How do I inherit documentation from super classes in Matlab? - matlab

Question

I have a Super class that I've done some extensive documentation on. There are subclasses that inherit from this super class and I would like to reuse the documentation of the super if possible. For example with Super class ClassA:
classdef ClassA
%CLASSA Super Class for all others classes
%
% CLASSA Properties:
% Prop1 It's the first property
% Prop2 It's the second
%
% CLASSA Methods:
% Method1 It's a method
% Method2 It's another method
function value = Method1(var)
% Super implementation of Method1
end
% Other method definitions follow
end
And a subclass, ClassB:
classdef ClassB < ClassA
%CLASSB Subclass of super class CLASSA
%
% CLASSB Properties:
% Prop3 It's the first property of subclass
%
% CLASSB Methods:
% Method 3 It's the first method of subclass
function value = Method1(var)
% Subclass implementation of Method1
end
% Other method definitions follow
end
If I type help ClassB I only get ClassB's help description. I want to have the Super's help description to also be included. The output would look something like this:
CLASSB Subclass of super class CLASSA
CLASSB Properties:
Prop1 It's the first property
Prop2 It's the second
Prop3 It's the first property of subclass
CLASSB Methods:
Method1 It's a method
Method2 It's another method
Method3 It's the first method of subclass
Is there a way to do this?

Answer 1

As noted by #SamRoberts, there is a standard way of documenting properties and methods.
For example:
classdef Super
%Super Summary of this class goes here
% Detailed explanation goes here
%
% Super Properties:
% One - Description of One
% Two - Description of Two
%
% Super Methods:
% myMethod - Description of myMethod
%
properties
One % First public property
Two % Second public property
end
properties (Access=private)
Three % Do not show this property
end
methods
function obj = Super
% Summary of constructor
end
function myMethod(obj)
% Summary of myMethod
disp(obj)
end
end
methods (Static)
function myStaticMethod
% Summary of myStaticMethod
end
end
end
and
classdef Derived < Super
%Derived Summary of this class goes here
% Detailed explanation goes here
%
% See also: Super
properties
Forth % Forth public property
end
methods
function obj = Derived
% Summary of constructor
end
function myOtherMethod(obj)
% Summary of myMethod
disp(obj)
end
end
end
Now on the command line, you could say:
You get nicely formatted hyperlinks.
Also note what you get with doc Derived (or when you highlight the word and press F1). This internally calls help2html to convert the help into HTML. For example, we could do this ourselves:
>> %doc Derived
>> web(['text://' help2html('Derived')], '-noaddressbox', '-new')
Note that inherited properties/methods are displayed.

Answer 2

If you are writing documentation in the way you describe, I think the only way you can get what you're asking for is to overload help to do something customised. For example, your overloaded help could call builtin('help') on itself, and then builtin('help') on its superclass.
However, you're not documenting things in the standard way; typically you would document properties using comments immediately above the property itself, and document methods with comments immediately below the function signature of the method. If you did that, then you'd automatically display the help for all the inherited methods.