Syntax

Description

tf = isa(obj,ClassName) returns true if obj is an instance of the class specified by ClassName, and false otherwise. isa also returns true if obj is an instance of a class that is derived from ClassName.

obj can be any MATLAB^® variable.

ClassName can be any of the following:

• Name of any MATLAB class or fundamental type

• Name of a Java^®, or .NET class

 MATLAB Fundamental Types

tf = isa(obj,classCategory) returns true if obj is an instance of any of the classes in the specified classCategory, and false otherwise. isa also returns true if obj is an instance of a class that is derived from any of the classes in classCategory.

classCategory can be 'numeric', 'float', or 'integer', representing a category of numeric types:

 Categories of Numeric Types

To test for a sparse array, use issparse. To test for a complex array, use ~isreal.

Examples

These examples show the values returned by isa when passed different types:

Determine if the value returned by the pi function is of class double:

isa(pi,'double')

ans =

     1

More generally, determine if the value returned by the pi function is a numeric value:

isa(pi,'numeric')

ans =

     1

isa also returns true for the float category because the class double is a floating-point type. However, pi does not return an integer type:

isa(pi,'integer')

ans =

     0

Determine if the 2-by-3 array returned by true is of type logical:

isa(true(2,3),'logical')

ans =

     1

Identify an instance of the MATLAB containers.Map class:

colorcodes = containers.Map({'Color','RGB'},...
    {'Yellow',uint8([255,255,0])});
isa(colorcodes,'containers.Map')

ans =

     1

The map key, RGB, references a uint8 array:

isa(colorcodes('RGB'),'integer')

ans =

     1

Specifying a particular integer class provides more specific testing:

if strcmp(colorcodes('Color'),'Yellow') && ...
        isa(colorcodes('RGB'),'uint8')
    disp '''The Color is Yellow and the RGB numbers are uint8 values'''
end
'The Color is Yellow and the RGB numbers are uint8 values'

See Also

class | exist | is* | isfloat | isinteger | isnumeric