Is it good or bad thing to use handle() constructor on MATLAB Handle Graphics numeric handles?

Using handle() on a numeric graphics handle turns it into an object, e.g.

ax = handle(gca); % ax is a scalar object of class axes
h = plot(1:10); % h is a scalar double 
lines = handle(h); % lines is a scalar graph2d.lineseries

The advantage of this form are several:

• In both the command window and the workspace browser it is easier to see what these items are - you don't have to do get(h, 'Type')
• The properties auto-complete, which is much easier, less memorising, less typing and fewer errors
• You can get straight to the Property Inspector from the workspace browser
• You avoid the need to do all this tiresome get(h, 'is it Xtick') and set(h, 'or was it xTicks') business, which makes code easier to read and write and saves on quoting strings (which always slows me down)

Having said all this I still mostly carry on with habit using set and get! The alternative is not shown in the Help, or any of the examples, or most of the entries on File Exchange. Why so? would you agree with me set and get is a pain in the butt, or am I missing something?

Answer 1

[Sean de Wolski]

Edit

I spoke with the developer who develops uicontrols etc. and he said this approach is okay and good if you're smart and careful about it.

Setting the object properties this way does not do the standard error checking so it is possible to corrupt the object. This would be one major reason to avoid it.

[Jan]

@Sean: Could you specify what "relative new" means absolutely? Which releases do not support handles()?

[Sean de Wolski]

I don't know. It seems to work in 7b, the oldest I have installed, but it was not documented at that time.

[per isakson]

Is it documented in R2012a? I cannot find it. Neither in R2012b on www.mathworks.com.

[Sean de Wolski]

http://www.mathworks.com/help/releases/R2012b/matlab/ref/handle.html

[per isakson]

Yes, but that's a different handle. Doc says:

    handle, Abstract class for deriving handle classes

.

Compare

    >> fig = figure( 'Name', 'HandleTest' );
    >> h = handle( fig );
    >> h.Name
    ans =
    HandleTest

[Julian]

Thanks for your thoughts. Seems odd that Sean from TMW encourages this undocumented use, while Per councils against it! Actually I don't think it's a very new feature, and as I like it I will use it. Please Mr. Math Works do hurry up and improve the graphics in MATLAB....

[Sean de Wolski]

See edit.

Answer 2

[per isakson]

• it is good to stick to documented features
• see http://undocumentedmatlab.com/, search for handle