How to get 'type' of a variable in matlab?

Hi, We declare many types of variables in matlab such as double, string, symbolic etc. How to get type of a variable?

Answer 1

[Sean de Wolski]

To get the data type, or class, of a variable, use the “class” function.

x = 100;
class(x)

To determine if a variable has a specified data type, use the “isa” function.

tf = isa(x,'double')

For a list of functions that determine if variables have specific attributes, see “is*”.

You also can use the “validateattributes” function, which can validate many classes at once easily.

Answer 2

[Azzi Abdelmalek]

class(your_variable)

[Robert Bruner]

"Error: the class function must be called from a class constructor"

how can I do this from the command-line in MATLAB?

[Bill Tubbs]

I have the same problem.

>> class(theFiles)

ans =

'struct'

>> class(theFiles.name)

Error using class

The CLASS function must be called from a class constructor.

[Steven Lord]

I'm guessing theFiles is a non-scalar struct array, which would mean that theFiles.name is a comma-separated list. This makes MATLAB think you're using a different syntax for the class function, one associated with the older style of classes. See the "Obsolete Class Definition Syntax" section on the class documentation page.

You could try:

class(theFiles(1).name)
class(theFiles(2).name)
% etc