Is it possible to pass argument blocks between functions?

Hello,

I was wondering if it is possible to reuse argument block of functions. Maybe the following example makes my idea more clear:

In a data class I have a filter method. This filter method has an argument block with multiple filter criteria:

function output = findTest(obj, filterlogic_in, options)
    arguments
        obj className
        filterlogic_in {mustBeMember(filterlogic_in,{'and', 'or', 'not'})} = 'and'
        options.filter1 (1,:) = nan
        options.filter2 (1,:)  {mustBeMember(options.filter2,{'', 'test1', 'test2'})} = {''} %Filter for test type
    end
%here happens the filtering
end

In the class I also have multiple methods that do a filtering first if needed, e.g. calculate average data:

function output = calcAvg(obj, filterlogic_in, options)
    arguments
        obj className
        filterlogic_in {mustBeMember(filterlogic_in,{'and', 'or', 'not'})} = 'and'
        options.filter1 (1,:) = nan
        options.filter2 (1,:)  {mustBeMember(options.filter2,{'', 'test1', 'test2'})} = {''} %Filter for test type
    end
%Use the findTest method
filteredData = obj.findTest(filterlogic_in, "filter1", options.filter1, "filter2", options.filter2)
%here starts the rest of the function to calculate the average
end

My question: Is it possible to 'pass' or 'inhert' the argument block from the findTest method to other methods. E.g. If I add a new filter, then I have to change the arguement block of all other methods using findTest.

Thanks a lot

[Stephen23]

Why does CALCAVG to check the arguments for FINDTEST? Let each function determine its own input requirements, i.e. simply pass the inputs to FINDTEST, and let FINDTEST decide if they are okay or not.

[jr1995]

I would like to have the option to use the tabulator key during the input, to display the possible options for filtering in the calcavg method as well.

Answer 1

[Gagan]

Hi jr1995

Reusing the ‘arguments’ block in multiple functions is indeed possible. One approach is to create a dedicated function that handles argument validation using the ‘arguments’ block, and the other functions can invoke this function to validate the arguments. This way, the validation logic is centralized and can be reused across multiple functions.

For Example :-

function argumentsBlock(className, filterlogic_in, options)
    arguments
        className
        filterlogic_in {mustBeMember(filterlogic_in,{'and', 'or', 'not'})} = 'and'
        options.filter1 = nan
        options.filter2{mustBeMember(options.filter2,{'', 'test1', 'test2'})} = {''}
    end
end

function output = findTest()
    options.filter1 = nan;
    options.filter2 = "test1";
    argumentsBlock("Hello",'and', "filter1", options.filter1, "filter2", options.filter2);
end

In the above code snippet,

Function named 'argumentBlock' is responsible for validating the arguments. And the function 'findTest' utilizes the 'argumentBlock' function to perform the necessary argument validation.

[jr1995]

Hi,

I found another solution for my problem. I defined a class for my filter criteria:

classdef class_Filter_v01
    properties
        filterLogic {mustBeMember(filterLogic,{'and', 'or', 'not'})} = 'and'
        filter1 (1,:) = nan
    end
end

Than I call the properties in the argument block of my function. For filter criteria that are not set during the function call, I get the default property values from the class and add them to the structure filterArgs.

function output = findTest(obj, filterArgs)
    arguments
        obj 
        filterArgs.?class_Filter_v01
    end

    %If properties are not set, add default values from class
    mco = metaclass(class_Filter_v01);

    for ii=1:size(mco.PropertyList, 1)
        if isfield(filterArgs, mco.PropertyList(ii).Name) == false
            filterArgs.(mco.PropertyList(ii).Name) = mco.PropertyList(ii).DefaultValue;
        end
    end
    
    % here is the filtering
end