Abstract superclass for both handle and non-handle subclass

I need to know if there is a way in matlab to define interface superclass for both handle and non-handle subclasses? If in hierarchy there is a handle class, all classes must be handle too and in matlab the interface is defined as abstract class. So it can't be done this way.

class A < handle
....
end

class AA < A
....
    methods 
        function foo
        end
    end
end

class B
....
    methods
        function foo
    end
end

I want to create some kind of container with classes AA (handle) and B (non-handle) to ensure they both have function foo. Is there way to do this?

Solution

You should be able to do:

classdef (Abstract, HandleCompatible) A
    methods (Abstract)
        function foo
    end
end

classdef AA < A & handle
    methods
        function foo
        ...
        end
    end
end

classdef B < A
    methods
        function foo
        ...
        end
    end
end

Here you are marking A as Abstract, with an abstract method foo. So AA and B must both implement foo. You also mark A as HandleCompatible, which means that subclasses can be handles.

Then AA inherits from both A and handle, but B inherits only from A and is a value class. Both implement foo.

Note that you may need to take care in the way that you implement foo in each class, as the necessary function signature can vary between handle and value classes.