Overloading built in assign or '=' operator to display warning that you are copying a handle rather than an object

I have a class:

classdef myClass < dynamicprops & hgsetget
    properties 
        myProp
    end
    methods
        function newClass = myClass(input)
            if isa(input,'myClass')
                newClass=input;
            elseif isa(input,'double')
                newClass.myProp=input;
            end
        end
    end
end

Which is a subclass of handle and so the objects are just handles. This means that the following occurs when using the '=' operator

>> firstClass=myClass(5)

firstClass = 

    myClass handle

    Properties:
      myProp: 5

    Methods, Events, Superclasses

>> secondClass=firstClass

secondClass = 

    myClass handle

    Properties:
      myProp: 5

    Methods, Events, Superclasses

>> secondClass.myProp=10

secondClass = 

    myClass handle

    Properties:
      myProp: 10

    Methods, Events, Superclasses

>> firstClass

firstClass = 

    myClass handle

    Properties:
      myProp: 10

    Methods, Events, Superclasses

Which is all intended and for a developer makes life good, however, this is a class used by many that may not realize what a handle is. I would like to have a warning come up letting the user know he is copying a handle rather than the object. My thought was to overload the '=' operator to display a warning then call the built-in. I have a method in my class for copying the object properties to a new object. If there are best practices for managing object handles, please point me in the right direction (this is mostly new to me). Is there any way of displaying a warning or even possibly have '=' copy the object rather than the handle?

Another semi-related question: dynamic properties do not show up in my variable editor even though they are not hidden, etc. How can I get them to do display?

Thanks in advance,

Drew

Answer 1

[Daniel Shub]

I have never used it, but I wonder if this might be related:

http://www.mathworks.com/help/releases/R2011a/techdoc/ref/matlab.mixin.copyableclass.html

[Drew]

Thanks for the reply Daniel. matlab.mixin.copyableclass implements useful copying functions for handle objects, especially for handle objects with handle properties. I may implement this in the future, but I have already written my own copy functions that I know work with dynamicprops. But I learned something from that link, so thanks! What I am looking for would prevent users from making mistakes while using my class.