Method Attributes

Purpose of Method Attributes

Specifying attributes in the class definition enables you to customize the behavior of methods for specific purposes. Control characteristics like access, visibility, and implementation by setting method attributes. Subclasses do not inherit superclass member attributes.

Specifying Method Attributes

Assign method attributes on the same line as the methods keyword:

methods (Attribute1 = value1, Attribute2 = value2,...)
   ...
end

Table of Method Attributes

Attributes enable you to modify the behavior of methods. All methods support the attributes listed in the following table.

Attribute values apply to all methods defined within the methods...end code block that specifies the nondefault values.

Method Attributes

Attribute	Values	Description
Abstract	logical Default = false	If true, the method has no implementation. The method has a syntax line that can include arguments that subclasses use when implementing the method: Subclasses are not required to define the same number of input and output arguments. However, subclasses generally use the same signature when implementing their version of the method. The method does not contain function or end keywords, only the function syntax (for example, [a,b] = myMethod(x,y)). The method can include comments after the signature line.
Access	enumeration, default = public matlab.metadata.Class object cell array of matlab.metadata.Class objects	Determines what code can call this method: public — Unrestricted access protected — Access from methods in class or subclasses private — Access by class methods only (not from subclasses) List classes that have access to this method. Specify classes as matlab.metadata.Class objects in the form: A single matlab.metadata.Class object A cell array of matlab.metadata.Class objects. An empty cell array, {}, is the same as private access. See Class Members Access
Hidden	logical Default = false	When false, the method name shows in the list of methods displayed using the methods or methodsview commands. If set to true, the method name is not included in these listings and ismethod does not return true for this method name.
Sealed	logical Default = false	If true, the method cannot be redefined in a subclass. Attempting to define a method with the same name in a subclass causes an error.
Static	logical Default = false	Specify as true to define a method that does not depend on an object of the class and does not require an object argument. Use the class name to call the method: classname.methodname or an instance of the class: obj.methodname Static Methods provides more information.
Framework attributes	Classes that use certain framework base classes have framework-specific attributes. See the documentation for the specific base class you are using for information on these attributes.

Method Access List

This class declares an access list for the method Access attribute:

classdef MethodAccess
   methods (Access = {?ClassA, ?ClassB, ?MethodAccess})
      function listMethod(obj)
      ...
      end
   end
end

The MethodAccess class specifies the following method access:

• Access to listMethod from an instance of MethodAccess by methods of the classes ClassA and ClassB.

• Access to listMethod from an instance of MethodAccess by methods of subclasses of MethodAccess, because of the inclusion of MethodAccess in the access list.

• Subclasses of ClassA and ClassB are allowed to define a method named listMethod, and MethodAccess is allowed to redefine listMethod. However, if MethodAccess was not in the access list, its subclasses could not redefine listMethod.