defining a list of class instances

Hey all,

i am going to define a class in Matlab called "Node" which is sopposed to be a node of a tree stucture.

i have a variable inside it called "NodeList" which is sopposed to be a list of sub nodes.

here is what i have defined:

classdef Node
    properties
        Title   string                  %name
        NodeType Type_Node              %enum Design/Variation
        NodeList    cell{Node}        %list of sub nodes
        RelationType    Relation        %enum AND/OR
        ImportanceFactor    float       %float [0  1]
        NodeIndex   {mustBePositive}    %int for drawing the tree
    end

    methods
        function obj=Node(title,nodetype,nodelist,relation,impactfactor,nodeindex)
            obj.Title=title;
            obj.NodeType=nodetype;
            obj.NodeList=nodelist;
            obj.RelationType=relation;
            obj.ImportanceFactor=impactfactor;
            obj.NodeIndex=nodeindex;
        end
    end
end 

while instantiating the class i am getting this error message:

Error setting default value of property 'NodeList' of class 'Node'. The 'Node' class definition uses an instance of itself directly
or indirectly as the default value for the 'NodeList' property. This is not allowed.

first please let me know wether the syntax i have used to define the class is correct or not?

then, i would appreciate any suggestions to make list of instances of a class.

and third, how can i nest a list of instances of the very class inside itself?

your help and comments are highly appreciated.

Answer 1

[David Hill]

classdef Node
    properties
        Title   
        NodeType 
        NodeList   
        RelationType    
        ImportanceFactor    
        NodeIndex  
    end
    methods
        function obj=Node(title,nodetype,nodelist,relation,impactfactor,nodeindex)
            obj.Title=title;
            obj.NodeType=nodetype;
            obj.NodeList=nodelist;
            obj.RelationType=relation;
            obj.ImportanceFactor=impactfactor;
            obj.NodeIndex=nodeindex;
        end
    end
end 

[Reza Deabae]

Thank you David,

i am trying this right now,

meanwhile let me ask another question,

as i said i have list of Nodes in each node, do you have a suggestion to itterate through all of them?