getName

Class: io.reader
Namespace: io

Get names for data imported using a custom reader

Since R2020b

Syntax

retName = getName(obj)


Description

retName = getName(obj) returns the name to use in the Simulation Data Inspector for a signal or hierarchical node in data imported from the workspace or a file.

Input Arguments

obj — Custom data reader

io.reader subclass object

Custom data reader, specified as an object of a class that inherits from the io.reader base class.

Example: MyCustomFileReader

Output Arguments

retName — Signal name

character array

Signal name used by the Simulation Data Inspector, returned as a character array.

Attributes

Abstract

true

To learn about attributes of methods, see Method Attributes.

Examples

Get Names for Data Imported from File

Write the function definition for the getName method to return names for signals imported from a file. The custom reader in this example imports the data from the file with a hierarchical structure, treating the file as the top node. Specify code for the getName method in the class definition file.

This example does not show a complete class definition. All custom readers must define behavior for the getName, getTimeValues, and getDataValues methods. For an example that shows the complete class definition and import workflow, see Import Data Using Custom File Reader.

In this example, the getName and getChildren methods work together to assign the appropriate name to each imported signal. The getChildren method reads the data from the file using the readtable function. The method then constructs a cell array that contains a custom reader object for each signal read from the file.

The getName method uses the FileName property of the custom reader object to return the file name as the name for the top-level node. The getName method uses the VariableName property to return the signal name extracted from the file to use as the signal name for each imported signal.

classdef ExcelFirstColumnTimeReader < io.reader
  methods
    % ...

    function childObj = getChildren(obj)
      childObj = {};
      if isempty(obj.VariableName)
        t = readtable(obj.FileName);
        vars = t.Properties.VariableNames;
        vars(1) = [];
        childObj = cell(size(vars));
        for idx = 1:numel(vars)
            childObj{idx} = ExcelFirstColumnTimeReader;
            childObj{idx}.FileName = obj.FileName;
            childObj{idx}.VariableName = vars{idx};
        end
      end
    end
    
    function retName = getName(obj)
    if isempty(obj.VariableName)
        fullName = obj.FileName;
        splitName = split(fullName,["\" "/"]);
        retName = splitName{end};
    else
        retName = obj.VariableName;
    end

  % ...
  end
end 

Get Names for Data Imported from Workspace

Write the function definition for the getName method to return signal names for data imported from the workspace. Specify code for the getName method in the class definition file.

This example does not show a complete class definition. All custom readers must define behavior for the getName, getTimeValues, and getDataValues methods, and workspace data readers need to define the supportsVariable method. For an example that shows the complete class definition and import workflow for a workspace data reader, see Import Workspace Variables Using a Custom Data Reader.

The custom reader in this example imports a structure or an array of structures from the workspace. The structures must contain fields for the signal data (d), the time data (t), and the signal name (n). When the variable to import is a scalar structure, the getName method returns the value in the n field of the imported structure.

When the variable is an array of structures, the custom reader uses both the getName and getChildren methods to return signal names. The getChildren method creates a custom reader object for each structure in the array and sets the ChannelIndex property to identify the index of the signal data within the array. Then, the getName method uses the ChannelIndex property value to select the appropriate structure from the VariableValue property value, which is the array of structures.

classdef SimpleStructReader < io.reader
  
  properties
    ChannelIndex
  end

  methods
    % ...

    function childObj = getChildren(obj)
      childObj = {};
      if ~isscalar(obj.VariableValue) && isempty(obj.ChannelIndex)
        numChannels = numel(obj.VariableValue);
        childObj = cell(numChannels,1);
        for idx = 1:numChannels
          childObj{idx} = SimpleStructReader;
          childObj{idx}.VariableName = sprintf('%s(%d)',obj.VariableName,idx);
          childObj{idx}.VariableValue = obj.VariableValue;
          childObj{idx}.ChannelIndex = idx;
        end
      end
    end
    
    function retName = getName(obj)
      if isscalar(obj.VariableValue)
        retName = char(obj.VariableValue.n);
      elseif ~isempty(obj.ChannelIndex)
        varVal = obj.VariableValue(obj.ChannelIndex);
        retName = char(varVal.n);
      else
        retName = 'Signal Array';
      end
    end

  % ...
  end
end 

Version History

Introduced in R2020b