Concatenating Objects of Different Classes - MATLAB & Simulink (original) (raw)
Basic Knowledge
The material presented in this section builds on an understanding of the information presented in the following sections.
MATLAB Concatenation Rules
MATLAB® follows these rules for concatenating objects:
- MATLAB always attempts to convert all objects to the dominant class.
- User-defined classes take precedence over built-in classes like
double. - If there is no defined dominance relationship between any two objects, then the leftmost object dominates (see Class Precedence).
When converting to a dominant class during concatenation or subscripted assignment, MATLAB searches the non-dominant class for a conversion method that is the same name as the dominant class. If such a conversion method exists, MATLAB calls it. If a conversion method does not exist, MATLAB calls the dominant class constructor on the non-dominant object.
It is possible for the dominant class to define horzcat, vertcat, or cat methods that modify the default concatenation process.
Concatenating Objects
Concatenation combines objects into arrays. For example:
The size of ary is 1-by-3.
The class of the arrays is the same as the class of the objects being concatenated. Concatenating objects of different classes is possible if MATLAB can convert objects to the dominant class. MATLAB attempts to convert unlike objects by:
- Calling the inferior object converter method, if one exists.
- Passing an inferior object to the dominant class constructor to create an object of the dominant class.
If conversion of the inferior object is successful, MATLAB returns an array that is of the dominant class. If conversion is not possible, MATLAB returns an error.
Calling the Dominant-Class Constructor
MATLAB calls the dominant class constructor to convert an object of an inferior class to the dominant class. MATLAB passes the inferior object to the constructor as an argument. If the class design enables the dominant class constructor to accept objects of inferior classes as input arguments, then concatenation is possible without implementing a separate converter method.
If the constructor simply assigns this argument to a property, the result is an object of the dominant class with an object of an inferior class stored in a property. If this assignment is not a desired result, then ensure that class constructors include adequate error checking.
For example, consider the class ColorClass and two subclasses, RGBColor and HSVColor:
classdef ColorClass properties Color end end
The class RGBColor inherits the Color property from ColorClass. RGBColor stores a color value defined as a three-element vector of red, green, and blue (RGB) values. The constructor does not restrict the value of the input argument. It assigns this value directly to the Color property.
classdef RGBColor < ColorClass methods function obj = RGBColor(rgb) if nargin > 0 obj.Color = rgb; end end end end
The class HSVColor also inherits the Color property from ColorClass. HSVColor stores a color value defined as a three-element vector of hue, saturation, brightness value (HSV) values.
classdef HSVColor < ColorClass methods function obj = HSVColor(hsv) if nargin > 0 obj.Color = hsv; end end end end
Create an instance of each class and concatenate them into an array. The RGBColor object is dominant because it is the leftmost object and neither class defines a dominance relationship:
crgb = RGBColor([1 0 0]); chsv = HSVColor([0 1 1]); ary = [crgb,chsv]; class(ary)
You can combine these objects into an array because MATLAB can pass the inferior object of class HSVColor to the constructor of the dominant class. However, notice that the Color property of the second RGBColor object in the array actually contains an HSVColor object, not an RGB color specification:
ans =
HSVColor with properties:
Color: [0 1 1]Avoid this undesirable behavior by:
- Implementing converter methods
- Performing argument checking in class constructors before assigning values to properties
Converter Methods
If your class design requires object conversion, implement converter methods for this purpose.
The ColorClass class defines converter methods for RGBColor and HSVColor objects:
classdef ColorClass properties Color end methods function rgbObj = RGBColor(obj) if isa(obj,'HSVColor') rgbObj = RGBColor(hsv2rgb(obj.Color)); end end function hsvObj = HSVColor(obj) if isa(obj,'RGBColor') hsvObj = HSVColor(rgb2hsv(obj.Color)); end end end end
Create an array of RGBColor and HSVColor objects with the revised superclass:
crgb = RGBColor([1 0 0]); chsv = HSVColor([0 1 1]); ary = [crgb,chsv]; class(ary)
MATLAB calls the converter method for the HSVColor object, which it inherits from the superclass. The second array element is now an RGBColor object with an RGB color specification assigned to the Color property:
ans =
RGBColor with properties:
Color: [1 0 0]If the leftmost object is of class HSVColor, the array ary is also of class HSVColor, and MATLAB converts the Color property data to HSV color specification.
ary =
1x2 HSVColor
Properties: Color
Defining a converter method in the superclass and adding better argument checking in the subclass constructors produces more predictable results. Here is theRGBColor class constructor with argument checking:
classdef RGBColor < ColorClass methods function obj = RGBColor(rgb) if nargin == 0 rgb = [0 0 0]; else if ~(isa(rgb,'double')... && size(rgb,2) == 3 ... && max(rgb) <= 1 && min(rgb) >= 0) error('Specify color as RGB values') end end obj.Color = rgb; end end end
Your applications can require additional error checking and other coding techniques. The classes in these examples are designed only to demonstrate concepts.