Section: Object Oriented Programming
mat object
function p = mat(a)
if (nargin == 0)
p.c = [];
p = class(p,'mat');
elseif isa(a,'mat')
p = a;
else
p.c = a;
p = class(p,'mat');
end
Generally speaking when it is provided with zero arguments, the constructor returns a default version of the class using a template structure with the right fields populated with default values. If the constructor is given a single argument that matches the class we are trying to construct, the constructor passes through the argument. This form of the constructor is used for type conversion. In particular,
p = mat(a)
guarantees that p is an array of class mat. The last form
of the constructor builds a class object given the input. The
meaning of this form depends on what makes sense for your class.
For example, for a polynomial class, you may want to pass in the
coefficients of the polynomial.