Matlab -- handle objects

Question

There is a handle class Foo:

classdef Foo < handle   
    properties (SetAccess = public, GetAccess = public)
        x
    end

    methods
        function obj = foo(x)
            % constructor
            obj.x = x;
        end 
    end       
end

I create an object of Foo:

data = [1 2];
foo = Foo(data);  % handle object

I would like to create a reference (handle) variable a that points to foo.x. Is this possible in Matlab? For example, the following does not work:

a = foo.x;       % here `a` equals [1 2], `a` is not a handle object  
foo.x = [3 4];   % set property `x` to [3 4];
disp(a);         % a still equals [1 2] 
                 % even though the property `foo.x` has changed
                 % I want `a` to change when `foo.x` is changed.

miy · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-14 16:03:51Z

1

No, unfortunately it is not possible in Matlab. References can be only to objects which are instances of some class inherited from handle (like your class Foo). I.e., this is possible:

bar = foo
foo.x = [3 4]
disp(bar.x)      % would be [3 4]

answered Feb 14, 2013 at 16:03

miy

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1 Comment

Alexey Over a year ago

Thanks. Yes, that's a big limitation of Matlab, unfortunately.

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