Simplify Java Class Names Using import Function

MATLAB^® commands can refer to any Java^® class by its fully qualified name, which includes its package name. For example, the following are fully qualified names:

• java.lang.String

• java.util.Enumeration

A fully qualified name can be long, making commands and functions (such as constructors) cumbersome to edit and to read. To refer to classes by the class name alone (without a package name), first import the fully qualified name into MATLAB.

MATLAB adds all classes that you import to a list called the import list. To see what classes are on that list, type import. Your code can refer to any class on the list by class name alone.

When called from a function, import adds the specified classes to the import list in effect for that function. When invoked at the command prompt, import uses the base import list for your MATLAB platform.

For example, suppose that a function contains these statements:

import java.lang.String
import java.util.* java.awt.*
import java.util.Enumeration

The following statements refer to the String, Frame, and Enumeration classes without using the package names.

str = String('hello');     % Create java.lang.String object
frm = Frame;               % Create java.awt.Frame object
methods Enumeration        % List java.util.Enumeration methods

To remove the list of imported Java classes, type:

clear import