`class`

Name of the class of a value.

Category: Language Fundamentals > Data Types

Syntax

c = class(obj)

Returns the class name as a character vector.

Description

class identifies the data type used to store the value, regardless of its size. Literals like 1 are double, 'a' is char, "a" is string, and true is logical. Objects such as tables and datetimes return their own class names.

Use isa(x, 'numeric') to test against a group of classes, and cast to convert.

Input arguments

obj: Any value.

Output arguments

c: Character vector such as 'double', 'char', 'cell', 'struct' or 'function_handle'.

Example

Classes of common values

class(1:3)
class('a')
class("a")
class(@sin)
class(int8(1))
class({})

Output

ans = 'double'
ans = 'char'
ans = 'string'
ans = 'function_handle'
ans = 'int8'
ans = 'cell'

class