end as Object Index

Define `end` Indexing for an Object

When you use end in an object indexing expression, such as A(4:end), the end function returns the index value corresponding to the last element in that dimension.

Classes can overload the end function to implement specialized behavior. If your class defines an end method, MATLAB^® calls that method to determine how to interpret the expression.

The end method has the calling syntax:

ind = end(A,k,n)

The arguments are described as follows:

A is the object
k is the index in the expression using the end syntax
n is the total number of indices in the expression
ind is the index value to use in the expression

For example, consider the 3-by-5 array A. When MATLAB encounters the expression:

A(end-1,:)

MATLAB calls the end method defined for the object A using the arguments:

ind = end(A,1,2)

These arguments mean that the end statement occurs in the first index and there are two indices. The end class method returns the index value for the last element of the first dimension (from which 1 is subtracted in this case). The original expression is evaluated as:

A(3-1,:)

If your class implements an end method, ensure that it returns a value appropriate for the class.

The end Method

The end method for the MyDataClass example (see Class with Modified Indexing) operates on the contents of the Data property. The objective of this method is to return a value that can replace end in any indexing expression, such as:

obj(4:end)
obj.Data(2,3:end)

This end method determines a positive integer value for end. The method returns the value so that MATLAB can use it in the indexing expression.

function ind = end(obj,k,n)
   szd = size(obj.Data);
   if k < n
      ind = szd(k);
   else
      ind = prod(szd(k:end));
   end
end