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Create and Initialize Object Arrays

MATLAB® provides different ways of creating object arrays. These different methods vary in how the objects in the array are created. Choose a method of array creation based on your end goal:

Create an Object Array Using a Loop

Define the class SimpleValue, which has one property with a default value and a constructor that can be called with no arguments.

classdef SimpleValue
   properties
      prop1 = 0
   end
   methods
      function obj = SimpleValue(v)
         if nargin > 0
            obj.prop1 = v;
         end
      end
   end
end

Create an array of SimpleValue objects using a loop. Set the value of prop1 of each element of the array to a different value.

initValues = [3 -1 0 4 5];
for k = 1:5
   objArray(k) = SimpleValue(initValues(k));
end

Verify that the values of prop1 are set to initValues.

p = [objArray.prop1]

p =

     3    -1     0     4     5

For more information on accessing properties and methods of an object array, see Accessing Properties and Methods in Object Arrays.

Create an Object Array Using createArray (since R2024a)

You can also use createArray to generate object arrays of your class. createArray enables you to specify the size of the array, as well as combinations of class, prototype, and fill value to generate arrays of objects. For the full descriptions of syntaxes and options, see createArray.

classname Argument

Use the classname argument to specify the class of the array:

X = createArray(dims,"classname")

Create a 1-by-5 array of the SimpleValue class from Create an Object Array Using a Loop. MATLAB calls the constructor once with no arguments and populates the array with copies of that instance.

X = createArray(1,5,"SimpleValue")
X = 

  1×5 SimpleValue array with properties:

    prop1

The value of prop1 in all elements of the array is the default value defined by the class.

[X.prop1]
ans =

     0     0     0     0     0

Like Argument

Use the Like name-value argument to create an object array with an existing instance or array as a prototype:

X = createArray(dims,Like=prototype)

Create an instance phi of SimpleValue with 1.618 assigned to prop1. Use Like with phi to create a 2-by-2 object array of the class. The returned array L has the same class as phi.

phi = SimpleValue(1.618);
L = createArray(2,2,Like=phi)
L = 

  2×2 SimpleValue array with properties:

    prop1

createArray used with Like does not preserve the property value of phi because it does not use copies of the prototype to fill the array. The elements in L are copies of one call to the default constructor of the class of the prototype, so they have the default value for prop1.

[L.prop1]
ans =

     0     0     0     0

FillValue Argument

To create an array with objects other than the default, create an instance using input arguments to the constructor and then use that as a fill value for createArray:

X = createArray(dims,FillValue=instance)

Create an instance of SimpleValue with 7 assigned to prop1, and use that instance with the FillValue name-value argument to create a 3-by-1 array. 

s = SimpleValue(7);
F = createArray(3,1,FillValue=s)
F = 

  3×1 SimpleValue array with properties:

    prop1
Unlike in the case of specifying classname, createArray does not call the class constructor when you specify a fill value. The fill value is copied to each element of the array. Verify that the value of prop1 of each instance is 7.

[F.prop1]
ans =

     7     7     7

Handle Classes

The previous sections focused on value classes. For handle classes, createArray creates unique handles for each element of the array. For example, define a handle class with a constructor that generates a random number for a class property.

classdef InitHandleArray < handle
    properties
        Num
    end
    methods
        function obj = InitHandleArray(varargin)
            if nargin == 1
                obj.Num = randi(varargin{1});
            else
                obj.Num = -4;
            end
        end
    end
end

Use createArray to return a 2-by-2 array of the default InitHandleArray object.

Y = createArray(2,2,"InitHandleArray")
Y = 

  2×2 InitHandleArray array with properties:

    Num

Although the handles are unique, MATLAB calls the constructor only once and populates the array with copies of that instance. Verify that the no-argument constructor was called by checking the values of property Num.

 [Y.Num]
ans =

    -4    -4    -4    -4

Create an Object Array by Constructing the Last Element

In the SimpleValue example in Create an Object Array Using a Loop, the objects in objArray are created inside a loop. You can also create an array of SimpleValue objects by constructing the last element of the array.

For example, create a 2-by-2 array of SimpleValue objects by constructing the last element in the array.

a(2,2) = SimpleValue
a = 

  2×2 SimpleValue array with properties:

    prop1

Value Class Arrays

After you construct the last element in an array of value class objects, MATLAB:

  • Calls the no-argument constructor

  • Fills in the rest of the elements with copies of that instance

Create a 1-by-5 array of SimpleValue by constructing b(5) with input argument 7.

b(5) = SimpleValue(7);

Return all of the prop1 values and assign them to a vector y. The object in b(5) has a prop1 value of 7. MATLAB calls the no-argument constructor once and copies that value to all the remaining elements in the array. Those elements have the default prop1 value of 0.

y = [b.prop1]
y =

     0     0     0     0     7

If the SimpleValue constructor cannot handle no-argument calls, MATLAB errors when trying to populate b(1) through b(4).

Handle Class Arrays

After you construct the last element in an array of handle class objects, MATLAB:

  • Creates unique handles for each element of the array

  • Calls the no-argument constructor

  • Fills in the rest of the elements with copies of that instance

Create a new 1-by-5 array of the InitHandleArray class (see Handle Classes) by constructing c(5) with an input argument of 3, and verify the Num values. MATLAB calls the constructor again and assigns copies of the result of that call to c(1) through c(4).

c(5) = InitHandleArray(3);
z = [c.Num]
z =

    -4    -4    -4    -4     3

Create an Object Array in the Constructor

You can also use the class constructor itself to create and return an object array. For example, the ObjectArray class creates an object array that is the same size and shape as the input array F. The constructor then initializes the Value property of each object to the corresponding input array value. 

classdef ObjectArray
   properties
      Value
   end
   methods
      function obj = ObjectArray(F)
         if nargin ~= 0
            n = numel(F);
            p(n) = obj;
            for i = 1:n
               p(i) = F(i);
            end
            obj = reshape(p,size(F));
         end
      end
   end
end

This pattern for the constructor works for both value and handle objects as long as the no-argument option is included.

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