Overloading indexing operators `()` and `{}` for custom classes in MATLAB

Question

I would like to be able to overload the indexing operators () and {} for my class in MATLAB. In particular, I want to be able to define the class methods like...

% ...
classdef MyClass < handle

    % ... other class definition stuff...

    function returnVal = operator{}(indexRange)
        %....implementation here....
    end
    function returnVal = operator()(indexRange)
        %....implementation here....
    end
end

so that I can create objects and do...

x = MyClass();
returnedVals = x(:);
returnedCells = [x{:}];

% etc.

Is this possible in MATLAB? I know this is easy in C++ and python ( by overloading operator [] and __get__ operators respectively ). The Mathworks site itself was not too clear on how to do this though.

Answer 1

You need to overload the subsref and subsasgn functions within your classdef. The Mathworks provides a full example of how it works. And note that if you wish to use your overloaded method within your class, you need to call it explicitly.