MATLAB Programming

9 Classes and Objects
Converter Methods
A converter method is a class method that has the same name as another
class, such as char or double. Converter methods accept an object of one class
as input and return an object of another class. Converters enable you to
• Use methods defined for another class
• Ensure that expressions involving objects of mixed class types execute
properly
Aconverterfunction call is of the form
b = classname(a)
where a is an object of a class other than classname. In this case, MATLAB
looks for a method called classname in the class directory for object a. Ifthe
inputobjectisalready of type classname, then MATLAB calls the constructor,
which just returns the input argument.
Examples of Converter Methods
See the following sections for examples of converter methods:
• “The Polynom to Double Converter” on page 9-28
• “The Polynom to CharConverter”onpage9-29
9-22