using classdef, is it possible to mix run-time data access through the dot syntax with methods elegantly?

hi

i am developing a class (using classdef) that maintains a structure internally with fields that are instance-dependent. i want to provide direct access to these instance-dependent fields through object.fieldname syntax, so i use subsref and override fieldnames() so that tab completion works correctly.

trouble is, now all methods called using the syntax object.method() also result in calls to subsref, so i have to provide a case in subsref for every method of the class. this seems inelegant at best, and error prone at worst.

is there another way to achieve what i want?

thanks ben

Answer 1

[David Young]

"Elegantly" is hard to do in this context, I think. There's some discussion of this kind of issue here.

[Ben Mitch]

Thanks David. Seems there's a lot of murk around these sort of issues; I guess worse things happen at sea :).

[David Young]

Yes - my own view is that the design of subsref() isn't as helpful as it could be.