithLabel Class Code

classdef ArrayWithLabel < matlab.mixin.indexing.RedefinesParen

    properties (Access=private)
        ContainedArray
    end
    
    properties (Access=public)
        Label
    end
    
    methods
        function obj = ArrayWithLabel(val)
            obj.ContainedArray = val;
        end
    end

    methods (Access=protected)
        function varargout = parenReference(obj, indexOp)
            obj.ContainedArray = obj.ContainedArray.(indexOp(1));
            if isscalar(indexOp)
                varargout{1} = obj;
                return;
            end
            [varargout{1:nargout}] = obj.(indexOp(2:end));
        end

        function obj = parenAssign(obj,indexOp,varargin)
            % Ensure object instance is the first argument of call.
            if isempty(obj)
                obj = varargin{1};
            end
            if isscalar(indexOp)
                assert(nargin==3);
                rhs = varargin{1};
                obj.ContainedArray.(indexOp) = rhs.ContainedArray;
                return;
            end
            [obj.(indexOp(2:end))] = varargin{:};
        end

        function n = parenListLength(obj,indexOp,ctx)
            if numel(indexOp) <= 2
                n = 1;
                return;
            end
            containedObj = obj.(indexOp(1:2));
            n = listLength(containedObj,indexOp(3:end),ctx);
        end

        function obj = parenDelete(obj,indexOp)
            obj.ContainedArray.(indexOp) = [];
        end
    end

    methods (Access=public)
        function out = value(obj)
            out = obj.ContainedArray;
        end
        
        function out = sum(obj)
            out = sum(obj.ContainedArray,"all");
        end
        
        function out = cat(dim,varargin)
            numCatArrays = nargin-1;
            newArgs = cell(numCatArrays,1);
            for ix = 1:numCatArrays
                if isa(varargin{ix},'ArrayWithLabel')
                    newArgs{ix} = varargin{ix}.ContainedArray;
                else
                    newArgs{ix} = varargin{ix};
                end
            end
            out = ArrayWithLabel(cat(dim,newArgs{:}));
        end

        function varargout = size(obj,varargin)
            [varargout{1:nargout}] = size(obj.ContainedArray,varargin{:});
        end
    end

    methods (Static, Access=public)
        function obj = empty()
            obj = ArrayWithLabel([]);
        end
    end
end

Use an ArrayWithLabel Instance

Construct an ArrayWithLabel object with a 2-by-2 matrix, and assign a string to the Label property.

a = ArrayWithLabel([2 3; 5 7]);
a.Label = "primes"
a=2×2 object
  2x2 ArrayWithLabel array with properties:

    Label: "primes"

Display the first column of the array. parenReference takes a and an instance of IndexingOperation as arguments. indexOp identifies the type of reference (Paren) and the indices being referenced. parenReference retrieves the elements corresponding to those indices and then forwards the value method call to MATLAB. (The comment in the code identifies the line in parenReference that forwards additional operations after the initial parentheses indexing.)

a(:,1).value
ans = 2×1

     2
     5

Create a new instance b of ArrayWithLabel with a 1-by-2 vector. Assign the values of b to the second row of the array in a. The parenAssign method uses the indices on the left-hand side of the assignment to determine which elements of a to replace.

b = ArrayWithLabel([11 13]);
a(2,:) = b;
a.value
ans = 2×2

     2     3
    11    13

Use the sum method to find the sum of the values in the second column.

a(:,2).sum
ans = 16

Version History

Introduced in R2021b